At an event I attended this weekend I was reminded yet again that the very best way to influence others is by modeling the behavior we want to see more of.
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From birth to 7 years of age kids are watching. They are observing everything around them in a theta state, building up a library of habits subconsciously. They aren’t buying books, studying, listening to lectures or taking notes on a pad of paper on how to act. They are just absorbing all the rules and standards of being a human.
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They learn
How to eat with purpose or how to eat mindlessly
They learn how to drink to hydrate or how to drink for entertainment
They learn movement is necessary for health or they learn lack of movement leads to dis-ease.
They learn attitude can make us or attitude can keep us down.
They learn to solve problems or they learn to wait for problems to get solved.
They learn how to nurture good relationships or they learn how to stay in dysfunctional ones.
And so much more.
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Many people have the perception that kids learn at school but the truth is once they get to school they have already learned how to be.
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The most powerful form of teaching is modeling in repetition. That doesn’t just apply to kids. Many times it takes someone to model what life can be like for us to realize we want to make different choices. Sometimes just the right person comes along that makes us stop and think about the choices we make.
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Being the model of what we want to see more of in the world brings us the best chance of influencing others.