I follow a lot of people from my high school graduating class on social media and many are doing phenomenally well.

Some are budding entrepreneurs, while others are registered nurses or attending medical school. There are a few who have traveled the world and many more who have started families and are living happily in adulthood.

I catch myself blurting out, "Wow," "Aww" or "Congrats," almost every other day while scrolling down my timeline.

Not surprisingly, the people who seem to be the most successful are the ones that everyone knew would be.

To me, it's not a stereotype to believe that the students with thick glasses carrying a thick pile of textbooks will turn out to be CEOs.

It's common sense.

These were the same kids who possessed an unwavering focus and discipline that made them valedictorians in high school, followed by summa cum laude in college or the president of student government.

I know a few personally.

The people who were known for skipping class, or smoking before and during school, aren't doing so spectacularly now.

I'm not going to laugh at their lives or say, "Haha, I'm doing better than you." But, one thing's certain: You become the company you keep, stemming as far back as teenage years.

My best friend and I were having a conversation the other day, updating each other on the lives of people we knew or hung around with during our high school days.

"Is ___ still locked up?" I asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"He used to go out with ____, right?"

"Yeah, he sure did," she said. "She has a baby with ____ now."

We continued for what seemed like hours.

We stumbled across one guy who was popular, good looking and very intelligent. He was an intellectual person, but no one knew that because of the bad boys he hung around with.

They'd break into people's homes, start fights, get arrested and had pretty sizable records before the age of 18.

He had an abundance of potential, but never applied it to anything, instead participating in aimless ventures and immature antics in his spare time.

He's 24 now and hangs with the same crowd who all do the same thing — nothing.

I was always told if you hang around with nine unmotivated and procrastinating people, you're most likely the 10th.

In school, I was pretty popular. I hung around with the good girls with good grades who were seasoned members of several honor societies. If we weren't hitting the books hard, we were acting in school plays or dancing our way to talent show victories.

If I consistently hung around with girls who drank their weekends away or slept with the entire football team, I would have done that, too.

Instead, I got jealous when my friends got straight A's and I got one B. I was envious when my girls got the extra-credit question right and I missed it by one letter.

My group of friends inadvertently pushed me to do better.

Mindset is everything. I was fortunate enough to gravitate toward a group who shared common interests and honest hearts.

I can say that everyone from my high school clique is doing great because failure was never an option for us.

There are many unforeseen circumstances on the daunting trail to success. Having unmotivated and unsupportive people in your circle will make the journey even harder.

This year, I want to separate myself from anyone who displays an ounce of laziness. I want to rub elbows with the laborers and the go-getters.

It's easy to sit around and do nothing. But setting a goal and conquering it? Now that's a real challenge.

Zahara Johnson's column appears regularly in b.