Keep good company, and you shall be of the number.

You become an average of the people you spend hours with, and the process is invisible while it happens. Standards, humour, what counts as acceptable, what gets complained about: all of it transfers without anyone deciding to transfer it. Choosing your company is one of the most consequential decisions you make and one of the least deliberate. Most people inherit their circle rather than choose it.

Look at the five people you spend the most time with and ask what each one makes easier in you. Then add one person whose standards are higher than yours in some way that matters. Proximity does most of the work.