Every minute you spend with someone who is a negative influence in your life is a minute you could spend with someone else who could be helping you grow. While such thinking might sound self-serving, and it can be if all you care is yourself, it can help you make a smart choice about investing your precious time. The longer I live, the more time becomes a precious commodity. It seems to accelerate with each passing year. The long days of impatiently waiting for birthdays and holidays to come around of my youth are now replaced by the sudden realizations of “where has this year gone?”. I have finally realized that some relationships, whether professional or personal, are completely draining. Like a black hole that takes everything in its path, these depleting relationships never give back. They only take. Mentoring and volunteering aside, those closest to us have the greatest…