Influences In Your Life: Shaping Who You Are

Throughout our lives, many people are influences in our lives. Some of them push us to be the best people that we can be.

Family And Peers

Many of our earliest influences in our lives are our own family. Our parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins the first people that have a huge impact on our lives. These relationships shape a lot of who we eventually end up growing up into, for better or for worse. If these relationships are positive, it can lead to being a well-adjusted individual. When familial relationships are toxic, the toll it takes on us from childhood through the rest of our lives can be devastating.

Typically the next people that come into our lives that influence us are our childhood peers. They can be friends, bullies, or just acquaintances. Interacting with people that grew up in different situations shape our childhood experience in ways that our family relationships do not. Childhood peer interactions shape how we view others and how we interact with others for the rest of our lives.

Mentors And Role-Models

As we grow up, we start to find others outside of our family and peer groups that influence us. They are people that we look up to. People that we view as mentors or role-models also shape our lives. We can find mentors and role-models anywhere.

When I was in college, I found two mentors. One was one of my Information Systems instructors. I felt comfortable going to him anytime that I needed someone to talk to, about school or just life. I felt that he understood me and cared about me not just as a student, but as a person. The other was the second facilitator of my College and Careers Sunday school class. At a time when I didn’t feel comfortable talking to my parents about some things I was dealing with, he was supportive. He provided a safe space where I didn’t feel judged.

Who Influences you?

Who are the influences that have positively impacted your life? Be sure to let those who have influenced you know how much they have shaped who you are.

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Teaser: Next time we’ll explore things that trigger us.