How to Align Your Environment With Your Goals

Although most of us have the freedom to make a wide range of choices at any given moment, we often make decisions based on the environment we find ourselves in. For example, if I wanted to do so, I could drink a beer as I write this guide. However, I am currently sitting at my desk with a glass of water next to me. There are no beers in sight. Although I possess the capability to get up, walk to my car, drive to the store, and buy a beer, I probably won’t because I am surrounded by easier alternatives. In this case, taking a sip of water is the default decision, the easy decision.

Similarly, many of the decisions we make in our professional and personal lives are shaped by the options that surround us.

• If you sleep with your phone next to your bed, then checking social media and email as soon as you wake up is likely to be the default decision.
• If you walk into your living room and your couches and chairs all face the television, then watching television is likely to be the default decision.
• If you keep alcohol in your kitchen, then drinking consistently is more likely to be the default decision.

Of course, defaults can be positive as well.

• If you keep a dumbbell next to your desk at work, then pumping out some quick curls is more likely to be the default decision.
• If you keep a water bottle with you throughout the day, then drinking water rather than soda is more likely to be the default decision.
• If you place floss in a visible location (like next to your toothbrush), then flossing is more likely to be the default decision.

Scientists refer to the impact that environmental defaults can have on our decision making as choice architecture. This has an important impact when it comes to achieving goals. Whether or not you achieve your goals in the long-term has a lot to do with what types of influences surround you in the short-term. It’s very hard to stick with positive habits in a negative environment.