Last Tuesday, I took my youngest son to his swimming lesson, as I usually do. And, as we always do, my son and I sat on the little bench before going into the changing rooms where he removes his shoes and socks and I put those plastic blue shoes over my actual shoes. I’ve been taking my kids to swimming lessons for over fifteen years now. And, over the years, numerous people have asked why I bother putting the blue shoes on when hardly anyone else does. My reply is usually fairly similar. “There’s a sign there asking us to. It helps keep the floor clean.” “But no one else wears them?” is usually their response to that. I usually just shrug that off. Because I know my actual answer won’t always land well. It would be something along the lines of “I make my decisions based of what I think is and isn’t right. Not what everyone else is doing”. If I really wanted to push someone’s buttons, I could probably add “I’m not a child” onto the end. But I get it. It’s human nature to allow the behaviours of others around us to influence and shape our own behaviour. More than we might care to admit. There’s an expression that “we are the average of the five people we spend the most time with”. Whilst I wouldn’t fully agree with that, I think there’s definitely some validity within it. If everyone we hang out with drinks lots, we’re more likely to drink more. If everyone we associate with snacks regularly, we are more likely to snack. If the majority of our peer group is overweight, we are more likely to be overweight. If none of our friends exercise, there’s a good chance we won’t either. And so on. We can just choose to make a decision about what we will and won’t do, and stick with it irrespective of others (like “Awkward Jon” does with blue shoes), of course. But that’s not always easy. Making some adjustments to who and what we’re surrounded with can really help us make those better choices. I’m not going to suggest you “cut people out of your life” like some gurus do. I don’t think that’s the answer (not always anyway, maybe sometimes). We can add extra groups of people in. We can adjust the amount of time we spend in different environments. I’m well aware that one of the things that really helps our members achieve such great results is that they’re suddenly surrounded by people who are exercising regularly and eating better. So, if we’re struggling with doing something (or not doing it) then it might be worth considering the average behaviours of those we spend our time with. And, perhaps, how we candjust that somewhat? ———– Maybe by clicking here? –> www.myrise.co.uk/apply ———– Much love, Jon ‘Suede’ Hall
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RISE in Macclesfield was established in 2012 and specialise in Group Personal Training weight loss programmes for those that don’t like the gym and find diets boring and restrictive!
