Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life: How to Unlock Your Full Potential for Success and Achievement

YOUR REFERENCE GROUP
Your reference group is defined as the people you consider yourself
to be 
similar
to. For example, if you belong to a particular church,
the members of that church are part of your reference group. You
consider yourself to be like them. If you belong to a political party, a
bowling league, or a particular profession, people in those groups
and organizations are parts of your reference group. You identify
strongly with them.
Over time, through a process of 
absorption
, you will adopt
their attitudes, mannerisms, ways of speaking, levels of aspiration,
and even their style of dress. Your reference group will exert an
inordinate influence on the kind of person you become. You will
adjust your goals, behaviors, and thoughts to be consistent with
what you feel they will approve of. You see this with teenagers all
the time.
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