Modifying Our Environment to Meet Our Goals

It’s that time of year when many of us who set New Year’s resolutions are watching them fall by the wayside.  So Redfin reached out to me for some tips on modifying our daily lives and environments to help us get back on track.  

A good place to start is by clearly defining the person you want to be.  From there, you can set up your default home environment to support your goals.  Success becomes easier if you create a home-court advantage for yourself.  The next step is to use the 4 Laws of Behaviour (as explained by James Clear in Atomic Habits) to make your desired habits – or repeated patterns & routines – obvious, attractive, easy, and pleasurable.

So, for example, if your resolution is to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep, think about what your home would look like if you were the type of person who values and prioritizes sleep.  Remind yourself that you, too, can be that person, and use the aforementioned laws to make doing the ‘right thing’ as simple, accessible, and satisfying as possible.  

In keeping with this example, you could install smart lighting to automatically dim your lights in the evening or set an alarm on your phone an hour before your target bedtime to remind you to put the devices away and start winding down.  How you curate your bedroom environment may become paramount.  Perhaps you could rearrange the furniture and replace the television with a cozy reading nook or change the colour palette to create a space that is calm and inviting.  In my home, I invested in linens that feel luxurious along with a weighted blanket to help ease stress and anxiety.  Instead of having a phone-charging station beside my bed (Side note: Simply getting the phone out of your bedroom may revolutionize your life!), I adorned my nightstand with a plant, a leather-bound journal, and a pretty, old-fashioned alarm clock.  Knowing that cooler temperatures make it easier to fall and stay asleep, I also installed a smart thermostat to automatically reduce the temperature at night. 

The same type of strategy applies if you resolve to adopt healthier eating habits and drink more water.  Make this choice easy and obvious by stocking the fridge and pantry with fresh produce and lean proteins.  Invest in a beautiful fruit bowl you’re happy to fill and place front-and-centre on your kitchen counter.  Design an attractive, functional but uncluttered area beside your coffee maker to house your pre-filled water bottle and supplements. This is an easy reminder to take your vitamin D and creatine (my supplements of choice!) and hydrate before you caffeinate.  Perhaps go one step further and devote time every Sunday to meal-prepping a few nutritious, delicious grab-and-go options for the busy work week. I love to pre-chop vegetables for salads & crudités, roast a couple different veggies, make individual portions of overnight oats or chia pudding, and pre-cook & portion-out 1 or 2 proteins.  If I prepare seasoned ground beef, for example, I divide it into 4 to 6 oz servings in small glass containers that can be refrigerated or frozen.

Even though we have discussed a couple of examples here, my final tip is to pick just one place to start. Once you’ve firmly established a habit of grabbing the tasty-looking apple (which is now right in front of your face!) instead of a handful of Oreos (which are less visible in the basement after being displaced by your desired snack options), you can layer on another small-but-mighty change that will help you achieve your bigger-picture goals.

Side note: Click here to read the full Redfin article. Accomplishing your New Year’s Resolution Ideas: How to Make it Happen This Year.