“We human beings are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others’ actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others’ activities. For this reason, it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others.” – Dalai Lama XIV

Humans are Social Animals

Aristotle said that man is a social animal. He went on to talk about either living with or outside of society and class and all sorts of politics stuff that I’m not going to get into. From the early hunter gatherer days, we’ve always been dependent on others. We’ve survived through teamwork then as we do now. Living in societies, we are more dependent on others than we ever have been. Think of the actions that you take going through your daily routine and those behind the scenes that make it possible. Everyone from farmers to oil rig workers and bankers to fast food cashiers. We all have a role to play in our greater society.

Social Influences Impact our Personal Beliefs

In 1972, Elliot Aronson published “The Social Animal” and changed the way we view daily life. He refined the idea of cognitive dissonance and applied it to social settings. Aronson found that when people are joining a group, those put through an embarrassing initiation process develop a lot more favorable view of the group than those who are allowed an effortless or painless entry. In other words, the more of ourselves we sacrifice publicly, the more loyal we are to the initial cause. This shouldn’t come as a surprise though because we all know stories of good people who get caught up in by bad social influences. What this does tell is us that the individual is rationalizing that behavior and the group as a whole based. In 1972, this was pretty revolutionary.

Joining a Group of Like-Minded Individuals Increases your Likelihood of Success

Napoleon Hill first wrote about mastermind groups in his 1928 book the Law of Success. Hill said that a mastermind is “a mind that is developed through the harmonious cooperation of two or more people who ally themselves for the purpose of accomplishing any given task.” Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income goes so far to say that a “mastermind group is mandatory to achieve on line success.” Knowing that behavior is influenced by our social interactions, the group is essential for success. It’s important to hold yourself accountable, but it’s really easy to make justifications or excuses to yourself as well. It’s a lot harder to justify a bad decision, or lack of progress, to a group that you’ve made a commitment to. That’s why you see groups like Weight Watchers or Alcoholics Anonymous continue to be successful over the years. The core of these programs is the small group interactions that aid in holding the individual accountable. Steve Kamb at Nerdfitness.com fosters the mastermind mentality through their forums.

Meetings Don’t Have to Be Face to Face

In the world of Skype, Google Docs, Google Hangouts, Web Forums and countless other ways to interact with people, a face to face meeting is not required for a successful mastermind group. Steve Kamb at Nerdfitness.com facilitates the mastermind process by using web forums very effectively. There is a community of people interacting regularly, sharing goals, and holding each other accountable. Meeting on Skype or in a Google Hangout is another great way to meet with your group. Whether you’re looking to start a business, run a business, lose weight, quit smoking, quit drinking, or any other commitment – there are other people going through it and teaming up increases everyone’s chance at success.

Your Success Hinges on Joining a Group

We know that behavior is impacted by social influences. Discipline is training yourself to produce an expected outcome of behavior. I know it seems counter-intuitive that I’m advocating to join a GROUP in order to learn SELF discipline. That’s just how much influence groups have though. Mastermind groups, meeting groups, a workout buddy, weight loss partners – these are all great ways to get yourself pointed in the right direction. If you are looking for anyone, consider co-workers, friends and family, or even meetup.com, craigslist, or even forums on a website. Whatever you can do, getting together with others will increase your chances of success dramatically.

Thank you again for reading about how essential groups are when learning self discipline.

– Tim

Photo Source: Jesslee Cuizon; FutUndBeidl; Karen