Fish don’t know they are in water. They do know where they thrive, though, and they do all that they can to stay in that environment.
We, as humans… as learners… as adventurers… are often making changes in what we do, where we are headed, and how we show up in the world.
But do we give much thought to our environment? It seems to be the last thing that we consider.
There is a lot of science indicating that our environment has an outsized impact on decisions we make and actions we take each day. When we change our environment, we change our habits.
That means we can significantly increase our chance of performing well by managing our environment.
When was the last time that you intentionally designed your environment to set yourself up for success?
Designing your external environment
Our external environment includes everything from where we are, to who we are with, to when we do something. These are all things that we have control over.
When we are making a significant change, we can kickstart our success by designing our environment to make it easier for us to act in a way that leads to that success.
Let’s face it, we want things to be easy. We want things to be convenient. What if we could create the water that we swim in? It’s easier than you think.
- Does nature feed your soul yet you have put your home office in the basement far from any natural light source?
- Do you want your team to be connecting more, yet you keep your video camera off during online conference calls?
- In your drive to eat less, are you serving yourself meals on the same oversized plate?
Each of these questions brings up an immediate and simple change that we could make. It doesn’t take much to see that small shifts that can have big impacts.
Designing your internal environment
The same attention to design can be brought to our internal environment.
Our internal environment includes our mindset, our emotions, and focus.
- Having a growth mindset allows us to see failure and setbacks as learning opportunities. Such a mindset recognizes that the changes we are making may be hard, and keep us from getting derailed by inevitable obstacles.
- Emotions are not something that we can control, but we can keep them from controlling us. When negative emotions arise, label them and give them some time to be with you. Then reframe your thoughts so you can continue on your path.
- The fuel that powers your change is your focus. Keep in mind the “why” of what you are working toward.
The tools through which we can design the inner environment include awareness, meditation, and gratitude.
- Awareness is simply the practice of noticing. It means slowing down and seeing yourself and the situations you are in from different angles.
- Meditation creates space and quiet in your mind. There are many ways to meditate, so don’t be scared off by the vision sitting cross-legged on a mountaintop.
- A daily practice of gratitude allows you to see the good around you and maintain a more positive and connected outlook.
Reflection
What part of your external environment is currently working against what you are striving for? What is one thing that you might do to improve that?
What words would you use today to describe your internal environment? Which tool might you begin to use to design a better inner environment for the changes you want to make?
Check out the other blogs exploring intention.
Knowing what your compass looks like today is a key first step in alignment. Start that adventure in the Creating My Compass course.