In a world shaped by influences, we are all products of influence. At any point, we are either being influenced or influencing others, often subliminally. Many people go through life believing they are fully in control, but a closer examination reveals otherwise. What you believe, how you behave, and the paradigms that govern your life are largely products of your conditioning.
Once you understand the subtle but immense power of influence, you are forced to confront an uncomfortable truth: you are not as autonomous as you think you are. And that realization, as painful as it may be, is the foundation for real change.
In this post, I want to shine a light on how poor conditionings from the past may be silently hindering your success today.
We Are All Products of Influence
Influence refers to those quiet yet powerful forces that shape our perceptions, philosophies, personalities, and ultimately our paradigms about life. They inform how we see ourselves, how we see the world, and how we respond to opportunities and challenges.
Influences form our behaviors and actions. They shape our mental disposition and attitude toward life. Long before we begin to make conscious choices, these forces have already been at work.
The right influences awaken potential. They call forth courage, discipline, faith, and vision. They help us become all that God created us to be.
Sadly, many of us were not exposed to these kinds of influences from cradle. Before we attained personal sovereignty and independence, we were handed scripts — half-truths, cultural biases, inherited fears, and silent limitations. Over time, these inputs distorted our perception of what is possible and dulled the inherent capability within us.
This is the root of poor conditioning.
The Long-Term Effects of Poor Conditioning
The effects of poor conditioning are far-reaching. For many people, the damage goes unchecked for decades. Some never recover from it at all.
Poor conditioning does not only affect what you do; it affects what you believe you can do. It shrinks vision, weakens resolve, and normalizes mediocrity. It teaches people to adapt instead of dominate, to survive instead of lead.
But no matter how deep the conditioning runs, awareness changes everything.
The moment you become aware of the limitations that shaped you, you regain power. Awareness is the doorway to reconfiguration. Once you see the program, you can begin to rewrite it.
We are made for more. We can be more. We can surpass our greatest limitations and rise toward our highest ideals.
We are not creatures of circumstance. We are not victims of fate. We were created to dominate, rule, and reign.
If you are feeling a quiet dissatisfaction stirring within you as you read this, then this post is doing its job.
The Parable of the Lion Bred Among Sheep
“An army of lions led by a sheep will be defeated by a flock of sheep led by a lion.” — Alexander the Great
This statement captures, in metaphor, the danger of poor conditioning and the quiet power of influence. Dr. Myles Munroe illustrates this truth powerfully in The Spirit of Leadership through the parable of a lion bred among sheep.
The story goes that a farmer once wandered into the forest and found a lion cub helplessly roaming after its mother had been killed. Moved by compassion, the farmer took the cub home.
Instead of returning it to the wild, he raised it among his flock of sheep.
The lion grew up eating what the sheep ate, moving as they moved, and responding to the shepherd’s voice like the rest of the flock. Over time, the environment did its work. Though born a lion, it learned to bleat. Though built for strength, it learned fear. Identity was slowly buried beneath conditioning.
Years later, a fully grown wild lion wandered near the farm. When it roared, terror broke out among the sheep. They scattered in panic — and the lion raised among them ran too.
The wild lion was astonished.
“How can you, a lion, run like a sheep?” it asked.
The farm-raised lion replied confidently, “I am not a lion. I am a sheep. I have lived with sheep all my life.”
On another occasion, the sheep-raised lion went with the flock to drink at a pool. As it looked into the water, it caught sight of its own reflection and fled in terror. The sheep were confused. The farmer was confused. There was no wild lion in sight.
It was frightened by its own image — the picture of the lion it had glimpsed days earlier. Slowly, over time, it returned to the pool, becoming familiar with what it saw: the mane, the claws, the strength.
Then one day, the wild lion returned and roared again. While the sheep scattered, the lion stood still. Something inside it was awakening.
The wild lion commanded it to roar.
The lion opened its mouth, but what came out was not a roar. It was a bleat.
Pathetic.
Again, the wild lion roared and commanded another attempt. Once more, the lion tried — and again, a weak bleating sound escaped.
Years of conditioning could not be undone in a moment.
But the wild lion persisted. He roared again — louder, stronger — and demanded another attempt. This time, something shifted. The sound that emerged was broken and unfamiliar, but closer to a roar than a bleat.
With repeated effort, and under the influence of the right voice, the lion finally roared.
In that moment, identity broke through conditioning. The lion left the flock and returned to the forest, never again living beneath what it was created to be.
Does This Look Like Your Story?
Many of us live at the threshold of our potential, restrained by inherited limitations. Fear, self-doubt, and insecurity creep in — not because they are natural to us, but because they were taught, modeled, and reinforced.
Stories we were told. Models that shaped limitation instead of possibility. Teachings that restrained instead of liberated.
There is no need to rehearse those strongholds.
Success is possible. But it begins with emancipation from mental captivity. It begins with breaking free from the conditionings that have made lions timid and visionaries small.
Reprogramming the Mind Through Right Influences
The purpose of this post is awareness.
You must begin to question the forces shaping your life. You must reflect on the influences that molded your thinking in the past. And then, intentionally, you must commit to rewiring your paradigms.
This year can be different — not by wishful thinking, but by breaking old patterns.
In my book, Paternal Influences: Discover Secrets for Positive Impact, Lasting Relevance, and Transgenerational Legacy, I explore how early and ongoing influences shape identity, destiny, and legacy. I unpack how leadership, mindset, and purpose are transferred — and how damaging cycles can be broken.
Transformation does not happen accidentally. It happens when the right influences replace the wrong ones, and when truth is repeated long enough to silence old lies.
Change the influences. Rewrite the program. And watch your life rise to meet who you were always created to be.
