Involuntary Role Models

Did you know that you’re someone’s role model?

Somewhere out in the world, there’s a kid, a colleague, a friend, a relative — someone — who thinks the world of you.

It might be easy to identify them. Maybe you’re a famous athlete. Maybe you’re a professor. Maybe you’re a parent.

But it might be harder. You might inspire or impress someone and be totally unaware of their admiration for you. Maybe because of your title or just your proximity.

You might be a role model to your parents; to your boss; to a friend. You could even be a hero to YOUR heroes.

And they might not ever let you know it, though. Sneaky.

They might tell their girlfriends about how highly they think of you. They might just re-tweet your inspirational tweets that you posted to lift yourself up on a low day. They might write about you in their songs or on their blog.

That’s pretty cool.

So what does that mean for you, the involuntary role model?

I actually don’t have the answer to that question. But I can make two observations and suggestions if you’re interested.

One

You’re doing something well, right? It might be worth identifying what it is and try to amplify or improve upon it. It’s probably a strength of yours.

Two

You have some degree of responsibility. Like it or not, your behavior, attitudes, successes and failures might have an affect on someone else.

That’s not meant to be scary as much as it is to be encouraging and simply make you aware.

You could have that impact whether you are someones role model or not. So don’t feel too much pressure. But we’ve already uncovered the fact that you are indeed someone’s hero, no matter the degree.

My suggestion is to embrace that. Use the awareness to push yourself to be better, more consistent, more giving, more reliable, more humble.

It’ll certainly do you some good. But more importantly, you’ll probably help someone else out, too.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this, let me know. Or share it with someone who else you think might enjoy it too.

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