Take a look at the world around you.
Our environments influence our habits in profound ways, regardless if we recognize it or not. There are the macro environments (Earth, America, Florida, Miami) and your “microenvironment” – things like your home, your place of employment, and your friends and family. Taking a closer look here and making minor adjustments can make doing the things we want much easier. The path of least resistance is usually what is taken, so let’s remove the resistance in our environments!
If you’ve had certain goals for yourself (example: eat more plants, drink more water, watch less TV, spend more time outside, get to bed earlier, etc.) for a while and seem to continue to struggle weather it be just getting started or staying consistent, rather than ridiculing ourselves (which seems to be a default for all of us) I encourage you to take a closer look at your surroundings.
Let’s start in your home. If you would like to “eat more plants” what are the current food choices? Do you have a bowl of tasty fruit and vegetables on the counter for display or are they tucked away in the back of the fridge and the counter is covered with packaged goods? Do you have an assortment of fresh, frozen and jarred/canned to choose from? Do you take the time to bring in foods to work that keep you in line with these goals?
If you’d like to drink more water, do you have a bottle that is easy to carry and placed in multiple places (work, home, gym bag, etc.)? If you want to watch less TV, do you have items around that would nudge you in the direction of other activities? Perhaps you need a new book near your bedside, a quiet place to meditate, and a new recipe to try in the kitchen?
Even the people in our lives will nudge us in one direction or the other. This is not to say you need to ditch your current circle! However, if you want to spend more time outside and you have no one to do that with, perhaps it’s time to reach out to that outer circle of friends to find a partner. There is a saying that goes, “you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” If there is no one in your outer circle, perhaps it is time to look into outdoor events in your area? That seems like a great time to meet new people!
There are many researchers who have studied this and it’s fair to say that we can’t just leave everything up to “will power”. We need to create an environment that will allow us to do the things we want to do with more ease. So – next time you are talking yourself down because you didn’t do “X”, I encourage you to take a look at your environment. Where and how can you set up for greater success? I’m sure there are plenty of places to look if you just take the time.