You are an aggregate of the five people you spend the most time with. To fully understand this equation, you need to understand the meaning of "spend time". If you are a religious follower of someone on social media, the mere consumption of their content qualifies as time spent. So, this definition does not limit you to people with whom you have physical and direct contact. The people who do the most damage to you are toxic. They are narcissistic, they are aggressive (both actively and passively), they feel a lot of envy and they tend to have deep insecurities. You need to develop the ability to detect them before getting involved with them. Toxic people have spent their lives mastering the skills of how to get power, embroil you in their dramas, and get into your emotions. They are masters at entangling themselves in your life. On the surface, toxic people are quite pleasant. They are often charismatic, they appear to be interested in you. When they have their roots deeply embedded in you, it can be difficult to get out of the relationship especially if it is a romantic one. The best course of action with toxic people is to develop a radar so as to detect them before you get involved with them. It requires a change in the way you perceive people. Here are 5 warning signs that a person is toxic. 1) Always the victim. They commonly use phrases like "he makes me so angry.....". They believe that all their problems can be blamed on others and the world is out to get them. 2) They view everything through the lens of how it will affect them. For example, friend A cancels on friend B to go on a hike. Friend B expresses sadness and concern, not due to genuine concern about friend A, but because he was looking forward to the hike and now needs to make alternate arrangements. 3) Emotionally exhausting. You feel drained emotionally after spending time with that person. Also, the anticipation of spending time with that person leaves you slightly apprehensive. 4) Emotionally abusive. This manifest in the form of intimidation, manipulation, insults, sarcasm, blame-shifting, projection, and the silent treatment. The most common weapon of attack is guilt-tripping. A wife-on-husband example: my parents have done so much for you, the least you could do was be nice to me. 5) Cannot laugh at themselves. They use their friends as the butt of their jokes, but as soon as they become the butt, they get upset. The biggest danger of getting involved with toxic people is that you start to adopt their traits. They drag you down to their level of misery and manipulation. You, therefore, want to extricate yourself from their toxic influence. #lifecoach#motivation#lifecoaching#coaching#love#mindset#coach#inspiration#selflove#life#success#selfcare#lifestyle#mentalhealth#mindfulness#personaldevelopment#entrepreneur#goals#happiness#meditation#loveyourself#healing#motivationalquotes#lifequotes#positivevibes#fitness#businesscoach#motivationalspeaker#business