Recently I was listening to Graham Stephan's Iced Coffee Hour Podcast with guest, Alex Hormozi. Alex is a successful entrepreneur and has a lot of great advice. They covered a lot of topics in the 2+ hour podcast, but one thing that stuck out to me was the idea of changing your environment to change your behavior.
He gives a few examples. If you want to become an amazing ping pong player, go find the best team of players you can and play with them. If you want to be a better swimmer, go find the best swimmers you can and swim with them. Surrounding yourself with people better than you and comparing yourself to them will provide fast feedback loops that will supercharge your growth. Living in your mom's basement and hanging out with the same friends you have always had will only produce the same behavior you have always had. Consequently, your full potential will always be out of reach.
I have seen this principle play out in my own life both in negative and positive ways. I was born and raised in southern West Virginia. My home state is beautiful, and I will always be proud to call myself a mountaineer. But it has its fair share of issues, namely the opioid and drug epidemic. I have seen many friends and family members fall victim to this scourge. I have also seen many rise above it. Many that rose above it did so by changing their environment. They moved away from the people and places that were enabling their behavior and moved to a place where they could thrive. They surrounded themselves with people that were better than them, and they grew.
When an addict finally decides to get clean, he is either in jail or rehab. He is forced to change his environment. He is forced to change his behavior. He is forced to change his life. What happens though when they get out? Normally, they go back to their hometown. Back to their old, enabling friends. Back to their old habits. Back to their old life. Back to their old environment. And what happens? They relapse.
That's kind of unintuitive though, right? You would think that going somewhere completely new would lead to hardship which would then lead to relapsing into old behaviors, but that's not what happens. They have a clean slate that is unburdened by their past and are able to reinvent themselves. They change not only their physical location, but the friends they have and things they do. They change their environment.
That is actually part of my story. In early 2021, I was working remotely and had recently moved back in with my parents in rural WV. The job wasn't mentally stimulating, and the remote work environment wasn't conducive to mentorship from my coworkers and leader. I also wasn't getting what I needed spiritually from the church I grew up in, and my friends were doing the same things they had always done. I was stuck in a rut.
Then a personal tragedy arose which was the catalyst for me to change my environment. I started applying to different positions, but in particular I applied to what I consider(ed) to be my dream company, Ramsey Solutions, and fortunately got the role! I moved to a new city, started a new job, and found a new church all within the span of a month. The rest is history, and what a world of difference environment change has made in my life. I am now surrounded by people that are better than me in many ways. I am challenged daily to grow and improve together with my coworkers, and I am exhorted to grow spiritually by my church family. I am in a place where I can thrive.
Now I am not saying that you should quit and desert the people around you when things are difficult, but recognize when you need a necessary ending and a new beginning. Also recognize the other half of the equation which is behavioral change. Doing the same things and being the same person in a new environment will lead to the same results in a different place.
So if you want to change your behavior, change your environment.