This year, instead of changing you, focus on changing your setup – your physical environment, the various spaces in your life. And instead of committing to maintaining some new behavioral regimen, commit to maintaining your improved setup.
This is the most important principle of smart willpower strategy. Get your physical space right, and the behaviors you want to do in that space become massively easier.
James Clear recently explained why in his signature, succinct style:
“The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don’t swim upstream.”
A space that’s clearly designed for a particular purpose makes executing that purpose feel natural. Gyms are for exercising. Kitchens are for cooking. Laundry rooms are for laundry.
Think about the spaces you have in your home.
Are they fully aligned with their purposes? If they’re not, you’ll feel unsure of your purpose when you’re in those spaces.
Are they focused? If they’re not, you’ll feel unfocused too.
Concrete Examples
If you have exercise equipment at home, take some time to optimize that space to make it feel more like a true home gym. Are there obstacles between you and your workout equipment? Remove them. Is there a way to make the setup more appealing or more functional? Make it happen, and you’ll raise your odds of using the space for its intended purpose.
How’s your home office? Is everything you need to be productive within arm’s reach, mise-en-place-style? Are distractions both hidden and out of reach, or simply in a different room entirely? Do you have helpful reminders, like this PDF about overcoming procrastination, on the wall?
And what about your electronic workspace? Your web browser’s home screen and favorites bar should be aligned with your goals and values, not with your impulses or with the goals and values of marketers and social media companies. The same goes for the apps on your smartphone’s home screen. Distractions that are visible and just a click away will draw you in far more often.
Do you have a meditation space or a reading chair? (Mine is for both.) Is it a comfortable space that feels inviting? If not, what’s missing?
Are your fridge and pantry stocked with healthy food? Make the default options better, and healthy choices will come more easily.
Environment Creates Identity
Your environment not only sends you messages about what to do in a space, but also about who you are. Thus, you can use a well-designed environment to reinforce your chosen identity.
A bookshelf subtly tells you you’re a reader. A meditation chair subtly tells you you’re a meditator. A home gym subtly tells you you’re an exerciser. An organized desk subtly tells you you’re a productive person.
In the long run, behavioral change alters your sense of self. But you can shortcut that a little by altering your environment as well.
This year, instead of putting all your energy into an uphill battle of behavioral change, make your New Year’s resolution about transforming your environment so that good choices just come naturally. I promise, you’ll be glad you did.
P.S. If you do want to go down the road of a traditional New Year’s resolution, remember that the start of a new year is just an arbitrary line in the sand that we’ve collectively agreed upon. There’s nothing magical about it. Behavioral change isn’t any easier in January than it is in any other month, so you still need to be strategic. Here are 9 strategies to help you actually stick to your New Year’s resolution.