Environment Matters: How to Set the Stage for Consistency
One of the surest ways to achieve permanent transformation is consistency. But in our culture of fast-paced, quickly changing environment, consistency is next to impossible to obtain. Between vacations, sicknesses, significant life changes, and even holidays and events, it seems our life is designed to discourage any attempts at being consistent.
So what do we do about it?
How can we fight for consistency when there are so many demands on our attention and resources?
The good news is, you don’t have to be a victim of circumstances. You can take control of your life and find ways to consistently thrive!
How? One word: environment.
Environment Matters
As James Clear, author of Atomic Habits, put it, “Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.”
Studies have shown over and over again that people will choose what’s available. More often than not, they will take the path of least resistance.
Imagine for a minute that it’s 6:43pm. You’ve come home from a long shift at work, the kids are hangry, and you’re tired. You look in the fridge for inspiration, but there’s nothing there but a couple half-empty takeout boxes and some limp zucchini you bought a week ago and never ended up using. You pull out a couple of frozen pizzas and call it good.
At the risk of stating the obvious, you can only eat what’s available. Now in this day and age with food delivery options at an all-time high, availability expands beyond your own pantry. But if you always have a pantry stocked with ramen, potato chips and chocolate, what are you going to eat when you’re feeling snacky?
Let’s take another example. You want to start going to the gym more frequently, but more often than not you end up skipping. Once you start examining why, you might realize that your workout clothes are stuffed in the back of your dresser drawer, or your water bottle is dirty and you haven’t gotten around to washing it. While these may seem like small obstacles, the truth is they’re still obstacles, and people will revert to the path of least resistance (especially if it’s 5am and your brain is not fully functioning yet.)
Imagine how much easier it would be if your workout clothes were set out the night before, and you had a clean water bottle filled with cool water ready to grab as you head out the door. Your earbuds are charged and next to your car keys. Your workout shoes are waiting for you in the open, not buried in the back of a closet. These small changes to your environment pave the way, making it easier to consistently follow through on your well-intentioned desires.
Addicted to hitting snooze for half an hour in the morning? Plug your phone in across the room so it forces you to get out of bed when it rings.
Want to stop spending so much time scrolling social media? Delete the app from your phone during the week (you can always install it again on weekends if you want).
Want to get in the habit of journaling first thing in the morning while you drink your coffee? Put your journal and favorite pen next to your coffee machine.
By making small changes to your environment, you can capitalize on your natural behaviors and leverage them to be consistent with the habits you’re trying to build.
Put it into Action
In the same way that just hearing “take a deep breath and calm down” doesn’t automatically make you feel calmer, simply reading a book or a blog post on consistency won’t automatically make you consistent. You need to put it into action yourself!
I know you have two minutes now (since you’re still reading) so grab a pen and paper and follow along.
1. Choose your goal
First, you need to identify what it is that you’re trying to be consistent with. It might be eating healthier, getting to the gym, drinking enough water, or waking up on time. Take a minute to think about what it is you actually want to change, and write it down. Let’s pick an example together. “I want to eat a healthy breakfast before work every day.”
2. Find your Obstacles
Next, try to honestly assess what obstacles may be preventing you from reaching that goal. We’re not making excuses here, we’re just listing out potential speed bumps that get in the way of achieving your goal. Following our breakfast example, your list might look something like this:
Can’t decide what to make
Not enough time in the morning
Never have clean dishes to cook with in the morning
Feel too tired in the morning
3. Set the Stage
A lot of those obstacles can be solved simply by setting the stage ahead of time. Make sure the kitchen is cleaned the night before, and you have a plan for what food to make. Ensure you have all the necessary ingredients and you know how to cook them. Take out all the dishes you need to make breakfast, and make sure your ingredients are grouped together and easy to find, not buried in the fridge or top shelf of the pantry. Set out your clothes the night before so you don’t spend 20 minutes trying to decide what to wear. Plug your phone in across the room and crank the volume to ensure you get out of bed right away when it rings.
Now it’s true that changing your environment takes planning and effort. Meal planning, cleaning and reorganizing your fridge takes work. However, working ahead of time is significantly easier than fighting those obstacles every morning when you’re tired, blurry-eyed and running late for work.
Take a minute to envision what would make the process of whatever action you’re trying to accomplish a whole lot easier. Use your imagination and try thinking outside the box! What’s stopping you from storing all the ingredients in a pot and keeping it in the fridge? What’s wrong with keeping your journal in the kitchen? Or a full water bottle in every single room?
A helpful environment doesn’t have to follow societal standards, as long as it enables the habits that you want to be building.
4. Trial and Error
Chances are, the first round of changes you make might not work as well as you think. But don’t be discouraged! Instead of throwing in the towel, try making small changes to find what works for you.
Building a helpful environment takes trial and error, and the more you experiment, the more you’ll become aware of how your environment shapes your behavior, which is the first step in changing your behavior.
Your Turn!
By this time, you should have a fairly decent plan for shaping your environment. Now it’s time to put that plan into action! As I said before, simply reading this won’t automatically make you more consistent. It’s up to you to make those changes for yourself.
If you need help or have more questions, you can follow @warriorfitacademy on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok, or you can schedule a free call with one of our amazing coaches! We believe that everybody can experience freedom and healing through holistic living, and we are dedicated to helping others live their best life!
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