Tips on How to Influence your Environment
In our previous post we established the importance of finding an environment that supports your vision. What is important isn’t only that you find an environment that fits you best and empowers you the most; but also that you help to construct and develop ecosystems that encourage talent, technology, tolerance, transparency and transcendence. If you want to achieve your maximum potential and peak performance, you have to find your optimal environment.
What if your ideal environment isn’t available?
A man asked Mother Theresa what he can do to promote world peace and make the world a better place.
She replied:
“Go home and love your family.”
A family is the first place where family members should support each other in developing talents, using technology as a leverage, being tolerant to mistakes and trying new things, being transparent and having a strong sense of purpose and mission.
Changing yourself begins with changing your environment
Making changes to your environment makes it easier to do what’s right without having to think about staying motivated. If you set up your surroundings so that making the best decisions comes easily, then you can set yourself up to practice better habits.
Often, we think that change comes from within. We believe that achieving a goal is about changing ourselves and what we think. But we discount the fact that optimizing our environment to make better choices can make a large impact on our actions.
The changes we make may seem small initially. For instance, it might not seem like much to move a book you want to read from the shelf to your desk. But when you make incremental improvements to your environment, it becomes much easier to do what’s right.
“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands but in seeing with new eyes.”
Marcel Proust
How do we look at ‘the old lands with new eyes’?
Here‘s how:
Admit it
Problems persist because we deny them; we don’t talk about them until it becomes unbearable; we give excuses why they should exist
And what makes a problem big is simply that it’s yours. If you found yourself in the hospital with an injury, would you walk around, pointing out the injuries of others in the emergency room? Or would you be making a beeline to the doctor’s office to find healing for your own pain?
We tend to have it all wrong when it comes to real life. Everyone has problems. No one is perfect. But we want to fix the other persons’ first before fixing ourselves. Don’t underestimate the power of admitting any problem. Admit your problem, and then begin the journey to finding a solution.
Make the grass greener on your side.
“… if you take the time to water your own grass it would be just as green.”
You need to take responsibility; Make the grass greener on your side by taking the initiative. You must also understand that change is a process, not an event.
A Kenyan proverb says;
“Little by little fills the pot.”
Small changes – in our thoughts, behavior, words – indicate progress.
Distinguish between intentions and expectations
Intentions come from the heart. You take responsibility for your own intentions. Expectations on the other hand are placed on others. You can hope for something but it’s never guaranteed that you will have it.
Unfulfilled expectations often lead to stress, fear or disappointment while true intentions; the only thing you can really control; will increase your enthusiasm and joy of living.
Learn to sow good seeds!!!
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