If you ever watch cattle on a farm, you will notice that they have pack mentality. They love to stick together as a group, when one cattle turns or stop, they all tend to turn and stop. If one walks over the edge of the cliff, I would bet they would all start walking over a cliff too…
When watching kids play soccer, you will see that at a young age, they all just run around and chase the soccer ball sticking together like a school of fish.
But when you get to around the age of 6 or 7, you will see something amazing start to happen. Certain kids, begin to break away from the “herd” and begin to showcase their own unique skills and abilities. These kids no longer chase the ball, but come to the realization that if they move away from the herd, there is a higher likelihood that when they do get the ball, they will have all the open space in the world to go score a goal.
As you watch these kids grow up, you will notice that the kids who left the herd early in their soccer careers, also tend to be the kids who excel at an older age…
What is the herd mentality?
· Doing the same things that 90% or more of the people around them do
· Doing things to fit in with others
· Doing things because “everyone” else is doing it
· Following others lead because you are afraid to lead yourself
When you follow the herd, you lose a sense of your true self. You pass on the urges that you have deep inside of you to be your own person. You waste mass amounts of time, doing things like everyone else when that time could be spent doing something that takes your life to the next level.
Why is it that so many people have herd mentality? I believe it is because we feel uncomfortable with being different. We don’t want to stand out from the crowd. We don’t want to be judged or ridiculed by others. As individuals we become lost and confused with the direction we should go because we have for so long, tried to be like everyone else.
Ask yourself this question “What are the things that I do just because everyone else is doing it?”
Now look at that list you created and start doing the opposite thing. That is really the secret to pulling away from the herd.
The other question you could ask yourself is, “What are things that 90% of the population won’t do, that I can do to set myself apart from others?”
This is such a powerful question to ask yourself because deep down inside you already know the things you should do to take your life and career to the next level. Many people just bury the answer so deep inside of themselves that the busyness of the daily grind permanently hides it from view. Write it down, post in on your wall, put it on your screensaver, do whatever it takes to constantly remind yourself that there is something important you need to accomplish.
I was a huge herd follower in the past; here is a quick list of the things I did just to be a part of the herd and not necessarily because it was what I wanted to do.
· Watched plenty of TV – So I could get distract myself from my own thoughts and have something to talk about with my friends
· Read, watched or listened to the news on a daily basis – I grew up believing this is something I had to do
· I didn’t spend time to reading books because the people around me didn’t read
· I spent too much time coming home after work “relaxing” and having a beer because that is what people do after a long day of work
· I wasted my weekends by sleeping in well into the mid-morning when I should have used that time to further my life goals.
Here is a word of caution, I use the herd mentality as a guideline, it’s definitely not the end all be all, and in fact I am sure some of you reading this blog will completely disagree with this mentality.
At the end of the day, it’s your personal choice on how far you take this philosophy to eliminate things you don’t need from your life. But remember there some things that you should always follow the herd on……….such as brushing your teeth in the morning.
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