Your behaviour influences others more than you think: a mindset talk with Reza Mehman
Being a role model in everyday life: in this mindset talk, Reza Mehman explores the power of leading by example. Your behaviour influences other people, whether you intend it to or not. His examples involve Toni-L, Massiv and a widely shared LinkedIn post.
Being a role model: how your behaviour shapes others
Whether you like it or not, your behaviour affects other people. In this short but powerful mindset talk, Reza Mehman shares three stories that made a deep impression on him. Toni-L helped establish German hip-hop and, decades later, remains a role model for Massiv. A LinkedIn post about a running group inspired a stranger to start running regularly. And one quotation has become a principle Reza tries to live by: “Be the person you want your children to be.”
Summary
In one sentence: Reza Mehman explains why your behaviour influences others more than you think, using examples involving Toni-L, Massiv and a LinkedIn post.
In three sentences: At a boxing event, Reza watched Massiv, surrounded by his own fans, approach Toni-L and ask: “May I take a photo with you?” It showed that a true role model is not necessarily the person attracting the loudest applause. Reza’s guiding principle is: “Be the person you want your children to be.”
In five sentences: Reza attended a boxing event at which Toni-L received an award. At the after-show party, Massiv wanted a photo with Toni-L, despite being surrounded by fans himself. It showed that a true role model is not necessarily the person with the most fans. A LinkedIn post about a running group inspired a stranger to start running regularly. Reza’s guiding principle is: “Be the person you want your children to be.”
Context: who, what and why
Who is speaking: Reza Mehman, in a solo mindset talk.
What it is about: The power of being a role model and how your behaviour influences other people, whether you intend it to or not.
Why it matters: In an age when social media can make anyone a potential role model, awareness of the impact of our own behaviour matters more than ever.
Three central questions in this episode:
- How does your behaviour influence others, even without you realising it?
- Who is a true role model: the person with the most fans, or the person who paved the way?
- How can you consciously set a positive example?
Contents
- Introduction
- Summary
- Context
- Themes and perspectives
- Key takeaways
- Frequently asked questions
- Standout quotations
- Transcript from the original article
- Keywords
- Names and terms
- A passage to quote
Themes and perspectives
1. Toni-L and Massiv: who is the true role model?
At an after-show party following a boxing event, Massiv wanted a photograph with Toni-L, even though he was surrounded by fans himself. Toni-L helped establish German hip-hop 40 years earlier and remains a role model for generations of artists.
Keywords: Toni-L, Massiv, hip-hop, role model, generations
2. The LinkedIn post that inspired someone to run
Reza casually posted about a running group on LinkedIn. Someone later wrote to tell him that this post had inspired him to start running regularly. As Reza puts it: “Whether I want to or not, I am always acting as a role model.”
Keywords: LinkedIn, running group, role model, social media, influence
3. “Be the person you want your children to be”
This is Reza’s guiding principle. In many of the things he does, he now asks himself whether he is setting a good example for his children.
Keywords: children, role model, guiding principle, parenting, behaviour
Key takeaways
- Your behaviour influences others, whether you intend it to or not.
- Toni-L helped establish German hip-hop 40 years ago and remains a role model for Massiv.
- Massiv wanted a photograph with Toni-L at a party, despite being surrounded by his own fans.
- A LinkedIn post about a running group inspired a stranger to start running regularly.
- Reza says: “Whether I want to or not, I am always acting as a role model.”
- Negative behaviour also has an immediate effect on those around you.
- Reza’s guiding principle is: “Be the person you want your children to be.”
- The people you choose as role models have a powerful influence on who you become.
Frequently asked questions
Why does your behaviour influence others more than you think?
Reza Mehman explains that Toni-L did not know his decision to rap in German would inspire generations of artists. Reza did not know that a LinkedIn post about a running group would prompt someone to start running regularly. Our behaviour has effects we often cannot foresee, both positive and negative.
What does “Be the person you want your children to be” mean?
Reza Mehman has adopted this quotation as a personal guiding principle. In many of the things he does, he asks whether he is setting a good example for his children. His point is that children learn from the behaviour of their parents and the people around them, rather than words alone.
What happened between Toni-L and Massiv?
Reza attended a boxing event where Toni-L received an award. At the after-show party, Massiv wanted a photograph with Toni-L, despite being surrounded by his own fans, and asked: “May I post it on Instagram?” It showed that a true role model is not necessarily the person with the most fans, but the person who paved the way.
Standout quotations
“Be the person you want your children to be.”
— Reza’s guiding principle
“Whether I want to or not, I am always acting as a role model, in a positive sense but also in a negative one.”
— Reza Mehman
“Toni-L did not know at the time what impact all of this would have.”
— Reza Mehman on Toni-L
“The people you choose as role models have a huge influence on the kind of person you will become.”
— Reza Mehman
Transcript from the original article
Toni-L and Massiv: who is the true role model?
Reza Mehman:
For me, it was genuinely mind-blowing to see someone receive that kind of recognition. But what happened that evening was especially interesting. The rapper Massiv was also at this boxing event, and he came to the same after-show party as us. When he entered the room, I saw a crowd run over and gather around him. Everyone wanted a selfie, a conversation, a quick handshake or a few words. You could tell that Massiv perhaps was not entirely in the mood. He probably just wanted to relax, but he still politely went along with everything. Everyone got their selfie.
Then, after several minutes — I would even say ten or fifteen — once the last person had their photograph, Massiv walked past us and somehow struck up a conversation with Toni. I had been talking a lot with Toni that evening about our podcast and so on. Massiv began talking to him and asked: “Hey, could we take a selfie together, and may I post it on Instagram?” I thought that was fantastic. Just moments earlier, everyone had been going over to Massiv for a photograph. Shortly afterwards, there he was wanting a photograph with Toni-L.
Toni-L as a pioneer of German hip-hop
Reza Mehman:
Toni clearly did something 40 years ago — helping establish German hip-hop in Germany — that still affects the people around him today. Generations of artists may still look to him as an example or a role model because he paved the way for them. I am sure Toni did not know back then that he would become such a positive role model simply by, for example, rapping in German and making music in German. I am sure, and I have spoken to him about it, that he did not know at the time what impact it would all have.
The LinkedIn post that inspired someone to run
Reza Mehman:
A while ago, I put something on LinkedIn without giving it a great deal of thought. LinkedIn is a social media platform. I simply wrote about a running group I had joined one Sunday. It had been enjoyable, and I was glad I had gone. Someone later wrote to me and said that, because of that LinkedIn post, he had decided to pick up his running shoes — or rather put them on — and go for a run. Since then, he has been doing it regularly. It made me realise once again that, whether I want to or not and whether I think about it or not, I am always acting as a role model, in a positive sense but also in a negative one.
“Be the person you want your children to be”
Reza Mehman:
That is why I have decided to follow something I could almost call a personal guiding principle. There is a quotation I really, really like: “Be the person you want your children to be.” It is a beautiful quotation because, with many of the things I do now, I actually think: is what I am doing right now a good example for my children? At the end of the day, to return to that example, I can talk as much as I want. But the way I behave, the way the people around me behave, and the environment I spend time in and bring my children into are what shape the people they become.
If I can leave you with one thing today, it is to really think about how you behave and whether you want to be a positive or a negative example. It will certainly affect the people around you. And, on the other side of that, the people you choose as role models have a huge influence on the kind of person you will become, or the person you already are. Great, everyone — that was a relatively short mindset talk. I hope you enjoyed it. If you did, please like my channel, because that is how Project Mindset can keep growing. Thank you for listening. Until next time. Bye, bye, bye, bye.
Keywords
Tags: role models, behaviour, mindset, Toni-L, Massiv, hip-hop, LinkedIn, running group, children, parenting, Reza Mehman, Project Mindset
Names and terms
Reza Mehman, Toni-L, Massiv, hip-hop, LinkedIn, running group, role model, leading by example, mindset, “Be the person you want your children to be”, Project Mindset
A passage to quote
Reza Mehman on being a role model: “Whether I want to or not, I am always acting as a role model.”
Toni-L helped establish German hip-hop 40 years ago, and Massiv wanted a photograph with him.
A LinkedIn post about a running group inspired someone to start running regularly.
Reza’s guiding principle: “Be the person you want your children to be.”
Find more ideas on personal development and being a role model in the Reza Mehman Podcast, formerly Project Mindset.
