Unmasking the Ways You’ve Been Unknowingly Complicit in Being Groomed by Society (Trigger Warning)
Grooming is happening in all areas of society—whether you realize it or not. To eradicate it, you don’t have to fight the entire system. You simply have to remember: you matter.
⚠️ Trigger Warning: This may upset you. And I would purport that if you’re triggered, that’s a strong indication that something from your personal mirror is being reflected back to you—something that may require deep reflection and healing.
I understand that some of you may choose not to continue reading—and that’s okay. But for those ready to explore more, let’s dig deeper.
🧠 What Is Grooming?
According to ChatGPT, grooming—in a psychological or societal manipulation context—refers to the gradual process by which a person or group is conditioned, often subtly and over time, to accept certain ideas, behaviors, or power structures that ultimately serve someone else’s agenda, not their own.
It often happens without awareness and relies on trust, repetition, social proof, and emotional manipulation. The aim is to reshape someone’s beliefs, values, and even identity.
There are countless familial, societal, cultural, and organizational contexts that fall under this broad scope. If you pause and truly ask yourself—with radical honesty—are you complicit in giving your power away?
🔍 Unmasking the Conditioning: Self-Reflection Questions
If you're willing to be honest with yourself, these prompts can help you uncover where you may have been groomed to disconnect from your authentic self. I asked ChatGPT to come up with some examples below and it did a pretty good job (added a few of my own too).
📺 Media & Entertainment
What do you spend your time and energy consuming?
Who benefits from your obsession with curated news, beauty trends, or the next binge-worthy show?
When you scroll social media, are you being informed—or being trained to compare and feel disempowered?
👁️ Beauty Standards & Body Image
Who told you that wrinkles, softness, or aging are “bad”?
Is your self-worth tied to weight, muscles, or how “young” you look?
If you grew up on a desert island with no mirrors, social media, or ads, would you still dislike your body—or were you trained to?
👨👩👧 Family & Cultural Pressure
Were you taught to be “nice” even when it meant betraying your own voice?
Who told you that keeping the peace is more important than speaking your truth?
Whose voice do you still hear in your head when you're about to do something bold or authentic?
💼 Success & Career Conditioning
Were you told that success is a job title, a paycheck, or how busy you are?
Have you confused exhaustion with accomplishment?
If no one ever applauded or admired you, would you still choose the life you're living?
🎭 External Validation & People-Pleasing
How much of your personality was shaped by the need to be accepted or approved of?
Do you say “yes” when your body screams “no”?
Who are you when you stop performing for love, praise, or safety?
🏫 Education System
Were you taught how to think—or what to think?
Did school nurture your creativity and intuition, or reward obedience and memorization?
What parts of yourself were dimmed to fit into a system designed to squelch self-sovereignty?
⛪ Religion
Has your experience with religion been filtered through shame, hierarchy, or someone else’s idea of “good”?
Were you told to obey and “have faith”—but never to question or explore on your own?
Did you learn to fear your intuition because it didn’t match doctrine?
Did your religion teach love and liberation—or control and conformity?
Do you feel connected to the Divine—or are you following rituals that imply guilt, hierarchy, or the need for a middleman?
🏛️ Politics & Ideologies
Who taught you that your neighbor is your enemy just because they vote or are "labelled" differently?
Have you been trained to pick a side—or trained not to think beyond the sides at all?
Does the media you consume shape your beliefs—or just confirm what you were told to believe?
What values are truly yours—and what are you parroting because it feels safe or socially acceptable?
Are you more loyal to a party, label, or tribe than to truth and what’s right for humanity?
🪞 Radical Honesty in the Mirror
When you look in the mirror, are you being radically honest about what’s driving your thoughts, actions, and behaviors?
If you realize you’ve been complicit in grooming, give yourself grace. Awareness is the first step toward liberation. When your ego gets bruised, it creates a powerful opportunity for exponential growth—it’s all in how you handle it.
🔮 Feelings vs. Intuition
People confuse feelings with intuition all the time. But feelings can be trauma responses.
So, sit back. Observe. Ask yourself:
“What am I making this mean?”
Not “what are they telling me,” or “what does the world say”—but what do I know deep in my bones?
And be mindful: projecting your emotional expectations onto others is a form of entitlement. No one owes you behavior that makes you comfortable. The only thing you can control is you:
How you engage
What your boundaries are
How you spend your time
What you are and aren't willing to accept
What you stand up for and against
How you use your voice.
Who Truly Are You?
I am just inviting you to look in the mirror and get clarity beyond the facades. Don't be complicit or complacent. Reflect. Be open. Wake up. Evolve. Forgive. Learn lessons. Demand truth-of yourself, others, and of society. Find inner peace. Enable your big and rip of your masks. And live your best authentic self.
To access more self-reflection content:
Extra special shoutout to ChatGPT for the creative brainstorming that helped this message take shape. The research capabilities really make my world more magical.
Please note: To explore your coaching needs, please email me directly.