Role Models in Psychology

My father is a role model for me; coming from a very humble poor background, he was subjected to very adverse conditions that would have otherwise rendered him a failure par excellencel.

He would struggle through the conditions that were synonimous to his child hood to finally be who he is today .With the undying intention to be one day a voice and symbol of hope and success, he began from nothing until he reached his goals. He inculcated in himself the spirit of self dependence that is his strongest trait to date. He never allowed his prevailing circumstances as a child to dictate the kind of life that he would later on live and instead chose to turn his misfortunes to his greatest fortune. Since his father was working in a different city and the mother being paralyzed, he chose not to get help from anyone. He was the only boy in a family of five and this meant that he had to do everything he couuld to ensure that their family was protected.

Even though he was young and did not have the ability to succeed like other children from better backgrounds, he became a successful person and his name was always in the ‘principal’ list. He took his education very seriously and his efforts have since handsomely paid off. These are some of the reasons why he is my role model. Self determination and self dependence is a strong tool that can be used to achieve our heart’s desires. In order to be a role model, it is imperative for one to develop very strong goals that everyone who looks up to you will be able to admire; he should be very visionary when setting these goals and standards. Avisionary person is one who will look at the future and use his present assets to ensure that he fulfills his long term goals.

It goes without saying that such goals may be affected by factors such as prenting which according to Singh, Fornagy and Marmot (322) plays vital role in a child’s adult success. They are of the opinion that relatively lower levels of strictness coupled with high parental expectations as well as parental warmth will greatly contribute to adult success of a child. In as much as his dad stayed in another city, he was a disciplinarian and always ensured that my dad together with his siblings always got the best of education. He was very visionary with realistic and strong goals the exact qualities that my dad has been able to instill in me and our family at large.Another trait that every role model should have is discipline; this is associated with behaving in a manner that is consistent with the laid out rules of the society and individual targets that one must be able to meet at all times. Just like in sports, one should be able to consider team work and societal cohesion as important ingredients for discipline.

Teachers in schools realized that sports may be a major tool of academic excellence as well as important in helping students have a brighter future (DeMeulenaere, 131). The fact that students had to perform exceptionallly well in school in order to participate in sports meant that personal discipline had to be observed to the latter. Looking at my dad, he instilled the same discipline in us since he trained himself well through setting goals that he had to remain vigilant to fulfil. He was actively involved din sports which nurtured his love for being disciplined as well as an excellent performer. Without discipline therefore, it is hard to realize one’s full potential.

Role models ought to set high standards of achievement that will have to motivate all those who look up to them. Singh, Fornagy and Marmot (329), argue that if role models set a high standard of achievement, chances are high that all those who admire them will also tend to achieve more. They believe that with high standards of achievement set, one will be committed to setting high standards for himself or herself thereby encouraging adult development. My dad decided that he was not going to allow himself to be miserable and he therefore took his studies seriously.It was because of setting for himself high standards that he was able to succeed, he has set the same standards for us that we too must achieve. Finally, integrity should be the penultimate quality that every role model should posses.

This is defined as the ability for one to be accountable and ready to take responsibility for whatever action he or she takes or makes. As a matter of fact, one should be able to use his words as his freedom at all times. With this trait, my role model has been able to make me realize how important it is for one to have integrity since it sets one apart. My dad has been able to turn around many ugly situations due to his integrity. I remember at one point in my childhood when his promise to pay a loan for our ailing neighbour secured her from being thrown out of her house.In conclusion, I believe that every person should have a role model who possesses the above traits since they are what will determine the kind of life that one will live in future.

If one will choose to have a role model who has no integrity, self dependence, discipline and high achievement goals, then it goes without saying that he or she is bound to have a mediocre life at the end of the day. Role models always serve as a motivation to the growing young men and women in the society. Over and above everything, being self dependent and determined to achieve the unimaginable play a major role in our individual success.