Week 2023#25: shape your environment

Our behaviors are shaped by the environment we're in. Shape your environment to shape your behaviors

The outdoor gym at Tjuvholmen is my favorite place in Oslo, because it is full of open, and friendly people, who are visibly bettering themselves, consistently.

What I’ve learned

Shape your environment to shape your behaviors

Recently I discovered that many of the quotes you’ve heard a thousand times already (“carpe diem”, “don’t waste time, or time wastes you”, etc) mean essentially nothing until you experience them.

They have been repeated so many times, out of context, that nobody pauses to reflect on their meaning anymore.

Your environment shapes your behaviors

is not a new idea.

It’s actually well-known information.

Because this bit of knowledge is so well-known, it’s easy to forget that you can actually apply it.

Last week I experienced the power of changing environments so many times, that it actually motivated me to reshape my environment in Tallinn.

Within the span of seven days, I:

• got clarity on the top of a mountain north of the Arctic Circle, watching the sun trying really hard to set, but ultimately failing,

• got peace of mind, living in a minimalistically decorated vacation home next to a fjord with crystal clear water,

• got motivation from spending a day in motion, using every possible vehicle (with the exception of a car),

• grew stronger from exercising for over two hours surrounded by people close to the maximum of their genetic potential,

• strengthened existing and built new relationships at an Estonian summer house in Western Estonia, close to the beach, surrounded by forests.

Every environment changed my behavior in subtle (and sometimes not-so-subtle ways).

The most striking example was exercising at the outdoor gym in Oslo: I accidentally did twice as much work and didn’t even notice until it was over and I wondered why this workout seemed harder than usual.

Since everyone around is in peak physical condition and constantly exercising, you just follow along and do the same.

All of these experiences finally drove home the point of what “the environment shapes your behaviors” means.

The flipside of this statement is of course, that you can shape your environment to change your behaviors.

Direction vs Movement

Directions for Week 25:

• Shaping my environment: I want to consciously re-examine my daily routines and places where I spend time, to design an environment that supports my goals.

What happened

Highlights of last week:

• finally got clarity on relationships 🦋

• experienced breathtaking nature in the Lofoten,

• made a lot of new friends/acquaintances in Oslo,

• actually kept exercising while traveling 💪