Life’s got rules and principles and laws. And playing by these rules and principles and laws is the surest way to knowing prosperity and good success. Remember the law of gravity and the law of karma? Time to add the Rule of 5 to that list.

The Rule of 5, what does it mean exactly? Simply, it reflects the reality that we’re the average of the 5 dominant people in our lives – be they our parents, spouses, teachers, siblings, friends, mentors, neighbours, bosses, colleagues, roommates, etc. The length of time we spend around them is the defining element here; we’re the average of the 5 people we spend most of our “ear-time” with. It is important to immediately pinpoint that this Rule of 5, like other rules, principles and laws, is binding on us whether we like it or not, believe it or not, subscribe to it or not; it’s independent of our ignorance and irrespective of our opinion.

It is also important to add that since nothing is hard and fast in life, the number 5 in the Rule of 5 seemingly reflects the ideal, and since ideals are not always attainable, it can as well be Rule of – 4, 3, 6, 7 or even 1; any number of persons one spends most of his/her time with. 5 is just fine; Rule of 5, it remains.

Yes, there is just this astonishing way in which we turn into those we always hand around or hang out with; we assume their thought pattern, mimic their words, clone their actions, adopt their habits, reflect their character, and may just be headed to the same end – destiny. Little wonder birds of a feather flock together.

Since we’re all both different and unique, how does this come about, one may wonder. Simple: we humans have an inbuilt capacity for that; the mirror neurons of the brain are responsible for that. True to their name, mirror neuron, they mirror or reproduce the environment, and especially get taken over by the signals fired at them by the mirror neurons of other people. Already stated, these mirror neurons act on – even without our permission. And this already say volumes about the much talked about “environmental factors.”

With this revelation, I expect that the better thing to start doing right away is to be way stricter in choosing our company; don’t put up with any character you don’t want to become, because that is exactly what you will end up becoming, whether you like it or not, if you hand around or hang out with them long enough – and your permission is not needed.

We don’t get to choose our parents and siblings, but we can decide how much time to spend around them if they have bad attitude and questionable character; no apologies. Oh, we squarely get to choose our friends, our bosses, our spouses, etc. We should be darn strict in choosing them.

Then, also, we should smuggle ourselves into the company of those we aspire to be like. We should also take this into consideration when choosing a neighborhood, a church/parish, clubs, etc.

Good luck.