We are Products of our Environment.

Been meaning to read this book “The Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell for a couple years (my friend Laird gifted it to me), saw it on the bookshelf last week and read right through it last night…definitely highly recommended for anyone – good for both professional and personal growth.

Below is a quick sentence I copied down and will try to apply to my daily life:

Pg 163 – The reason that most of us seem to have consistent character is that most of us are really good at controlling our environment.

Throughout the book it says that the little things in life are what really start trends and change attitudes. Parents may feel that they have the biggest effect on a children’s upbringing, but more likely their role is a passive one. They do provide the genes for their child, provide a house/roof, food, and basic daily neccessities, but once the child goes off to school, it is there, WITH THEIR peers, that their personality is shaped….

In school I feel many people are forced to deal in environments that they are not accustomed too, thus many children may not be happy in school. Once they get older, they find their group of friends, know their strengths in themselves, and surround themselves in this environment….

THIS IS what I believe we cannot allow to happen….we cannot get comfortable in a close knit group of friends in a local area The world is too large…there are so many cultures, personalities, tastes that one needs to expose themselves to. Maybe in recent months I’ve taken this to extreme, but its sharpened my mind and FORCED me to adapt to the culture, to people I have never known before

This is what I hope more people do…get out of the normal environment you are comfortable in….shake it up a little…and appreciate a different type of life.

That is what its all about.