You have heard the saying 'You are what you eat,' right? Well, did you know that you are also who you hang out with?

If you are not achieving the results you would like to, take a look around you and begin to notice what your influences are. Try this little trick: take the five people with whom you spend the majority of your time, whether work or personal. By whatever measure you wish to use - financial level, fitness - it is highly likely yours will be similar to theirs. Birds of a feather flock together, as yet another saying teaches us. Isn't this true?

So what happens when you decide to make improvements in your life? Are you afraid that if you begin changing your habits and thoughts, and thus your circumstances, your current friends may no longer like you? What if they ridicule you, or don't understand your motivations, or say those dreaded words 'you've changed?'...

The truth is, if you really want your life to change, then the above scenario IS going to happen, so perhaps it's better to face it and be honest with your friends than to dread and deny it, and keep yourself from success in the process.

If you tell your friends straight out what you are trying to accomplish, they will either support you or they won't - then you'll know!...and you can get on with your life and the pursuit of your dreams. 'You've changed' are probably the most beautiful words in the Universe when it comes to success and goal achievement!

You are who you hang out with!

If everyone you know talks about and assumes certain things that are not in line with what you want to accomplish - whatever they are - then you are in the thought pattern equivalent of quicksand. You are fighting to swim upstream, so to speak.

But what if you turned it around and began hanging out with people who already have what you want? Would it not be so much easier to begin to think in those new desired patterns and 'go with the flow?' (Most of us have heard this, but have you DONE it?)

This is a stumbling block for many people - the crossing of the bridge between what they know, and what they say they want. It's not easy to leave familiar things behind, especially people, and this is a real sticking point. However, it is not likely most of the people you currently know will understand your desires and actions if you have a real motivation to change things, but there ARE people who will. (I knew of a girl who got in amazing shape by working out and changing her eating habits, and when she proudly showed off her new figure to her in-laws, she was shocked when they ridiculed her and said she looked skinny and unhealthy - !!)

So you have a choice - keep things as they are, or grow and expand. Always remember that this power is in your hands, not in your circumstances!

This article is written by Shauna Arthurs, creator of a network of sites and blogs dedicated to helping you achieve your grandest dreams! Skyrocket your personal and professional development with the wealth of empowering tips, articles and resources at www.IncreasingVelocity.com and www.Live-With-Power.com!