You Are the Average of Your Five Closest Friends
"Bottom line: If the main topic of conversation you have with your friends is not how you can better yourself, you need to get new friends."<p>Thanks, but I'm happy with the friends I have and with the kind of conversations we have.  If your friends love talking about "how you can better yourself," then fair enough -- whatever works for you.  On the other hand, if your friends love talking about the things they do, interesting things they've learned, neat ideas, activities, etc. then don't ditch them just because they're not talking about "how you can better yourself."  You'll "better yourself" by being immersed in a social environment of new ideas and options and acting on the things you learn, not by dumping your friends and finding people who want to talk about self-improvement.