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One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior. New habits seem achievable when you see others doing them every day. If you are surrounded by fit people, you're more likely to consider working out to be a common habit. If you're surrounded by jazz lovers, you're more likely to believe it's reasonable to play jazz every day. Your culture sets your expectation for what is "normal." Surround yourself with people who have the habits you want to have yourself. You'll rise together.

the process of tackling any new and complicated problem. There's one step you will always do first if it's available to you: You'll ask a smart friend how he or she tackled the same problem. A smart friend can save you loads of time and effort.

This Is Just Between You and Me Research shows that people will automatically label you a friend if you share a secret.3 Sharing a confidence is a fast-track way to cause people to like and trust you. The trick is to reveal a secret that isn't a dangerous one. Wrong: "I buried my boss in the backyard." Right: "I probably shouldn't admit this, but every time Jane serves her dip I only pretend to like it because everyone else says it's to die for." The right approach to sharing a secret is to start small. Make sure the small secrets stay secret before you try anything riskier. One way to judge your risk is to be alert for other people's secrets that are being relayed to you. Someone who is bad at keeping one kind of secret is probably bad at keeping all secrets. You won't be exempt.

The second class of benefit concerns relationships. Adversity is a filter. When a person is diagnosed with cancer, or a couple loses a child, some friends and family members rise to the occasion and look for any way they can to express support or to be helpful.

...have friends who bring out the best in you, help you grow and will always stand by you.