In one way or another, the way you conduct your life is entirely due to the types of role models you have spent the most time with.

Whether these role models are friends, parents, guardians or much older siblings, in my opinion you have inherited traits from the ones you love.

For example, I push my hair back while flipping it off my shoulder at the same time because of my mom, I race every car I line up with because of my dad and I always compliment people that are out of the ordinary because of my sister.

While we may inherit exactly what our role models do, we can also work to inherit the exact opposite of who we are always around.

My boyfriend never yells because he does not want to be his father, he eats healthy and motivates others because he does not want to be his mother. In their faults he has found life’s treasure in lessons.

Who we are is the most important factor in living our lives, as it determines who we will emulate and who we will become.

However, it can be difficult to see ourselves as those who look up to us do. Our friends and family are usually reluctant to tell us if we haven’t been there enough or if we might be heading down a path they themselves have learned to be unwise.

Because people aren’t always honest, it’s up to us to decide if we are the people we always hoped to be. The best way to determine this is if we think about who others were for us.

Were your role models always there when you needed them to be? Were they perhaps a tad too pushy or stubborn? Maybe, just maybe, if you look inside yourself you’ll see that you are, too, and then you can figure out just what it’ll take to become the best version of yourself.

I once heard that you take on the traits of the five people you associate with most.

If that’s true for everyone as it has been for me, maybe looking at those people who surround you can help you look within yourself and focus on those traits that you admire in others.