Step Aside Willpower & Self-Control
“Environment Design allows you to take back control and become the Architect of your Life. Be the Designer of your world and not merely the consumer of it.” - James Clear
Environment: The component parts of all the living and non-living elements and their effects which influence human life. People, Places, Things.
Design: To do or plan with a specific purpose or intention in mind.
Self-Control: Ability to control oneself, in particular one's emotions and desires.
Willpower: Ability to control one’s own actions, emotions, or impulses.
Self-Design: Centered on the understanding that we as human beings have the capacity to author our own lives from a place of resourcefulness, creativity, and possibility.
It is the belief of many, the Mysterious Energy called Willpower equips some with the restraint and self-control to resist their own will in furtherance of a goal.
Friedrich Nietzsche, a German philosopher believed that the ability to do what was best rather than what one wanted at the moment had little to do with the strength of one’s will in conquering desire, Willpower, but rather in the individual’s ability to coordinate their desires in the achievement of a goal. According to Nietzsche’s writings, the secret to Self-Control is the management of desires. No longer toxic to the individual’s best interests, now the desires are restructured to serve them best.
Behavior Modification Through Self-Design:
Physical Environment Design
In the redesigning of your total environment, you simultaneously redesign your life also. This holistic, newly constructed ecosystem avoids unwelcome inputs that trigger unwanted behaviors, keeping you from your goals. Your environment consists of the people around you, your work space, your social media sites, the books you read, shows you watch, and foods you stock in your cabinets. While much of human behavior is triggered by emotion and impulses, it is often the environment that creates the trigger.
Open-Minded Focus
The focusing of attention determines how an individual will react or behave to stimuli. Impulse reactions are avoided when one open-mindedly controls focus. Remain a conscious and responsible observer of your thoughts and actions.
Temptation Bundling
Define the behavior/activity that is necessary for completion of the goal. Reward yourself with an indulgence each time this particular activity is completed. Through a program of repetition and reward, in due course a reward is no longer needed and the behavior becomes involuntary.
The Result is the Reward.
“Clarity leads to attention and attention leads to results.” - Henry Cloud
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