Willpower is often considered an essential resource for habit formation. In reality, willpower is only required when:
- you do not know what you want,
- your desire (your why) is not strong enough,
- you are not invested in your aspirations, or
- your environment opposes your goal.
When these four principles align with your commitment, there is no internal debate. There is no need for willpower to live up to them. Hence, making committed decisions requires:
- upfront investments,
- making it public,
- setting a timeline,
- setting up feedback and accountability structures, and
- removing or changing the elements in your environment that oppose your commitments.
True commitment means creating the conditions that make achieving your goals inevitable.
Change your environment—change yourself
Evolution dictates that we adapt to our environment. You are who you are because of your environment. If you strategically change your environment, you choose the direction in which you’ll evolve.
While we have internal, interpersonal, and external environments, this book focusses on the latter alone. It includes the people around you, the information you look at, the food you consume… This external environment shapes your internal invironment, your worldview, values, and beliefs.
By shaping your environment, you shape your thoughts and behaviours. You do not shape your thoughts and behaviours; they emerge simply from circumstance.
