4 Ways Your Environment Impacts Your Future Self

4 Ways Your Environment Impacts Your Future Self

What does your environment say about you?

I know in my own life, there is a stark contrast to the environment I was in a decade ago and the environment I’m in now. (Thank goodness!)

Did you know the current environment you created is impacting your future self?

If you don’t yet know who your future self is, take some time to get to know her.

Where does she work? Where does she live? Is she married with children? What are her hobbies? Who does she spend time with? What are her values? Her purpose?

When you’ve identified who your future self is, you’ll start to question if your current surroundings are in alignment with her.

You’ll start making upgrades and tweaks to your environment to set yourself up to become her.

Because the truth is, what you do today are little baby steps toward your future self, for better or worse.

Let’s talk about why your environment is conducive to your future self.

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Why Your Environment is Conducive to Your Future Self

Your Environment Helps (or Hinders) Your Future Self

There are different expectations for every environment, which can either help or hinder you in achieving your goals and becoming your future self.

As an example, ten years ago I was still apart of the environment I’d created in my 20’s-managing an Abercrombie & Fitch store and spending most of my free time at the bar.

The few relationships I had were mediocre at best and many of the people I used to hang out with I don’t even talk to anymore. Probably because our friendship didn’t exist outside the bar.

Nothing about my environment was creating my ideal future self (probably because I didn’t even know who she was back then).

But as I got into my late 20’s, I ended up quitting my job with A&F and got a much better job at a company I loved and stayed with until they closed the building and laid everyone off, seven years later.

I ditched the bar scene, deactivated my old Facebook account, and made new, quality friendships.

After firmly establishing my values and purpose as I became a 30-something, I met my husband (!)

The places I frequented changed. My habits changed.

I changed.

All of these changes created my current environment-a space conducive to my future self.

I work daily to continue to upgrade what’s not working in my life to align more with my future self.

It’s definitely not always easy, but it’s always worth it.

You’re worth it.

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Your Current Environment is the Result of Your Self-Image

Depending on where you’re at in your journey, this can be affirming, or trigger negative thoughts and feelings.

If you’re happy with your environment, you’re probably delighted to hear that your environment is the result of your self-image.

By contrast, if you are not happy with your environment, you might feel bad knowing your environment is the result of your self-image.

Please know I don’t say this to make you feel bad.

I want to help you overcome the obstacles you face and set yourself up to become your best future self.

That in mind, let’s talk about the 4 ways your environment is impacting your future self, and how you can change what’s not working.

Resources:

4 Ways Your Environment Impacts Your Future Self

Your Appearance

The way you present yourself to the world matters.

Ultimately, it runs deeper than the clothes you’re wearing or the way you style your hair.

Your appearance speaks volumes about your self-image, which as I mentioned above, directly impacts your environment.

It’s not about trying to look perfect or impressing others.

But it is about feeling good in your skin, showing up for yourself, and having the respect for yourself to take care of you.

There were several times this past summer when I wore a dress on a Monday, just because.

When you feel good in your skin, dressed as your future self, you act different.

You feel confident. Inspired. Intentional. Happy. Motivated.

At the time I’m writing this, in case you’re reading it in the future, it’s 2020.

(Enough said, right?)

Many people are working remote in their pajamas.

But I encourage you to get dressed and styled every day in a way that makes you feel good, not comfortable.

Acting within the walls of comfort will never align you with your future self, because in order to become someone you’ve never been, you have to do things you’ve never done.

It requires discomfort.

How does your future self dress?

Dress like her.

Even if you’re working from home and seeing absolutely no one.

Get dressed and styled for you.

You don’t need a reason.

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Your Living Conditions & the Things You Own

It can be hard to look around where you’re at now with the understanding this is not what you want for your life, and yet, it’s what you created.

That’s where I was 10 years ago.

As I continue to grow and understand my future self more, I uncover aspects of my life that need an upgrade.

Getting to know your future self is imperative for this reason.

If you don’t know who she is, you’ll subconsciously create whatever is easy, as opposed to intentionally creating with your future self in mind.

This isn’t about having the biggest house, the fanciest car, or a closetful of luxury-brand clothing and accessories (although if that’s what you desire, there is nothing wrong with that).

It’s about creating a physical environment in line with your future self.

If your house is dirty and a mess, is that conducive to who you want to become?

In a recent post, I talked about how I hated most of the carpet in my house. It’s old and has succumbed to abuse from my pets.

My husband and I will be replacing it before we move, but until then, I will take care of what we have now.

I see to it the carpet is vacuumed weekly and carpet shampooed frequently so it looks as nice as possible.

Taking care of what you have now is key to living in line with your future self. It shows you can be trusted with more.

So even if you’re looking around now and you’re not happy with your home, vehicle, or other items you own, take care of them to the best of your ability.

This is a great way to live in line with your future self, and paves the way for you to have more.

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The People You Spend Time With

Choose your inner circle wisely.

There is a quote by Jim Rohn who said,

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”

There is no need to be extreme and cut off anyone you feel isn’t positively impacting your life or supportive, just be mindful of their nature when you’re around them, and consider limiting your time with them.

Because people who limit themselves will limit you.

As an example, there are certain people in my life I don’t discuss my business with or the business I run with my friend, nor any other work I do.

This is because I know they don’t understand or *get* it.

They may even think some of my aspirations are crazy and impossible, because their mindset is so limited in what they conceive to be possible.

Sadly, after taking stock of the people in your life, you’ll come to realize some people have no aspirations or a desire to be better in any area of their life.

Spending time with these people can be draining or even toxic.

Build a base of people whose support you can count on. People with big dreams, goals, and a desire to learn and grow like you do.

Resources:

5 Reasons Why Toxic Friends are Holding You Back

The Media You Consume (Or Don’t Consume)

This is a big one, so I’m breaking it down into three components.

Reading/Podcasts

I cannot emphasize enough how important reading is.

If you’re not a reader, audio books are always an option, and you can listen while in the car or anywhere, really.

This helps eliminate the excuse “I’m not a reader” (and I hate when people say that, because you could become a reader if you really wanted to improve your life).

My husband, formerly not much of a reader himself, started reading multiple books at a time about a year or so after we first started dating.

(No, I didn’t force him-he just saw me reading all the time and picked up on it, finding books of interest to him).

Now, he’s a reading machine. So, please don’t use the “I’m not a reader” excuse with me. ? I know people who say this, and what I also know about them is they have no desire to grow.

Since you’re here on my blog, I know you want to live an exceptional life and grow as a person, and non-fiction personal development books or their audio counterparts are the perfect way to learn and grow.

My life has changed drastically since I began reading personal development-content books a few years ago.

If you study the habits of successful people, you’ll find they all make time to read books or listen to the audio version.

Podcasts are also a great resource.

I have an article with my list of favorites in the personal development niche here.

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TV

Too much TV can be a bad thing.

I once read somewhere the average person watches four hours of TV a day (!)

TV is usually associated with programs meant to entertain, but there are also educational programs, as well.

Just be mindful of how much TV you consume on a regular basis and the quality of the programming you’re watching.

For example: Do you spend 2 hours a day watching reality shows?

Or one hour a day watching educational programming and another hour watching your favorite new drama series on Netflix?

I personally have never been interested much in TV in my adult life.

There are just a few shows currently running that I watch. Two I can think of off the top of my head are This is Us and Ozark.

And of course, I watch my favorite college and NFL teams play football each weekend during football season.

TV is meant to entertain, and I don’t think you should quit watching a show just because it isn’t quality programming.

You only live once, do the things you enjoy.

Just be mindful of what you’re watching and how much time you’re spending.

If you feel you spend too much time watching TV, start giving yourself a daily time limit.

Resources:

The 12 Habits of Successful People

Social Media

There are definitely some amazing benefits to social media.

When I was in middle school and my best friend moved to Texas, we’d write each other letters or call each other to communicate.

This was right around the introduction of AOL, email, and instant messaging in the mid-90’s.

Eventually, we would email and instant message each other instead of writing letters.

Now, with social media and smart phones, we can communicate and stay up to date on each other’s lives daily.

Keeping in touch with friends and family who live out of state has never been easier.

There are definitely some benefits that came with the technology age and the ushering in of social media platforms.

Unfortunately, the negative impact of social media on our culture has far outweighed its benefits.

And your social media accounts are a significant reflection of your environment.

The more I upgrade my habits to align with my future self, the less time I spend on any social media platform.

I just find it so fleeting and unimportant compared to what matters most in life.

The successful version of me is not scrolling Facebook endlessly and updating about mundane, unimportant things every hour, posting selfies, or wasting time arguing with strangers about various topics.

And on another note-you should be selective about who you connect with on social media, as it is a reflection of you.

It goes back to being mindful of who you spend time with.

As I mentioned earlier, when I went through that season of my life where I made major changes to my environment, I deactivated my old Facebook account.

I did this because I no longer resonated with that version of myself or many of her “friends.”

Eventually I started a new account and became very selective about who I connected with and the content I posted.

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Before You Go

Get to know the identity of your future self.

Then, examine the areas of your life I just discussed, and what upgrades you could make to your environment that would align you more with her.

I want to propose a challenge for you today to change one small thing in your surroundings.

Feel free to let me know in the comments what that one small thing is.

“What surrounds us is what is within us.” ~T.F. Hodge

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Lisa

Hi! I'm Lisa. I help women live purposeful, fulfilling and joyful lives. I'm happily married and a fur mom to two boxers and two rabbits. I love Jesus, freelance writing, fitness, personal development, reading books, football, cross-stitching, and video games.