In the long-run (and often in the short-run), your willpower will never beat your environment.
— James Clear
Do you have good intentions? So many of us do.
So often, when we talk about good intentions it is in the context of things we think we should do, but which we don’t do.
We intend to lose weight. We intend to learn a new skill. We intend to write that book or start that company. We intend to do so many things. For too many of us though, our intentions are less of a road map we are following than a list of areas where we are falling short.
Why is that? Why is it so hard for us to move forward on the things we know we want to do? Why do we so consistently fall short?
The problem isn’t in our desires, it is in our method. When we want to improve or do something new or change something in our lives, we often try to make progress by applying willpower and logic. The problem with this approach is that willpower and logic are very fickle. If we try to rely on willpower, eventually it will let us down.
If we want to make real and lasting improvements in life, we need to stop relying on willpower. Instead of focusing on willpower, we need to change our environment. When we engineer our environment we can remove the need for willpower. Our environment can lead to our success.
What goals have you struggled the most with? How can you change your environment to make your goal more achieveable?