Personal Growth: Forget About The Herd

Have you the guts to be different? Have the guts to stand out from the crowd, to stand apart from your own little herd? Have you got what it takes to set yourself apart from all the sad, pathetic people that you hang out with? Normal people are sad and pathetic – and most of us are normal. Years of psychological research and work in the area of personal development prove that the normal mind is out of control, preferring to take its cue from the events of our formative years rather than actually taking real action – the only kind of action that will achieve real results.

The only problem is that most of us are afraid to be different. I’ve come across many people over the years who explained to me that they couldn’t be a success because they’d be afraid of losing their friends! But the other side of that coin is that I know plenty of people who, years later, feel liberated by the fact that they no longer hang out with some of their old acquaintances! It seems that normal people hang out with other normal people as part of some bizarre support mechanism – normal people like being a member of their own little victim support groups!

Herd behaviour is bizarre and you’ll never change your life until you walk away from the herd. Herd behaviour is positively dangerous to both you and all your fellow herd members. Once the herd agrees – albeit subconsciously or by omission – that some bizarre behaviour is alright, anything goes. Some years ago this was proved in frightening detail by what has subsequently become Philip Zimbardo’s infamous Stanford prison experiment – so-called because the experiment took place at Stanford University and involved student volunteers from Stanford. The volunteers were randomly split into two groups – one group would be the prisoners, the other group the prison guards. And, even though the experiment was scheduled to take two weeks, it was stopped after six days – the prison guards had become obscenely violent, the prisoners totally submissive. The outrageous behaviour of the former group, through, was OK – everyone in that little herd agreed with it so none of the guards was behaving, in their little parallel universe, in an unacceptable manner.

All normal people behave inappropriately – because they never behave from a clear and focused state of mind that is fully acquainted with the here and now. Normal behaviour is dictated by the subconscious mind and our normal environment. Normal behaviour could not be appropriate because it has nothing to do with the reality of the present moment.

As such, even though the Stanford Prison Experiment is an extreme illustration of normal behaviour (it is one of quite a number of such experiments that all come to the same conclusion), it does point out just how dangerous it is to run with the herd. More importantly, at a more fundamental level – and one that is affecting your ability to achieve effortless success and happiness – this normal herd mentality is preventing you from doing what your heart desires.

So distance yourself from the herd – once your back is turned many of them will forget about you – and start putting your own life first. Step out of the norms of herd-like behaviour – you will be amazed at how liberating it really is.