What do you think of when you hear the words ‘under the influence?’

Does your mind lead you to think about some kind of substance, such as alcohol or drugs?

Well, you wouldn’t be wrong in thinking so.

But what about being under the influence of your environment, people, or even objects?

Whether you’re aware of it or not, you’re constantly being influenced by the people you surround yourself with and your physical environment. Oh, and the people could be in the form of actors that you watch, personalities or even still images that you’re looking at.

Your brain is susceptible to all kinds of influences that you’re probably unaware of, and eventual the influences begin to guide your behavior. You might think that you’re immune to such influences because they occur subtly, and over time, but you’re not. We are all susceptible to such influence. That’s why the entire business of advertising is based on exposure and repetition, because it works.

If you are going to be influenced, then why not intentionally design your environment with people and objects that lead you towards the kind of person you want to be?

You can begin to surround yourself both in the physical and digital world with objects, pictures and people that inspire, and ultimately influence you to be the version of you that you aspire to be. And like the advertising model, you can use repetition to your advantage.

Once you realize just how much influence your environments have on you, you can consciously begin to prune away all that is not conducive you becoming the person you want to be. Or, and most obviously, you can just leave yourself wide open to be under the influence of everyone that want’s to influence you with their own agendas. The choice is yours.

P.S. Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed it please share it with one person you love.