Willpower Doesn’t Work
3 minutes to read
One of the greatest predictors of anyone’s achievement is dictated by their environment.
Make no mistake: no man or woman is stronger than their environment.
What this means is that the people and the environment that you surround yourself with will be the anchor that keeps you where you’re at-or worse, sink you.
For example, if you’re trying to eat healthier at home and you’ve got cabinets full of sweets and desserts, eventually that environment is going to take over and it’s going to be very difficult to eat healthily. If all you’re stuck with is vegetables and healthy meals, it’s a lot easier to eat healthily.
There’s this book by Ben Hardy called Willpower Doesn’t Work, and it talks about how willpower will eventually fade and ultimately will not work to get you where you want to go.
The biggest thing that you can do is put yourself in the right environment, especially during a time like this.
We may all be in the same storm, but we are not in the same boat.
People have very different situations and different environments. If you have a large team that is now working remotely for the first time, every environment is different-and that poses new challenges.
What you can do is make sure there’s an emphasis placed on putting people in the right environment and making sure each team member has a setup that’s conducive to working and getting things done.
Plenty of business have experienced this: you’ve got somebody on your team who is very motivated and dedicated, but then they come home. Let’s say they share an apartment with three other roommates, and those three roommates want to drink every night. They’re giving this person a hard time because they want to go straight to their room, focus, and work.
If you do not control your environment, it will control you.
When you’re aligned with those around you, those people can lift you up to new heights that you may have never even realized on your own-or they can be the anchor that holds you back.
I’m not saying that you have to cut out your parents or your siblings that might be these people in your life, but the time that you spend around people that are not helping you to grow and are not supportive of the goals that you have - that will be the anchor that will hold you back.
Making sure that you maintain the right environment is crucial.
If you cut out all the negative influences, you’re freed up to focus on just the positive.
If you want to grow, surround yourself with growth-minded people that are talking about opportunities and ideas. If you don’t want to grow, surround yourself with pessimistic people that are of a fixed mindset.
The saying goes, “If you’re in a group of four losers, you’ll be the fifth.”
Put another way, Jim Rohn says: “Show me your friends, I’ll show you your future. Show me your peers, I’ll show you your future.”
It’s the absolute reality. If you’re willing to have those difficult conversations and to really start focusing on controlling your environment, you’ll start to make a lot more progress.
If you agree or disagree with anything Michael said here, he wants to know about it. Text him at 404-531-7691 to share your thoughts.
