The Power of Getting Personal
Updated: Dec 4, 2020
It’s the first day of high school, and you just moved to town. You don’t have any friends here yet. You get your lunch from the front of the cafeteria and look around the room, hoping to see somewhere to sit. All you see is an ocean of faces - and it seems like they’re judging you.
You try to look sure of where you’re going, but you have no clue what your destination will be. A few other students look up at you, but avert their eyes as you slowly walk past. Eventually, you reach the back of the cafeteria and spot a lone seat in the corner of the room. Maybe I can just make friends tomorrow, you think as you sit down.
A lot of people these days struggle to get personal. When they’re around groups of people, they worry about what others think of them. They feel like they’re not saying the right things, or that they can’t build a personal relationship with anyone. This is a vicious cycle - worrying about not “getting personal” with people makes you worse at it, which makes you worry about it even more. One thing leads to another, and you’re alone, with no personal connections.
At The INDUSTRY, we do “getting personal” right. In fact, it’s a pivotal part of our process.
The INDUSTRY provides a three-month personal development experience to young adults. One of the first things we do with our students is get personal with them. When it comes to forging life-changing experiences, everyone has to be on the same page.
Imagine that the students in the lunchroom have all gotten to know each other on a deeper level. After you grab your food, you would turn around and see a group of people you can be yourself with. Even on the first day of school, you feel like you’re well on your way to having a solid group of close friends.
This is what our program is like. We help our students overcome their walls on the first day so we can feel like a family and get to work on developing the right mindset. Our students don’t have to worry about other students talking behind their backs OR facing scrutiny from the mentors. It’s a powerful experience to dive deep into your own life around a group of strangers, and our students leave with the confidence they need to succeed. Our students get personal with themselves as much as they get personal with each other.
It’s not easy to open up around strangers, and it’s even harder to open up to yourself. When you’re surrounded by a supportive group of like-minded individuals, though, you have the tools you need to confidently start building your Life Path.