What's the Secret to Reaching Your Goals?

It’s Not Willpower, It’s Your Environment

Control your environment before it controls you. 

Your environment, both physical and social, is your foundation. It’s your plan. It’s your smaller steps to get to that plan. It’s your backup plan to the barriers that might arise. 

Your environment can include: 

• Your daily routine

• The people you interact with

• What tools you have available to you

• It’s what you have near you (or far away from you).

Trying to commit to a big change, and sustain that change over time, relying on willpower won’t work out. Willpower only lasts as long as motivation and energy are high, and that’s impossible to maintain at a constant high. 

Yes, there are factors that are completely out of our control, but there is also a lot we can do to modify or manage our existing environment to eliminate triggers or obstacles and gather social support.