Our Herd Mentality Can Make Us Do Dumb Things

Animals follow their herd instinct mostly for survival and to keep each other safe.

Unfortunately for us humans, when we go with the herd mentality, usually we end up doing dumb and stupid things to ourselves.

While animals are meant to evolve as a group consciousness, the human's journey is about being self-realised persons, and then enlightened persons.

Unfortunately, we are far from being self-realised as a species. And truly self-realised or enlightened persons are a minority and we have not hit critical mass yet, where we can positively impact the human consciousness towards more enlightened behaviours versus uncouth behaviours.

So what can you do while you observe that there are many people including close contacts, acquaintances with uncouth thinking, manner of speaking, and behaviours? You remind yourself to create distance.

You disassociate from them, not because they are bad people. But just like a virus, these unrefined behaviours can rub off on you while you're still learning to become self-realised. As long as you're not enlightened, you have no way to guard your own mindset.

Heard of this saying: You're the average of the five people you spend the most time with?

While this may be true, the REAL IMPACT is more than that. Because your immediate five associates are also impacted by their immediate close contacts, including their spouses, their family, their spouses’ friends and etc. There was a major study on the breadth of social influence conducted by Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler, and if you google it, you might be able to find some interesting information.

A writer David Burkus studied this research and this was his conclusion: You’re not the average of the FIVE people you surround with. It’s way bigger than that. You’re the average of all the people who surround you. So take a look around and make sure you’re in the right surroundings.

It is for this reason too, I have left certain networks. My decision was based on looking at the one with the most unrefined mindset and sussing out where is the average, and I see that I do not wish to be that. Some people have judged me for this and made causal comments behind my back that I will lose friends if I do not "compromise" or accommodate. But I have no wish to.

I did not come here to be average. I came here to be enlightened and this is my personal commitment to myself. I will rather be judged and lose these friends than to be associated and be pulled down in consciousness.

And this is exactly how it is if your spiritual path or path towards enlightenment, is your key focus in life. If you wish to grow spiritually and become more enlightened, you must let go of things that are holding you back.

Disassociate from people, flush them out of your system, disconnect from the herd mentality. Just because more people are doing something, doesn't make it right. Mobsters are in herds, that doesn't mean their behaviour is right.

And you do all these for yourself, not because you do not care for them. You do this because you care for your own path and your own journey more.

The reality is this: it is still a zoo on this planet. Just take a look at the current head of the state of the supposedly most powerful country on this planet. That says a lot about us as a race.

If there is anything about personal development and growth you want to learn in 2020, it is to separate the uncouth from the refined in mindset, behaviour, manner of speaking and how conversations are made. And make your choice.

©2020 Shamala Tan

Let me know how I can assist you if you have any questions [email protected]
Shamala Tan is an author, spiritual entrepreneur and healer. Her work focuses on transforming the lives of others on the spiritual, emotional, mental and earthly level.

One of her success stories as an author is to being featured alongside New York’s bestsellers Sonia Choquette, Robert Allen, Arielle Ford, Marci Shimoff as well as Christine Kloser in the book Pebbles In The Pond.

Shamala’s clients include small business owners, holistic practitioners as well as those seeking to find more significant meaning and value in life. Shamala offers laser coaching to her clients on a one-to-one basis or in a group environment, offline as well as online.