A Guide to Using Behavioral Design: Tweaking Your Environment for Change Part 2

There’s no doubt that our environment plays a huge role in our lives behind the scenes. It shapes who we are, what we do, and how we behave. But most of us don’t realize the extent to which our environment can be used to support change and development. By making a few simple tweaks to your surroundings, you can make it a lot easier to stick to your goals and live your best life! Let’s take a look at some easy ways to use behavioral design to support your efforts to live your best life. The environment can make an uphill climb even harder, or can even keep us so stuck the first step seems impossible, or, conversely, set the stage for success. But how? Most of the time, the environment isn’t knocking on the door of your rational mind so say “Hey. Come over here and actively choose this crap option.” No. Rather, environmental influences have subconscious impacts we might not even notice. For example, our choices often put us on the path of least resistance, i.e. thwart change or favor the status quo. Not only does our environment light that path but it pushes us in that direction. We often focus on our willpower and inner resolve when it comes to behavior change. We can think of that as an inside –> out approach. However, if we want to make lasting change, we also need to leverage an outside –> in strategy. That is to say, it’s important to be mindful of the small actions to adjust our surroundings to better support us. Our behavior has an impact on our environment. That’s right. What we do can make our environment more or less supportive by, say, bringing focus to our intentions. With a little effort, we can create an environment that will help us achieve our goals and dreams!