Social influences

Are you aware of the impact of Social influences?

Welcome back to this weeks Donnelly Mindset newsletter.

This week I am covering the effect of social influences and how you become a product of the five people you spend the most time with.

Jim Rohn -“You’re the average of the five people you spend most of your time with”. In fact, five people around you are determining your success!

Right let’s get in to it.

As I get older I realise it’s imperative to be surrounded by the right people, I’ve started to realise I have less time to waste. I believe you need to limit toxic relationships and let go of anyone who may have a bad influence on you.

The key to become successful is to surround yourself by those who will push you to be your best and help you achieve greatness. From my own personal experience, my circle is a lot smaller now than it was when I was younger.

Three points about social influence:

1. Be aware of social norms and the influence they can have on behaviour.

Do you believe that you should follow these unwritten rules?

Three common social norms are following the crowd, suppressing your emotions and following in the footsteps of your parents but there are also many more.

Do you think it’s right for us to accept these social norms?

I believe we should do everything to make sure we avoid following the crowd, we have our own unique voice and we need to make sure the world hears what we have to say. Be unique, be different and be heard.

Next suppressing your emotions! This is a negative trait and I have experience with this in the past and it leads to stress building up and then causing an eruption of anger and uncontrolled actions.

We need to be in touch with our emotions it’s what makes us human after all. It’s a skill to have a high level of emotional intelligence and to be able to understand those closely to us. You definitely don’t want to suppress your emotions as this will not help you in life.

Following in your parents footsteps. I don’t believe you should do this for the reason that your parents do the best they can with what they have.

I’m looking to become the best version of myself to go above and beyond to achieve my goals and to ensure I take my life to the next level.

After all how boring would it be aiming to live the same life as my parents and not go out and achieve my own goals and dreams that I believe in?

2. Be aware of the impact of social influences on attitudes and beliefs.

Do you realise that you can be influenced by others attitudes and beliefs?

it’s imperative to raise your level of self-awareness and set your standards for your attitude and how you approach life.

I like to keep a positive attitude even in the hardest times but I understand I can’t always be happy as this would be unrealistic.

It’s key to have an iron mind and positive beliefs living this way is so more fulfilling and you’re able to handle whatever life throws your way.

Life will never be easy, it may get easier but if you think money or success will solve your problems then think again. As they say more money, more problems.

Remember to not be influenced by others with negative and limiting beliefs, once you’ve got a heightened level of self-awareness you’ll never be influenced in a negative way again. You’ll limit your time spent with those who are living this way and learn to surround yourself with those will positively influence your life!

3. Recognise the importance of thinking and independent thought in resisting social influence.

We all have our own thoughts and are able to think independently and make our own choices. Being able to do this allows us to think for ourselves and resist social influence and choose to only allow those who will add value to our life. After all why would you want to be influenced by someone who doesn’t align with your values and goes against everything you believe in.

I want to set a standard and be someone who people can look up to and lead by example.

You can resist social influence and don’t have to follow what everyone else is doing, you should always want to think independently and add value to your own life by standing out from the crowd and being the ‘needle in the haystack’ kind of person.

Standing out from the crowd and being unique will ensure you have a chance of being successful compared to those who blend in with everyone in their chosen field.

That’s a wrap!!

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a call with me please DM me on Twitter or reply to this email, I’ll respond to every email that I receive.