Does your environment matter
more than willpower?
Does your environment matter more than willpower?
I have noticed that people have the best of intentions to make big permanent changes in their life for the better.
They set big goals for themselves in different areas of life every year and end up not accomplishing the majority of them.
They have the best of intentions, however, the reason they are unable to fulfill their goals has to do with their environment. It is not designed to help them achieve success.
Does your environment matter more than willpower?
Yes, your environment does matter more than your willpower when it comes to making any big permanent changes in your life, accomplishing any desires or goals, and living a better life.
Your environment shapes who you are and its effects will exceed your willpower which is a limited depleting resource as you progress through your day.
So, you may be wondering… how exactly does our environment affect us and keeps us from accomplishing our goals? Let’s discuss that next
How does your environment affect you
Having the right environment is very important if you want to live a better life and accomplish your goals.
You are now aware that personal effort and willpower are not sufficient by themselves for you to successfully make a change and accomplish your desired goals without the right environment.
Your environment also affects how motivated you feel to take desired actions to make progress towards your goals and accomplish them.
Here are some ways your environment is continuing to affect you or has unconsciously affected you in the past.
Physical
Your physical environment is either set to energize, excite, and inspire you or to deplete your energy and make you feel uninspired and hopeless.
The spaces you spend a lot of time in can also greatly influence your wellbeing (physical and mental).
Your physical environment like your home affects how you think, feel, act, and function. Your body and mind also learn to adapt to your environment.
A home can affect the quality of your life if it is in a bad neighbourhood, needs repairs, renovations, has unpleasant colour on the walls, and has uncomfortable furnishing.
Lots of clutter, chaos, no exposure to natural light and crowding affects the quality of your life too.
It can cause stress, hopelessness, anxiety, depression, and other mental issues.
Exposure to environmental hazards in your home like toxic chemicals, mould, pollution, dust, and food contaminants can also increase the risk of heart disease, cancer, asthma, and other illnesses.
The cues in your environment determine what you choose to do.
It is very hard to make the right choices if you have lots of distractions around your home that tempt you to do things that are not aligned to your goals and are not good for you.
Your physical health is also affected by how comfortably and well you sleep at night, whether you have a habit and reminders to drink a sufficient amount of water.
Amount of temptations around your house to eat unhealthy junk food and drinks, whether you have habits, reminders, and cues for you to exercise daily and have other healthy routines like prayer and meditation also affect you.
If you have unpleasant views from your home and are bombarded and exposed to negative messaging on the clothes that you wear, and other décor items and picture frames around your house then it will be hard to live a happy fulfilled life and accomplish your goals.
The environment cannot change your genes or DNA, however, it can determine which genes will express themselves. The genes have to be exposed to a certain environment for them to become active.
Social
We are social creatures and love to be surrounded by people.
Who you are around and associate with both at work and home will affect you and determine who you are becoming.
You become like the five people you hang out with the most.
If you are around negative toxic people both at home and work, you will eventually be influenced by them and become like them.
Feeling constantly conflicted around these people can also make you sick both physically and mentally.
Especially if you constantly feel like you do not belong with them and your values and morals are not aligned with theirs. You are expected to compromise your values.
If you are constantly watching the news, shows, movies, and playing games with lots of violence, then you will start believing and thinking that this world is a negative place and start acting and behaving violently yourself.
Whatever you consume becomes a part of who you are. It shapes your identity which then shapes your beliefs, thoughts, actions, habits, and destiny.
If you were raised by a parent who did not take the time to make you feel loved and emotionally supported then you can have a tough time forming close, trusting, and loving relationships when you are an adult.
If you did not have an enriching and stimulating home, and school environment where you were heard, understood, seen, and accepted by your parents, teachers, and others.
That can also have negative effects on you and the personality you end up forming.
To get love and acknowledgement from them, you strategically form a personality that is liked and approved by them.
We spend a lot of time at work and if there is a lot of negativity at your workplace, people are rude, your boss does not trust and empower people, you do not agree and are not aligned with their vision, mission, and purpose, then your mental and physical health can both be affected.
Ways to change your environment for a better life
If you have desires to change your life for the better like starting a purpose-driven business, be healthier, and improve your relationships, then you will have to examine your environment and make changes if it does not serve who you want to become and the goals you want to accomplish.
The environment is more powerful than your internal resolve and willpower. Create and design an environment that will increase your enthusiasm, productivity, and motivation. Here are some suggestions to consciously begin doing this.
Physical
Examine your home and make changes that are aligned to the goals you want to accomplish to better your life. Fix all the things that deplete your energy.
Make your environment pleasant by repairing all the things that need to be fixed, paint the walls a different colour, declutter, and get rid of junk.
What you focus upon every day expands and manifests in your life.
So, have inspiring pictures hanging in your house, wear clothing with positive messaging, reduce or eliminate watching negative news, listen to music, watch movies that have positive messaging, and get some exposure to natural light daily.
Improve your habits and make sure you are getting sufficient hours of sleep every day, implement a self-care morning routine of prayers.
Start meditating, exercising, recite positive empowering affirmations daily, learn new things, and feed your mind with positive messages daily.
Get rid of all the junk food and substitute it with healthy food if one of your goals is to feel healthier. You become what you eat.
Social
Reduce contact with people who are not aligned with your values and morals and find other people who are aligned with you to socialize with.
Choose like-minded people who cheer you on, celebrate your success, and are not intimidated by your big goals.
Change your job or start your own purpose-driven business if you are not able to be authentic, happy, and are not aligned to their values, vision and mission.
In conclusion, the environment does matter more than your willpower when it comes to making any big permanent changes in your life or accomplishing any desires or goals and living a better life.
Your environment is very important if you want to better your life and accomplish your goals. It keeps you motivated as you work on your goals.
Your environment shapes who you are and its effects will exceed your willpower which is a limited depleting resource as you progress through your day.
If you are convinced, ready and want to start changing your environment and make it serve and help you to accomplish your desired goals and better your life by shopping these inspirational products.