Why Are People Like Sheep? Part Two

Continued from the previous post, Why Are People Like Sheep?, the question is what happens when our self-identity conflicts with what others think of us, or when we realize we aren't the people we thought we were?

We Change Ourselves
We change ourselves by changing our total behaviors so that our behaviors align more closely to our expectations or the perceptions of the other people (whose opinion is so important to us for whatever reason). This choice requires real work and effort on our part; a commitment many people are not prepared to make.

A perfect stereotypical example of this is when an alcoholic is confronted by his closest friends and family members in an "intervention." Then the alcoholic chooses to take control of his problem and change his behavior patterns. He does this because the people confronting him are in his Quality World; their opinions of him are important and he wants their opinion of him to closely match his own self-identity.

Perhaps he has always thought of himself in a certain way (his self-identity does not include being an alcoholic). Now his self-identity is in conflict with what others think of him, as well as what he thinks of himself. This conflict is usually an emotionally painful event causing great frustration. The frustration is usually sufficient motivation to create a change in behavior, e.g., the alcoholic promises to change.

I'll explore the others options in the next post...