As professionals, we like to reassure ourselves with demonstrations of self-determination.

We stand for something. We set goals. We assert our influence. We speak up. We allow our egos to dance.

But we remain social beings. We are wired to take notice of what others are doing and saying. We might prefer to deny our human nature but in doing so we inevitably set ourselves up to struggle.

The person nearest to us has an oversized influence on how we feel and act. The further away we move, the more that influence diminishes.

The latest interaction or update can colour our mood and adjust the direction of what we’re doing. What was essential previously has been relegated to once-important.

No matter how accomplished we may feel we have become, we are influenced by the nearest and latest.

So, we are very much applying our wisdom when we carefully consider to whom we are proximate and to what we give our attention.

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This post was adapted from one of Aodan’s Sunday morning newsletters, eagerly anticipated by hundreds of readers. Give yourself the gift of that weekly wisdom by signing up here.