Steering Others

Photo: Vasyl Hnyp

Photo: Vasyl Hnyp

Norms…what the heck?  More like constraints




It’s quite interesting how different people think.  


I do a lot of work with people.  In fact, I do almost ALL my work with people and one thing that I can definitely say is true is that everyone is different.  Like super different.  


We all have ideologies.  We all have our own experiences and most of these is what makes up our personality traits.  Something happens, there is an outcome, we have feelings related to this, and then we make cognitive and behavior changes as a result.


Why am I bringing this all up?  Well, what I’ve come to notice is that because of certain experiences, situations, incidents, and reactions, we’ve come to dictate life in a particular light.  We believe that we know what’s best and oftentimes, because of our ideologies, we can hold others back from pursuing their own forms of greatness.  We can also steer them toward their dreams…


There’s this thing in the psychological world called neuroplasticity.  Big word….  The basis of this is the neuro means brain and plastic is this moldable/shapable thing.  So our brains can be shaped or molded (not in the physical sense, Captain Literal).  What we say or tell someone else, can massively mold or shape the way they think, especially if we’re a figure of authority or “expert” in a specific topic of conversation.  Many times, we have brief experience with someone and form a quick opinion resulting us in categorizing that person in a particular way.  If we repeatedly verbalize this to said person, they can begin to take shape of our “opinion.”  For example, a child may have been taught to be respectful toward adults and only to speak if spoken to.  The adult then may think that the child is shy, stating this to the child.  Over a quite short period of time, the child has a high potential of believing the she/he is shy now which then may begin to take on these traits.  


I bring this all up because as humans, it’s our duty to help people lead the lives that exude their best traits and qualities.  And a lot of times, that doesn’t add up to the same life that we live or our personal ideologies.  We’re here to guide people to their most successful versions of them seeking out that person’s strengths and then lead them to THEIR light.  Whether this is by being a parent, a counselor, a mentor, a coworker, a teammate, we are all forms of leaders and we need everyone to do what they’re best at so we can continue to have all types of leaders in the world.  We may lead my example, or maybe we take the lead of someone else to show others how to follow.  We all have our spot in the world and when we can find this and help others find this, we all tick just a little bit better.