I was reading a post this morning from the marketing guru, Seth Godin, called Expose yourself. The simple cut-to-the-chase post is about how you become what you expose yourself to. In other words if you surround yourself with people that are disgruntled and unhappy, you soon become that way too. Seems like a pretty simple concept and hey, who needs to read a post about the obvious?

But then I turned it around and asked myself “What am I exposing others to?” This provoked a few moments of consideration about who has moved out of my life in the past eight months and who has come into my life. I am taking a big risk right now venturing into entrepreneurship at an age when most career focused individuals are mid-way or higher on the corporate ladder. Who is coming along for the ride and who has dropped by the wayside? What kind of emotion does this invoke in others?

It is my hope that I am inspiring others to follow their dreams and to be optimistic about the future. I hope those that choose to be with me through this journey are here out of support and acceptance and not out of some feeling of guilt or misplaced loyalty. I will admit some days I can be quite an Eeyore, but I typically isolate myself on those days and try not to expose people. Most days I am happy to be striving for my dreams and my own version of work so ultimately I hope I expose others to optimism and the value of risk taking.

So today at some point, ask yourself “What exposure do I give to people?” It might just give you some insight into your own best qualities or perhaps those that you would like to change.