Don’t Be a Sheep — Gang/Posse Mentality
You are at home sitting around and your mother or significant other starts to ask about what you been up to. You do not want to tell her that you been hanging around your friends all day and maybe even had done some crazy things, which at the time seemed like fun. Does this sound familiar to you?
I had so much experience with the herd mentality in school growing up in New York, which to me was nothing wrong at all. Look I understand, you see your boys or girls are always there to have your back when it gets tough right? They are the only ones that understand you because they are living the same life you are at home and school. But how did all this start? How did you get involved with all these “friends” of yours?
Let me ask you a question. Did you go looking for them or did they come looking for you? Were they friends of your family or just guys from school? What are their conversations centered on? You see there is a need to answer these questions before you get involved with another group that seems necessary. You have to take responsibility of picking the right people to hang out with. You have so many years coming ahead of you and they will most likely not be in the picture.
The thing with most of us when we are young is that need to sense that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. It is a natural instinct and has ensured our survival as a species, but the problem starts when we channel that need into a group that is no different in age or thought maturity than you are. Ever heard the saying that you may be “acting like a sheep”? Sheep in this sense do what the others are doing with no thought or prospect of being different or raising themselves to a higher level. Are you a sheep? I really want you to ask yourself these questions:
1. Are the friends that I am hanging out with helping each other to go and find schools to apply for or after school programs to go join or having meetings with older successful people?
2. Are those guys always into a fight or some type of illegal action? Do they value alcohol or weed more than classroom time?
3. Do they call themselves by a name and say they take care of each other, but no one in the group is making money or getting any props from school officials?
4. Do they constantly tell you to go do something they know your mother or father would never want you to do?
If the answers to these questions are negative then you are part of a gang/posse that has no interest in your well being at all. The only person that cares about anything is the leader, who needs to feel like a boss and he or she knows how to talk in order to persuade people to treat him or her as that boss. Are you willing to be their punk slave and do what they say because these people are like your brothers or sisters?
I have news for you. About 90% of them will fade away from your life in the future. And guess what, everything that they had you do for them and the consequences are going to stay with you. Let me say it again. Those “friends” of yours will either move, be arrested, or die, and they will forget about you in a week if they didn’t pass away.
Look for someone above your level to follow guys. Ask these questions about who you look to for mentoring:
1. Is this person successful in their life?
2. Do they tell me only things that would bring benefits to my life?
3. Are they alway pushing me to take action for either work or school?
4. Do they give me ways to talk to them when I need help?
5. What kind of groups do they belong to (Business, Sororities, Government)?
I do not care what they went through in their past, because as long as these questions are positive they are going to be positive in your life. Whether they are businessmen or ex-felons does not matter.
Take the first step guys. You can reach out to me and ask questions whenever you want:
Facebook: latinceo / Twitter: @latinceo / Instagram: latinceo / Snapchat: latinceo1
Email: jose@bosslatinos.com
WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT GO AND BE A SHEEP. BE A MAN OR A WOMAN AND TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR OWN LIFE!
