The 5 Chimps Theory

There’s a theory called “the five chimps theory” shared by Naval Ravikant, Silicon Valley tycoon, in his book Tools of Titans:

In zoology, you can predict the mood and behavior patterns of any chimp by which five chimps they hang out with the most.

And I believe we see it in our own (non-chimp?) lives!

As Jim Rohn, my favorite motivational speaker and self help guru, told us:

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

 

And, as my Mom said repeatedly:

“Birds of a feather flock together.”

 

Being careful of the company we keep is smart. The wrong people in our environment can most certainly dissuade, deter, and distract us from the course we’ve set out on.

A study done in 2007 on obesity revealed that if one of our close friends becomes obese, we’re 57% more likely to do the same!

Why is that?

The people we see tend to set our standard for what’s appropriate. After all, we are social animals and like to fit in.

To generalize the theory “they” say that we are emotionally, physically, financially, or otherwise the average of the five people we spend the most time with.

There are two variables that interplay in determining how much of our thoughts and actions are influenced by the people around us. The first is our consciousness and resilience as an individual. The second is the collective sum of the consciousness of the people we are with.

I guess this means we need to be conscious!

There’s also something James Altucher, author, called the 5 x 5 Rule that says you are not just the average of the 5 people around you. You’re the average of the

• 5 HABITs you do
• 5 FOODS you eat
• 5 IDEAS you have
• and the CONTENT you consume

That’s a lot of food for thought!

So, what do you think?