Have you ever noticed how some people you encounter on this journey called life seem to effortlessly inspire us after spending only a short amount of time in their company, whereas others somehow have the knack sucking the life out of you before leaving a trail negativity and despair in their wake.

The secret to success and happiness is said to consist of surrounded yourself with like-minded individuals who are also on a similar journey to make positive changes in their lives that in turn helps us all grow as people when we subconsciously influence each other with our everyday choices.

Role models do not need to consist of some misguided hero worship of celebrities and very often those who we aspire to become are people very close to you or who you communicate with on a regular basis, for example it was the great John Whiteand Paul Drury who are the reason I have written over 50 articles on LinkedIn.

It’s not rocket science to understand that surrounding yourself with those that want to embrace change or make a difference in this world will help you much more than allowing toxic individuals who drain your enthusiasm with negativity and re-enforce your greatest fears by constantly repeating phrases such as it won’t work, what’s the point or it’s a waste of time.

If people we encounter have the power to inspire or drain us, then we shouldn’t be too surprised that a large percentage of us all fail to achieve the goals we create to ensure the road ahead leads to where we want to go.

However, if we surround ourselves with people that support our goals, these individuals can provide much greater influence on our lives by simply listening, sharing ideas or advising of an alternative or innovative way forward.

I very often get frustrated by how companies create solutions to problems that do not exist with technology rather than utilise this power to make our lives a little easier, you only have to look at the recent face-recognition app How Old by Microsoft that asked everyone to upload a photo of themselves so it can guess everyone’s age and sex only to get it wrong, much to the delight of the internetwhich gave birth to another meme.

Microsoft appeared to have the last laugh when users read the terms and conditions to discover the line “by posting, uploading, inputting, providing, or submitting your Submission, you are granting Microsoft, its affiliated companies, and necessary sublicensees permission to use your Submission in connection with the operation of their Internet businesses”

However, I recently stumbled on a new goal-based social network and app called Linkagoal (free download at iTunes Store or Google Play) that encourages users to post their goals publicly and other members who are on a similar journey can cheer them on or offer tips to help achieve that elusive target.

The only downside was pointed out by Time.com who advised: “Using the app brings a newfound sense of shame when you don’t complete your goals, the fear of public failure, rather, does the trick” However, the fear of failing in public along with a teaspoon of gamification to encourage you to chase after shiny reward badges and move up the leaderboard of life could be the lifehack you need to get yourself into gear.

A fascinating aspect of Linkagoal is illustrating how social media is finally evolving and the days of pointlessly garnering followers without rhyme or reason other than a misguided attempt to measure one’s self-worth are being replaced by crowdsourcing the global community to meaningfully unite and engage like-minded users to achieve their goals together.

Humans are social creatures by default and using technology to share advice and experiences regardless of location to enable each other to grow as a person can only be a beautiful thing and certainly more useful than posting photos of your food to 500 followers on Instagram.