I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the importance of surrounding yourself with good people who make you want to be a better person. I don’t necessarily mean Googleing nobel prize winners and camping outside their Kensington mansion houses (though that can’t hurt). I’m talking more about the natural osmosis that goes on when you spend time with driven, positive people.
This year 5 of my good friends have got amazing new jobs or gone for and got promotions, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. It’s not been a matter of the green eyed monster or through a fear of being left behind, and indeed the fact most of them were 10 years into a career makes change all the more inevitable. But I really believe being in a circle of motivated people who recognise the good in the world and are prepared to so something to make more of it spreads a rather contagious desire to do the same.
It’s very easy in an office environment to get sucked into moaning and grumbling about systems, senior management or annoying peers. It’s reassuring to know others feel the same on a bad day, and it’s probably easier to bond over shared annoyances than individual successes.
So, apparently almost three quarters of employed folk struggle to disengage with work after leaving the office/classroom/studio/station/(insert your own place of work if not specified). According to the Office for National Statistics, there is something in the region of 30 million people in employment in the UK, so when you work out how many of us struggle to switch off you can see where we have a problem! So, this blog article is a step in the direction of a UK who can press that giant off switch and enjoy some down time.