Today, let’s focus on priming your environment to make future habits easy.

Sometimes I get clients in coaching that want to change everything at once, they are excited, yet this is daunting and overwhelming.  That’s why I give assessments.  These tools help a client look at the areas of well-being that are lacking and help them focus on one area at a time.  For example, a client comes with the desired outcome of losing weight.  Weight loss is not a goal, it is an outcome of changed behaviors, changed thoughts and a different lifestyle.  The first area they may need to focus on may not be nutrition, another area of well-being off base might be the reason they are not eating “healthy”.  You probably also need to look at your values, your beliefs, and your coping mechanisms when life happens. These all play into the outcome of weight loss.

If you value a donut every morning with coffee over choosing to eat a bowl of oatmeal, your value will always win out. You must place a higher value on your health, nutritious foods vs junk foods and empty calories. This ties in with your beliefs, if you believe food is fuel, you can challenge your thoughts of a donut, it isn’t the kind of fuel that keeps your body running and full of energy, then why are you choosing it? If you believe your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, you can challenge yourself and say, is feeding my body “X” going to support an awake mind, a body that can help others and function at its best? If you believe that you work hard and deserve a donut, then your belief will override the desire to make a healthier choice.

You may start to focus on healthy eating.  You define that, then come up with action steps to support that goal.  2-minute ideas are implemented, intentions are set, environments changed, and cues are added.  Eating healthy can be broken down into many goals or habits that need to be established.

You must build the habit of going to the grocery store with a list and shopping for new items, the habit of meal planning and deciding what to eat each week, the habit of chopping and prepping food each night, the habit of cleaning up after the meal, the habit of finding recipes and so on. Eating a healthy meal is the easiest part. It’s often the preparation that causes you to quit.

This is true for many habits – not just eating healthy. One way to increase the odds that your habits will be performed is to walk into an environment that is ready for the habit.

That’s why “priming the environment” is so important.  You will have better success with you create an environment that favors the habit that you’re trying to build. It’s another layer to make new habits easier.

Here are some examples:

• Want to sleep better and develop a wind-down routine? Move your phone charger out of the bedroom and place a diffuser, white noise machine, and a couple of books or a journal on your nightstand.  Your environment is primed for better sleep hygiene.

• Want to read more devotionals or books?   Create a reading nook or comfortable spot with pillows and a basket with books, highlighters, sticky notes, and a journal for notes so that you are ready to go.

• Want to get on the treadmill more?  Move the cat box, put the treadmill in the living room and set your athletic shoes right by the treadmill.  Maybe even create a spot for a sweat towel, headphones/ear pods, a water bottle, and your hair ties so everything is right there ready to go.

  
  

Whenever you organize a space for its intended purpose, you are priming it to make your future actions easy. Now your environment is ready for immediate use the next time around.

Whether you are approaching behavior change as an individual, a parent, a coach, or a leader, you should ask ourselves the same questions: “How can we design a world where it’s easy to do what’s right? How can we prime our environments, so our future habits are easier?”

Chew on this thought: The action steps that matter most should also be the easiest to do.  Make the cue a big part of the environment.

·         Reduce the friction associated with the habit and make it easy to succeed.

·         Create an environment that is ready for the habit.  Small environmental changes can make a habit easier to stick with and get the reps in each day.

Now, think about how you can design and prime your environment to make your habit easier to do. Brainstorm for a bit…then pick an item or two to change in your surroundings/environment and do it!