It might be useful to expand our definition of "who" influences our growth/stagnation to include what we consume on social media, on TV, and in print. What we absorb becomes part of us!
For each of us, there are people in our lives that lift us up just by being around. And there are sometimes people in our lives that pull us under. And we can love those people equally. But that doesn't mean they can give them equal space in our lives.
We are all influenced by the people with whom we surround ourselves. Whether we realize it's happening or not, we become more like our peers. That means every one of us needs to make thoughtful and sometimes difficult decisions about who is in our orbit and why.