Want to know more about someone’s core personality without asking them? Check out their friends.
Are they comfortable hanging out with smart people and having intelligent conversation? Then they probably think they are pretty smart themselves.
Do they enjoy hanging out with people that look never grew up and have no self respect? Well, what does that tell you about them?
Get the idea? We like to hang out with people that we are not personally threatened by – unless we are narcissistic. So I guess you have to first figure that out before you apply this litmus test, huh. Look, this isn’t a 100% rule, but I do think it implies in general. Just look at your own peer group and reverse engineer.
Similarly, notice that your friends are your advisers in life, and therefore, select them wisely since they will have the biggest influence in your life’s outcome.
That’s also why the wise man (or woman) knows that if they want to succeed they will surround themselves with people who are wiser than themselves.
Of course, this is difficult unless you are very comfortable admitting to yourself that you are not all knowing. However, once you can come to grips with the fact that you are better knowing your strengths and weaknesses fully in order that you can bring people into your life to help augment yourself (where you are weak) – or help feel engaged in the world through service (where you are strong) – you can expand yourself beyond your own boundaries and become a super-person by expanding beyond yourself and connecting with other people.
But until you get to that point, just remember that you are only as smart as your friends.