"Influencers" are everywhere...
I don't just mean on social media, I mean anyone we allow to influence our thinking.
In my recent talk for the year 12s at Perth College for their #InsideOut program, I shared with them how our idea of success can be swayed by:
➡️ what's popular;
➡️ what we're exposed to;
➡️ what we first landed upon;
➡️ our parents and authority figures;
➡️ traditions;
➡️ societal expectations;
➡️ the path we've started on already...
Encouraging them to apply critical thinking to these ideas - identify bias and fallacies, not to dismiss them necessarily, but to engage with them with curiosity.
Each person influencing us will have their own logic and experience which is in turn influencing them.
I got them to think what they would like to *be*, *have* or *do* and WHY they wanted it.
<Spoiler: big houses, lots of money, private jets ✈️😁>
Then finding someone else who is already *being*, *has* or is *doing* what you want and reaching out to learn from their experience.
I showed them how to follow, connect and reach out to people through platforms like Linkedin or in real life, and stories of how I and others have learnt a lot by doing exactly that.
Fair to say, they were pretty terrified of the prospect of asking, even though the worst likely outcome is a "No".
So, if a year 12, uni student (or anyone else for that matter!) has the courage to reach out to ask about your experience or your path, I hope you can acknowledge their bravery and offer some words of encouragement or share a bit about what you've learnt.
We're all rough drafts of the person we're becoming, so why not share our learning along the way 🙂
