When you hear the words peer pressure what comes to mind? I’m pretty sure the imagination is running wild with negative thoughts and images, but today I am sharing how you can use peer pressure positively and how it can be a force to help you achieve more success in your life.
PropelHer’s current book of the month is The Power of Habit and in it Charles Duhigg discusses peer pressure. He says “On a playground, peer pressure is dangerous. In adult life, it’s how business gets done and communities self-organize”.
In its simplest form peer pressure is where another person (or a group of people) try and persuade a person to do something. Now as a teenager that is most likely to be something a teenager shouldn’t be doing such as drink, smoke, take drugs or have sex. However, if you have carefully selected the people you have around you then the peer pressure can actually be highly beneficial. That is because rather than pushing you to do something you shouldn’t be doing, they can actually be pushing you to do something you should.
Sociologists, on the whole, believe that most people have friends that are like them. People are comfortable surrounding themselves with people who mirror themselves. This adds another reason to why peer pressure is so powerful. You choose friends based on them being like you and wanting to be a part of that group and since you are aware that people want to be around people like themselves you are pressurised to keep up with the group in order to stay “like them”. So now I want you to consider this. You are friends with a group of successful women who have all started journaling every morning and rave about how great it is. What are the chances you are going to give it a go?
So now I want you to consider this – You are friends with a group of successful women who have all started journaling every morning and rave about how great it is. What are the chances you are going to give it a go?
Or throughout the year all of your friends have increased their income by negotiating a payrise or starting their own business? What are you going to do when it comes to your salary review?
Do you see what I am getting at? When your peer group is made up of successful, driven women you are going to feel pressurised into taking actions that are going to make you more successful.
In short, being around other successful people makes it easier for you to up your game. In fact, because it is the norm to be aiming and achieving high, it will feel so natural that you won’t even notice it as extra work in the way you would if you were the only person in the group doing it.
There is a famous Jim Rohn quote that states “You’re the average of the five people you spend the most time with” and for a long time it would really stress me out. I knew the picture of who I wanted to be and it didn’t look anything like the average of the people I hung around with.
So I had to take action and so can you. So if you want to start utilising the power of peer pressure positively by ensuring you have the right group of people around you you can try the following:
1. ACTIVELY NETWORK WHERE YOU LIVE
I am really lucky to live in London where there are lots of ambitious, driven people to connect with. However, I didn’t always take advantage of it. I used to go to work and then come home and work on my business. One day I made the decision that networking in person was key to my personal and professional development. I didn’t just want great connections online, but great connections who I could meet in person. That way I could surround myself physically, as well as mentally, with the right people. And if you are based in London then you should definitely come and check out PropelHer’s Book Club. We have a fabulous group of ambitious women who you can connect with and meet up with on a monthly basis. Find out more here.
2. CREATE A MASTERMIND
The concept of masterminds was made famous by Napolean Hill in Think and Grow Rich. The idea is that a group of people meet regularly with the clear focus of supporting one another. There are lots of paid mastermind groups out there that you can join, but you can also create your own. I am part of a self-managed group, and whilst I might not spend the most time a week around them, just having 1 hour a week does keep me on track and reminds me of how amazing the other women in the group are during, which in turns helps me to up my game.
3. JOIN PAID PROGRAMMES
Now there are some great free communities out there, but I definitely recommend joining a paid programme. When you join a paid programme you know the other people in their mean business! People who pay to invest in themselves are serious about their future and they are the sort of people you want to be around. This year I have invested thousands into paid programmes and the connections I have made as a result have been amazing.
And that is why even though I primarily focus on the 1:1 coaching, I do run the occasional group programme. Right now, the doors for GET THAT GOAL are open. GET THAT GOAL is a 90-day challenge to help achieve your big goal in the next 3 months and end your 2017 on a high! Doors close on Thursday 14th September. For the full information or to sign up click here.
So that is my top 3 tips on how to use peer pressure positively: actively network where you live, create your own mastermind and join paid programmes.
