One of the most well-known and repeated proverbs in Spanish says, “tell me who your friends are, and I will tell you who you are”. It is an old Spanish saying that means that you can predict a person’s behavior by analyzing the people they hang out with. The exact beginning of this saying is unknown, but there is literary evidence in the 16th and 17th centuries in which it was already used. And for me, it is a very current saying in the 21st century.
I have allowed myself to change it slightly to help me with the idea that I want to convey to you. Instead of the present (who you are), I use the future (who you will become). And I do it to highlight that the people you hang out with, the ones you usually surround yourself with, not only mark who and how you are today, but will also decisively mark your future.
As the great American coach Jim Rohn said – one of the pioneers in personal development -, “you are the average of the 5 people with whom you spend the most time.” It is surely an exaggerated quote and lacks scientific validity, but it helps to convey a very powerful idea. Pay attention to who you go with as it will greatly mark your present and your future.
In leadership and personal branding projects, I always advise being selective and strategic in terms of the people you surround yourself with due to the enormous influence they can exert. And to convey this idea, I like to use the photograph of the header of this post.
It is a meeting of the Solvay conferences. The Solvay conferences were founded by the Belgian chemist and industrialist Ernest Solvay in 1912. Solvay’s idea was to organize a periodic congress to bring together the leading scientists of the day to advance quantum physics. The congress could only be attended by invitation, totally restricted to the most renowned scientists in the field of physics.
The photo that I have presented to you is from the fifth Solvay conference held in Brussels at the end of October 1927. The surprising thing about the picture is that, of the 29 people that appear, 17 won the Nobel Prize in Physics. Among these people are the well-known Albert Einstein, Niels Bohr, Marie Curie (who also won the Nobel Prize in medicine), Werner Heisenberg, Paul Dirac, and Erwin Schrödinger among others. It is possibly the picture with more geniuses in history. But for me, there is a fact that is even more remarkable. None of the 17 Nobel laureates in physics had won the prize before joining the Solvay conferences. In addition, they all affirm that belonging to the Solvay club was a great step in their scientific career and was a decisive act in winning the coveted award.
And this story, represented by the picture of the fifth Solvay conference, perfectly exemplifies the idea I wanted to convey to you. Surrounding yourself well with people who can help you in your personal and professional challenges and who you can help, can be decisive in your life. So, PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THE PEOPLE YOU SURROUND YOURSELF WITH, AS THEY WILL GREATLY INFLUENCE WHO YOU BECOME IN THE FUTURE.
