The environment that we operate in dictates our behavior at numerous times.
At the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, Anne Thorndike – a primary care physician experimented with a crazy new idea (1).
They redesigned the Hospital Cafeteria by changing how drinks were arranged in the room.
Originally, all the refrigerators were stocked with sodas. They redesigned it and added water to the refrigerators.
Additionally, they also placed several baskets of plastic water across all food stations throughout the area.
Soda was still in the refrigerators, but water was simply more accessible.
The result – soda sales at the hospital dropped by 11.4% whereas water bottle sales increased by 25.8%.
This was merely because they redesigned the environment in such a way that prompted more water consumption instead of soda consumption.
The environment that we operate in acts as an invisible hand that shapes human behavior.
I’ve experienced many situations first hand in my life that demonstrated that the environment affects self-discipline and behavior.
I’ve always wanted to fast for health and spiritual reasons. I try my best to follow a 14 – 16 hour fast.
But I also love the filter coffees that I drink in the mornings.
Whenever I have milk at home, I can’t help but pour myself a cup of filter coffee.
Eventually – there came a time when I stopped buying milk (because I felt lazy), and the lack of milk forced me to drink black coffee and eventually drinking Black Coffee became a habit.
If you want to change your behavior and enforce self-discipline, you have to change your environment,
The environment acts as the invisible hand that shapes our behavior.
For example…
Do you want to walk for 1 hour a day? Then stop taking private transportation and instead take public transportation.
Want to workout every day? Join a gym that’s close to your office and visit the gym immediately after your office is complete. Do not try to come home and then go to the gym.
Want to stop binging on junk food? Then clean out your refrigerator and keep only healthy food items.
Want to work more productively? Consider joining a co-working space so you get a real feel of the office and can contribute effectively to your work.
These are some ideas that you could use to influence your behavior and thereby build your self-discipline muscle.
Thank you!
This is Harry Ramsay, singing off from Authentic Discipline.