In the book Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath, they liken our reasoning skills being a rider and an elephant traveling down a path. The rider is the logical part of our brain that desperately tries to control the elephant which is our emotional brain. The rider does a good job managing the elephant for a while, but the path will ultimately direct the elephant’s actions. The brain is constantly making decisions according to the stimuli our environment gives us. Most of the time without our logical brain (rider) even realizing those decisions.
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There are a couple of different environments that shape our perspectives and behaviors:
- Social- People we know, our social interactions
- Cultural- Cultural “rules” and expectations
- Intellectual- Ideas and beliefs that circulate around us either at home or work
- Physical- our actual homes and workplaces, what’s around us and available
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What role does your environment have in controlling your behaviors? Donuts or other pastries in the office, stale popcorn at the movie theater, or a crowd of friends that continually hit that office happy hour all play a role in your behaviors—likely, every day. We often think we can motivate ourselves not to partake in these behaviors, but then five o’clock arrives after a long day of work where your boss yelled at you for not hitting that deadline.
“I’ll just go to happy hour and only have one glass of wine,” you think to yourself.
Three hours later you find yourself drunk off a bottle of wine, singing karaoke in a horrible rendition of “I Will Survive.”
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It’s time for a change
Many times all we need to do is change our environment, and you can change your behavior. By changing our environment, we can automate our choices and therefore lead us to success.
Recently, I found myself making some poor nutrition choices because I was not shaping my path up for success. I felt overwhelmed with too many decisions, and I was making poor ones regarding my nutrition. Research has shown that most of our food decisions have nothing to do with hunger, but are determined by our habits and familiar routines. On my way home from coaching, I was finding myself inside a WAWA grabbing junk to eat; because, emotionally I couldn’t make the decision to eat leafy greens and chicken that I had prepared at home.
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Even though I moved a year ago, I still am working on developing systems that help me succeed, because the systems I had in place back in Williamsburg no longer work. I have a new path, and I need to shape it, so that this path doesn’t get the best of me.
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I was disregarding the food I had prepared at home and spending more money to grab more, less nutritious food. I decided to try Territory Foods. I’ve ordered meals for about a month now and all I can say it is a game changer. In the past month, I have only stopped and got other food ONCE! And even when I did, I got a smaller amount of the comfort food because I had yummy, nutritious food already with me at the gym. I automated my food choices; so that, I make one less decision during the day. I can save that decision for something else.
This small change has added up. When I first started Territory Foods I could not fit into my jeans and get them buttoned. The month of August involved moving and spending ten days with family—a cultural environment that was conducive to gaining a few pounds—on top of the stressors of moving to a new area. One small investment from my rider (logical brain) made a small change to my path, and within a month I have made improvements to my body composition and well being. I can now spend more time on decisions that matter a little more than food.
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NOT just limited to nutrition
With our move to Northern Virginia, I have also found more time on my hands (poor me). I used to work sixty hours a week in Williamsburg, and I didn’t have time to think; my life was automated by the hour of what I did and where I was supposed to be.
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I’m finding myself with a ton more freedom, and until last week, I didn’t know what to do with it.
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I was discovering an inability to get work done in the apartment I am currently living in. Laundry, dishes, puppies, and Netflix were far too distracting to prioritize what I needed to get done. After sitting down with Chris, we troubleshot my path and environment to help me make better decisions to be successful. Through our conversation, he learned that I thrive on schedules and routines, and he made the simple recommendation,
“You need to leave your apartment and start a new routine.”
Therefore, I made a plan that I get up and LEAVE on the days I’m not coaching. Not only is it good for my well-being to get out of sweatpants (sometimes), but I have been highly productive since changing that routine. I am finishing my work in record time, and it is giving me a sense of purpose. Simple!
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What can you change in your routine to set yourself up for success?
Are you finding yourself snacking every time you get home from work because you enter through the kitchen? Can you enter through a different door?
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Are you finding the convenient store a little too convenient? Is there a way to automate your food choices; therefore, you don’t stop at the convenient store?
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Are you having trouble sleeping because of electronics in the room? Instagram and Facebook can be too distracting. Can you make the bedroom an electronic free zone?
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Are the foods in your kitchen not setting you up for success? It’s 15 minutes till dinner, and cheese and crackers are sitting in the fridge. Are you finding yourself snacking on them? Maybe you need to do a kitchen makeover, and get that stuff out of your kitchen.
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I recently helped a client automate some of her decisions concerning food. She works hard at her career and has two small children to look after. She was finding that she focused so much on what her children needed that she was neglecting her own basic needs. When she left home, she would make sure her children had food and their needs were taken care of but did not pack her own food. She would then stop and pick up a latte, and maybe a pastry.
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This was not helping her with her goals of living a healthier lifestyle.
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What could we change in her environment to change her behavior?
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By putting our heads together, we discussed the idea of creating a section of ready to go snacks for her in the fridge. These included apples, bananas, string cheese, and other various easy to grab foods. We also made a trail mix to go in the car; therefore, if hunger strikes in her busy day she doesn’t feel the need to stop and get a pastry—she can snack on fresh seeds and nuts instead of having a croissant. Therefore, she decided what to eat hours in advance before she became emotionally drained by other things to do.When a snake jumps out on your path, you will not be able to control your elephant effectively unless you planned for that snake. Look ahead and try to identify the snakes on your path, and prepare or remove them ahead of time.