Choose wisely ...

I have heard somewhere that each of us is an amalgam of the five people we spend most of our time with; and that is why it is so important to choose carefully who we surround ourselves with. I think there is a lot of truth to this idea – and as we go through life, and the group of people who most influence us continues to change and evolve – so do we change and evolve.
I think to some degree, the same can be said of our BJJ game. Our personal games are to a large extent the product of having regularly wrestled with a small group of influential training partners. My personal game for example, is largely influenced (even now) by Rigan and jean Jacques Machado, David Meyer, and several key players on my own mat. Other influences come in now and then, for certain, but ultimately, our games are pressure-tested and consolidated by who we regularly roll with.
I have friends who have amazing marriages, friends who are masters of investment, friends who are into living their lives to the max … each in their own way helps to shape and evolve the way I live my own life.
The moral of this blog: choose carefully who you look up to, spend time with, learn from … because the dynamic works the other way as well. As the old saying goes ‘you can’t fly like an eagle if your hanging with turkeys’.
JBW