Quick Tip – Redesign Your Environment
Construct your life for success – Issue #102
I’m following up on my newsletter from yesterday about making a lifestyle change that sticks. I shared the five factors that worked for me, but there is another critical factor that will help you be successful with any personal or professional goal:
Optimizing your environment.
This tip comes from James Clear’s excellent book, Atomic Habits. He talks about how we expect our willpower, strength, and grit to carry the day when we want to change our behavior.
However, our environment has a much more significant effect, which often determines success vs. failure.
“It is important to remember that the environment drives our good behaviors as well as our bad ones. People who seem to stick to good habits with ease are often benefitting from an environment that makes those behaviors easier.” — James Clear
Redesigning your environment can help you avoid bad habits. It can also remove friction when you’re trying to acquire good habits.
When I was regaining my health and fitness, I restructured my environment to optimize my chances of success.
I wanted to eat healthier, so I no longer brought junk food or processed food into my house. I knew that if I bought a bag of chips, I couldn’t count on my willpower to keep me out of them. So, I fixed my environment to remove easy snacks.
I removed choice from my lunch decisions every day too. It was no longer me asking myself, “Hmmm, what do I want to eat today? What looks good?” I walked straight to the salad bar without looking left or right (I can’t see you, pizza and cookies). The salad bar was my one and only lunch choice every single day.
I wanted to exercise consistently, so I found a gym that was on the way to work. I would lay out my exercise clothing each evening to remove friction in the morning. My workout gear was right there in my face when I woke up, so it made it easier to get dressed and hit the gym.
Redesign your environment to automate good decisions. Remove friction from the behaviors you’re trying to acquire. Eliminate negative influences and stimuli from your environment that tempt you to continue bad habits.
Don’t rely on your willpower to make positive changes in your life, personally or professionally. Restructure the world around you to make it easier for you to be successful.