Like-minded People

Like-minded is a phrase used to describe people who share the same opinions, ideas and interests. I came across this word when my colleagues in the Human Resources department used to tease me — that only like-minded people will go out for lunch which made me realize that I was the odd one out. Why was I the odd one out? The reason being my opinions, attitude and ideas were quite different to the mainstream.

Its great to have a group of like-minded friends who you can enjoy with as you can share the same hobbies, activities and interests. People who love high risk adventure need to have like-minded friends in order to accompany them to high altitude places. Similarly, people who love to have fun at parties will always prefer to hang around extroverts. Nowadays, millennials prefer to have like-minded friends otherwise they do not prefer to mingle with people who do not match their personality.

There are advantages when you hang out with like-minded people:

- You are always right!

- There will be no conflicts.

- It’s fun and you are at ease.

- It’s safe and secure.

There are disadvantages as well:

- You never learn to stand out!

- You will not be able to handle difficult conversations, difficult people.

- Your creativity is at stake as where people with different perspectives, interests and backgrounds get together, more innovative, more creative ideas and actions arise.

- To have resilience, you need to be pressure-tested; people challenging each other’s ideas.

- With like-minded people, decision making is quite easy but is it the right decision.

- Learning stops when you stay with like-minded people.

To stand out in the crowd, you will have to be distinct. Now, its up to you to think what you can do to be different. To name a few distinct leaders: Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Allama Muhammad Iqbal, Maulana Tariq Jameel and Junaid Jamshed; they have engraved their names in the minds of people. Were they all walking with the crowd or they chose a different path!