Enriched environments are circumstances that force you to perform at a high level. They evoke eustress that creates focus and growth. You can measure the richness of your environment by how often you are in a flow state.
Pessimists explain negative events as a permanent fixture of their identity. When something goes wrong for an optimist, they focus on situational factors. Then, plan how they can change those factors in the future.
You can optimize your environment by structuring it with forcing functions. Forcing functions are self-imposed constraints that force you to act the way you intend. You turn a behaviour you would like to do into something you have to do.
Forcing functions are another way of freeing up your working memory. You no longer have to think about or manage your behaviour. You can be more mindful of the present and have greater discernment in its needs.
Forcing functions are about making one decision that makes all other decisions easier or irrelevant. For example, by removing social media apps, you do not have to think about whether to check your feed. Keeping your options open sets you up for failure.
The most important forcing functions of an enriched environment are:
- High investment fosters greater commitment and persistence.
- Social pressure creates a sense of accountability and motivation to meet perceived expectations. It reduces the likelihood of giving up.
- High poor performance consequences to ensure you won’t cut corners.
- High difficulty. Happiness does not come from the absence of a load. It is the presence of a load that gives us the traction to move forward. Do not give yourself the leeway to get around it.
- Novelty. When you do things you’ve never done before, you’re more focused and engaged. When you do the same things over and over and in the same environments, it is easy to zone out.
