How Role Model can make you successful in life?

I am a strong believer that a Role Model can make you successful in life. To validate this belief, I surveyed within a sample of my circle of family, friends, social media connections, etc.

There are some interesting observations from the survey, which I am sharing below.

54% of the participants believe that a Role Model helps you achieve success in life.

33% of the participants are not sure if a Role Model helps you achieve success in life.

13% of the participants do not believe, that a Role Model will be able to help you achieve success in life.

Some surprising facts that came out:

• Although only 54% believe that Role Model helps you, 56% have Role models.

This indicates that around 2% of the people who follow a Role Model are not sure about the value they are getting from following their Role Model.

To add some more colour to this

• 61% of men believe that Role Model helps you achieve success in life. But only 54 % follow Role Models
• 45% of women believe that Role Model helps you achieve success in life. But around 61% follow Role Models

Based on this data, we can safely conclude that the majority view is that Role Model can make you successful in life.

If this sounds interesting, please read through the rest of this post, to find more details!

About the Survey

I had created the survey with 18 questions around the demographics of the participants and their views on role models. And, I had circulated this among my family, relatives, friends, colleagues, connections on social media to collate their views.

Indeed, I was lucky to get a good representative sample in the age group of 25 and above. I had kept the survey open for about 10 days.

For a free copy of the complete survey report, please be in touch via the contact form and I will share that with you.

Before I proceed further, I must thank my family, relatives, friends, colleagues, connections on social media, etc. who participated in good numbers and shared their valuable inputs with me. I am grateful to each of them for sparing their valuable time and sending inputs very quickly.

Now, let me move on to the interesting details.

What is a Role Model?

I feel the Role Model is a person, for whom you have high regard for due to their achievements in life. Most likely, this is in an area that is close to your interests and passion. Therefore, you consider them as being successful according to your definition of success.

You try to imbibe some of their characteristics. And you believe that emulating them will also help you achieve success in life.

Following a Role Model gives you inspiration and motivation to achieve great things in life.

You need not be in regular touch with your Role Model. And it may be someone unrelated to you so you may not be in any contact with him/her.

Or you may just be following the person on social media or looking at his/her activities through some means.

What he/she is not?

Role Models can be one of the sources of help in your climb to success in life. However, there are certain things, you should be aware of:

• Following a Role Model does not always guarantee you success in life. To achieve success, you need to define your success path. So, you need to have your action plan. Role Model can inspire or motivate you on this path. However, you must do the required actions yourself
• Copying a Role Model would not automatically lead you to success. You have your unique  individuality and your circumstances are different than your Role Model. Just, blindly copying your Role Model, does not guarantee the same success for you
• Role Model may not be a mentor/coach/guide to you. A mentor or coach would be in regular touch with you and can help you overcome your obstacles. However, with a Role Model, the situation is different. Depending on your relationship with the person your frequency of contact could vary. It may also happen, that you have no connection with this person and just follow him.

Who is your Role Model?

Now you know what a Role Model is and what Role Model is not. But who is your Role Model?

The most likely candidates who fit the bill are:

• Someone from your family
• A renowned person in some field
• One of your friends
• Probably one of your teachers
• Someone at work – a senior leader in your organization, colleagues
• A successful professional in your field of interest

There could a combination of the above in the same person. It could also be the case that you have multiple role models.

Based on the survey responses from the people who had role models the top 2 candidates are:

1. Someone from your family – 45%
2. A Renowned person in some field – 27%

In the family, 70% of people voted for their parent as being their Role Model.

Why do you choose someone as your Role Model?

The 3 most likely reasons for choosing someone as your Role Model are:

1. You have high Respect for the person
2. The person is Knowledgeable in an area of your interest
3. In your eyes, the person is Successful in life

There could be other reasons as well, but these are the major ones. My survey findings also indicate these as the main reasons.

You feel inspired and motivated by that person to achieve great things in life. And you try to earn the same respect as your Role Model with your achievements.

How Role Model can make you successful in life?

The 3 main ways a Role Model can make you successful in life are:

1. Inspire you to achieve something
2. Motivate you in tough times
3. Guide you to find solutions to your problems

Few people copy their Role Models as well.

But copying your Role Model will help you on the success path to a limited extent only. You have a unique personality, goals, desires, and passion. Your situation and environment may be different from your Role Model. Therefore, blindly copying your Role Model may not help you on the success path.

How do you find your Role Model?

You must explore and find your role model. And, you may have more than one Role Model as well.

In some cases, it happens by default, if your role model is your parent or someone in the family. Sometimes you may accidentally find someone, who you can choose to be your role model. But in most cases, you must seek the person yourself. This can happen anytime in your life.

However, you must also ensure that you choose the right person as your Role Model. Else you may not achieve the success you desire for.

As per the survey, only 56% have Role Models. So around 44% do not have Role Models. They have either not found a Role Model or do not need one.

Do you need a Role Model to achieve success in life?

Well, it is not necessary to follow a Role Model to achieve success in life. You can achieve success in life without a Role Model as well.

As per the survey findings, 54% believe that Role Model can help them achieve success. However, 46% are either not sure about the value of a Role Model or do not believe a Role Model can help them.

Some people are self-motivated and feel they do not need a role model.

There is also no guarantee that you will achieve success if you just blindly copy a Role Model. As, your situation is unique, and you will need to create your action plan to achieve the success you aspire for.

You may not need a Role Model to achieve success in life. But if you are lucky to find a worthy Role Model do not lose sight of the person.

Role Models can inspire and motivate you to achieve big things in life. It can be one of the ways to keep you on the success path and clear the obstacles on the way. However, you need to choose the right person as your role model. Also, you should be clear what you want to achieve and whether a role model can help you.

Are you a Role Model?

As per the survey findings, 11% of people confirmed that they are Role Models for someone. 28% mentioned that they are not Role Models while 58% were not sure if they were Role Models for someone.

You may not find a Role Model, or you may not need one. But you should aim to be a good role model for other people to emulate. If not to anyone, at least aim to be a role model for yourself. This will keep you self-motivated and let you set high standards for yourself on your success path.

Summary

You can safely conclude that role models are still relevant today and a role model can make you successful in life.

Role Models can keep you motivated and inspire you to achieve great things in life. They are not necessary to ensure success for you and but can help you on this journey.

You must be careful in selecting a role model to follow. A wrong selection would not help you to achieve the success you aspire for.

Also, you need to seek your Role Model and remember not to blindly copy your Role Model. Your personality, aspirations, needs, and environment are unique. And what works for your Role Model may not work for you.

If you are not able to find a Role Model, you should aim to be a Role Model for others to emulate. This would keep you on the success path.

Please leave your comments on my post. I would like to know your views as well. If you feel the need to be in touch with me, please contact me.

For a free copy of the survey report, please contact me.

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