#25 - Improve Your Chances
If you were a smoker that was trying to quit, you wouldn’t spend time in a tobacco shop. Likewise, if you were looking to lose hundreds of pounds on “The Biggest Loser” you wouldn’t spend lots of time in a buffet. Why? Because those environments would make it very hard to reach your goals. Yesterday we talked a lot about how the environment can negatively impact us. I imagine over the past 24 hours you noticed a couple times where the environment was controlling you, a friend, or family member. Today, we’re going to talk about a couple of ways that you can manage the environment to maximize your chances of success.
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Research shows that on nearly every statistic (athletic ability, intelligence, faith, wealth, grades, habits, health, personality, language, political affiliation, etc.) we very closely mimic the characteristics of the people we spend the most time with. This is a classic example of how the environment effect works; if you spend the majority of your time with people who are lazy, sooner or later, you will become lazy also. This adage sounds like a ”death sentence” but it’s actually an opportunity because to some extent you can control who you spend time with. If you’re trying to be a more positive person but have that one friend who would greet your exciting purchase of a unicorn with “it only has one horn,” it’s time to spend less time with them. Likewise, if you want to be a better athlete, it may help to spend less time with that one kid who refuses to train.
Similarly, you can also make changes to your environment by eliminating or adding inanimate objects. If you want to be more healthy, get rid of the candy and stock up on healthy snacks. To improve your hydration, get a water bottle and keep it near you.
Another environmental change you can make is routine changes. If I wake up and watch a movie or TV show in the morning (fully intending to be productive later) it will not happen. Figure out which routines allow you to reach your goals without becoming an observer of your own life. It could be that if you hold off on working out till later in the day, you will just never go out and do it. If something is truly a priority for you, find a way to work it into your routine so that you succeed.
The key to manipulating your environment for success is to find the things that trigger you—what are the things that cause you to do the negative behavior? Examples could be a bowl of candy encourages sugar consumption, keeping a phone by your bed decreases sleep time/quality, a specific person makes you negative, etc. Find the people, objects, and routines that are holding you back from the goals you set. Then find a way to eliminate or control the environmental factor as best you can. This makes it a lot easier to stay on track for your goals.