Perhaps you've heard the saying that, "You're the average of the five people you spend the most of your time with." Many intelligent people have mentioned that there's so much truth to that statement above. Hence, you have to be very careful of the people around you.
Another phenomenon is that people's emotions and feelings can be very contagious. This is the very reason why most of the richest men in the world, won't give a minute of their time to people who aren't very valuable to their business and course in life.
You should always thrive to associate more with people who you want to be like. People that are better than you. You want to make friends with those smart individuals who are way more productive than you. From these people you'll always learn a thing or two.
Just by the simple fact that you're around great minds, their thought pattern slowly starts to imprint on you. This is because when you discuss with them, you get to understand how they see the world. This will open your mind to different brilliant ways of thinking.
Fundamentally, the difference between the rich and the poor lies in how they think. The rich think of money and business in a very different way, from how the poor think of money and business. Thus, when you surround yourself with five people who are successful, you'll soon become the sixth successful person.