Who are your role models? - Dean Graziosi Weekly Wisdom
6 Apr 2016 · 4 min
Dean Graziosi shares a story about his kids repeating something inappropriate they overheard adults say, then explores how the people around you shape your behavior and your children's. He argues you need to choose your circle deliberately and watch what example you're setting.
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Hey, it's Dean Graziosi and welcome to the Weekly Wisdom. Today I want to talk about role models. What kind of role model are you being? What kind of role models do you hang around? Or what kind of role models if you have children, are your children looking up to. You know, this week something hit me pretty hard in the face. Everybody makes their own decisions and I'm surely not teaching you how to be a parent, but I talk about my kids all the time and when something hits me, I want to share it with you. I have cocktails, I'll have a glass of wine with dinner or a drink with a friend. But I've made that decision that drinking in front of my children is not something we think is smart. Maybe one glass of wine. So I'm using this as an example. This week my children happened to be around someone who had a couple drinks. And you think my kids are only seven and nine right now and they're kind of off in the distance and this person is talking and they're talking freely because they had a couple cocktails. And it just doesn't, it's just not a normal experience in my life. So I'm listening. And even though the story is clean, it's rated pg, it's the references, it's the innuendos, it's the things they talk about that I realized my children are looking. I looked over and I saw my 9 year old daughter staring and taking it in. And I was hoping it didn't affect her, but literally a day later she brought something up that was completely in line with what they said and something I wouldn't want for my child. Wouldn't want for your children. So with that said, what kind of role model are you being to the people around you and who do you surround yourself that are affecting you? Like that conversation affected my daughter. You see, so many times in life we want to be brave, we want to go to the next level of life, but we don't realize that the people surrounding us are affecting us. You know, Tony Robbins is great at saying, if you look at the sum total of five friends that you spend the most time with, you're somewhere in the middle. And if you have role models that are telling you you shouldn't be in that relationship. This economy with the crazy elections, the way, are we going to be socialists? Are we going to be crazy conservatives? We're going to be somewhere in the middle. Oh, you can't make money in today's world. Their taxes are too high or you can't do that next level thing, it takes money to make money. Or, you know, stop trying to eat salads and chicken. Come on, just eat normal. You'll be fine. What kind of references are you getting from people that might be a role model in your life? And then you take those in, or you take in a stressful boss or a stressful day, and then you go home. And then be aware of what kind of role model you're being to your children, to your spouse, to your family, to your friends. You see, we have more impact on people than we could possibly imagine. Our words can be so impactful. I know I've done things with my own children without realizing and said it. And a month, six months later, it'll come back out of my children. I'm like, oh, my God, I planted that in there. So I want to be conscious every moment of the role model I am, not only for them, for the people in my life and for you. So this week, I'd love for you to think about those three things. If you're not a parent, of course, don't worry about that. But if you're a role model, what are you projecting to the people around you? And then look around and who's your role model? Are you watching the Kardashians and getting that? Are your kids watching it from the background? I don't mean to trash it, but is that the kind of influence you want on your family, on you? Right. So again, this week, we have a lot of stuff. We have social media. We have all these things firing at us each day. When you watch them, when you take them in and the people around you, that's your role models. It's time to make sure that you're taking in the right stuff, that you're projecting what you want to be to the people around you and the people you love. Be consciously aware of your role models this week. And what kind of role model are you? And I'd love to get your comments below on how you've taken that to another level. I'm Dean Graziosi. Thanks for watching. Hey, if you don't have my books, go to deansfreebook.com that's deansfreebook.com you can get my New York Times best seller on personal development and my latest real estate book. Pick and choose which one you want. I'll talk to you soon.
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