Be a Role Model
We all look up to those who are successful in our eyes. You may look up to Elon Musk as an entrepreneur, Linus Torvalds as a programmer, Ed Sheeran as a musician, Jordan Peterson as a mentor, or anyone you know personally who appears to be living the life you want.
We may assume that if we were more like our role models, then we’d feel better about our lives, be happier and more secure. Our role models have their own problems, have had their own struggles, and come out on top. You may think that it was easier for them to improve than it is for you, and that may be true, we don’t all get the same opportunities. Though blaming unfortunate circumstances for not trying to be better is not going to do you any good.
How about if we lived our lives as if we were role models for others? How would our behaviours, speech, and actions change if others were looking up to us?
Living your life as if you want to be a role model for others is a brilliant thing to do. You will hold yourself to higher standards, you will put more thought into decision making, and you will put more effort into everything you do. If you start acting as if you are a person who others admire and consistently strive to do so, then you will probably end up as a role model yourself.
You may think that you’d be more scared of failure if others looked up to you, but not everyone judges you based on your failures, they judge you based on how you respond to failure. If you try something you want to do and fail and then proceed to give up entirely, you aren’t living like a role model. Role models always strive to improve and look at failure as a learning opportunity, not as a mistake with life-and-death consequences. Fearlessness is admirable, as long as it isn’t paired with stupidity.
Do role models put in an excessive amount of time into their work? Some do, but only because they are happy doing it. If you spend all your time working to try and appear as a role model, but it makes you miserable and causes other areas of your life to slide, then you’re not living like a role model. Role models live life in such a way that makes them happy and gives them a sense of meaning, while being guided by their values and their purpose.
Consider today (or tomorrow), will you strive to be a role model to others? What would you do differently from what you usually do? If you live like a role model, there’s a good chance you’ll feel like one. Many role models try and live each day to the best of their ability. With each day, are you going to choose to be ordinary, or extraordinary?