Provision #627: Stress Proof Your
Environments
by Bob Tschannen-Moran
LifeTrek Laser Provision
Although we haven't always named them as such, we've been talking about
environments for the past several weeks. The relationships in our lives
represent one environment. The finances represent another. Today we address the
topic more fully, paying attention to a variety of physical, natural, and
systemic environments. It's important to make sure our environments support,
inspire, and enable us to be the best we can possibly be. Why? Because
"environments always win." There's no way to go it alone. There's also no way to
buck our environments forever. They have a way of wearing us down. So don't let
that happen. Read this Provision to design winning environments.
LifeTrek Provision
I have been associated with a number of coach training programs, either as a
student or as a faculty member or both. No program emphasizes environmental
design coaching more than
CoachVille. To quote the president, Dave Buck, who is himself building on
the work of the late Thomas Leonard, one of the founders of the modern coaching
movement: "Environmental design is essential to masterful coaching because the
environment always wins!"
I agree wholeheartedly. All the will power in the world is not powerful enough
to overcome environments that distract, tempt, undermine, antagonize, deprive,
drain energy, and otherwise pollute our intentions. If you have been trying
unsuccessfully to get something done, then perhaps the problem is not with your
mindset or with your goal. Perhaps the problem is with your environments. If so,
then stress proofing your life takes on a whole new dimension. Until we
successfully stress proof our environments, no real success is possible.
So what is the concept of environmental design coaching? We take our lead from
Winston Churchill: "We shape our environments and they, in turn, shape us."
There is always a dynamic interaction between ourselves and our environments.
They become a reflection of who we are and they influence who we become. The
former process is slow and evolutionary while the latter process is fast and
revolutionary.
Here's how that works: when we put ourselves into a new environment, change
comes fast and furious. Anyone who has ever moved from one home to another knows
what I mean. Old locations, routines, habits, accounts, numbers, roads,
appliances, furniture, and friends quickly -- even instantaneously -- give way
to new ones. I remember moving from Columbus, Ohio to Williamsburg,
Virginia in 2002. Overnight I went from a sub-urban to a small-town environment, from
overlooking an alley to overlooking a lake, from belonging to a variety of clubs
and associations to belonging to nothing. It was all new, and I quickly had to
adapt.
At the same time as I was adapting to my new environments, however, I had the
opportunity to make some environmental modifications of my own. Take something
as simple as setting up my new office. What furniture did I want? How did I want
to set up my computer systems? My filing systems? My communication systems? My
banking relationships? These things took time, and the decisions I made were
critical to my long-term success. They were either going to make things easier
or harder, so I sought to make things easier.
But that took time. I remember working for months on an improvised table and a
folding chair as I waited for my office furniture to arrive. I remember spending
weeks with contractors and my own ingenuity to retrofit my home offices with the
requisite cabling and connections. I also remember spending years trying to get
those systems right. What seemed like a perfect, low-cost, all-in-one option for
Internet, phone, and television proved to be unreliable with no redundancy or
backup for business purposes. So that environment had to be modified in order to
support the work I wanted to do.
Unfortunately, too many people put up with lousy environments for way too long.
I have learned to shorten that timeframe considerably. If an environment is not
working out, I no longer tolerate that for very long before making a change.
That has not always been my practice. In fact, I have often prided myself on
being able to fix environments so they are good enough to keep me going for
another six months or another year. I love to tinker, but I fail to account for
the time and energy that tinkering takes.
I have experienced that first hand in the past year. Both my desktop and my
laptop computers started to have problems, as I have previously reported in
Provisions, and I kept struggling to make them work. I have no idea how many
hours I spent on that over the course of 6-12 months, but it was substantial. It
was also stressful. I never knew when things were going to crash so I developed
elaborate redundancy routines to guarantee no loss of data.
The fact that I was successful at that no longer brings me much pride or joy.
Having purchased and set up two new computers, I have now gone 6 months without
a single significant glitch. My creativity and productivity has been channeled
into my writing, as well as other important tasks, which is exactly where I want
them. The fact that I know a lot about fixing computer systems does not mean
that my calling can be expressed through desktop support. On the contrary, the
more time I spend distracted by such things, the less time I devote to the
things that are really important to me.
So what's the solution? Getting new computers on a regular schedule rather than
waiting until they go on the fritz. The latter is a formula for environmental
toxicity; the former is a formula for environmental vitality. When my computers
are working well, lots of things are working well. When my computers are down,
lots of things are down. And I want things to work well. I have fewer
frustrations, distractions, diversions, and sink holes of time, energy, and
focus. Instead, I have the freedom and the joy to do the things I love with
reckless abandon. That's the key to success in any field, and it all depends
upon environmental design.
I pay attention to these things when I work with coaching clients. On the one
hand, I like to ask whether they would like to move to a new environment in
order to trigger rapid changes and adaptations. People often protest, "Oh, I
can't do that!" But upon further review it becomes clear that they are really
saying, "Oh, I don't want to do that." We are always at choice when it comes to
the environments we hang out in. If we feel stuck, then we are probably feeling
scared by the prospect of change. No one is ever stuck. That's a judgment call
that reflects our thinking in the moment. We can, however, be scared, angry,
frustrated, confused, uncertain, or otherwise upset by what is happening in our
environments. Those feelings are real and I view them as gifts.
Why do I view negative feelings as gifts? Because they tell us that something is
not working with our environments. Something is out of alignment. Some needs are
not being met. The problem is not out there, in the sense of someone or
something to blame. The problem is one of fit between who we are, what we need,
and our environments. When the shoes don't fit, it's time to change the shoes. What parents,
apart from those living in poverty, say to their children, "Tough.
The shoes may be too small, but wear them any way." Parents know, as do coaches,
that it's easier to change the shoes than the feet.
Such changes can be as easy as joining a new group or getting a new job. If we do not
feel good associating and working with the people we associate and work with,
then associate and work with different people. I know that sounds simplistic,
but it can really be that simple. More than one person has reported on the
transformational effect of changing their relationships. Stop going to the bar
and start going to church is, perhaps, a classic example. But it can be
multiplied across platforms. We truly do become like the people we surround
ourselves with. Environments always win, so pick your environments well.
On the other hand, I also like to ask whether they would like to change their
existing environments in order to initiate slow but steady improvements. Here,
too, people may protest that they can't do something when the problem is really
that they don't want to. Taking something as simple as changing the foods that
are in our home environments. People come up with all kinds of excuses as to why
they keep foods they don't want to eat in the house. Someone else wants those
foods. They're nice for special occasions. They're not bad in moderation. So we
keep buying junk food and we keep wondering why we're not eating the way we want
to eat.
Environments always win! If we know the foods we want to eat, then those are the
foods we want in our environments. If we know that we don't want to smoke
tobacco, then we don't want tobacco in our environments. Not even in limited
quantities and secret places. When we design clean environments, then it becomes
easy to realize our intentions. Of course this takes clarity (as to what we
want) and work (to design our environments accordingly), but it is doable. It is
always doable. Modifying some environments is more challenging than others, but
it is never impossible. Some things just take a little a longer.
The key is to stop tolerating dysfunctional, toxic environments. That is a
formula for disaster, burnout, and stress. When something isn't working, when
you're not getting the support you need, when you have one distraction after
another, when you're not enjoying the work you are doing, when you're not able
to do what you want to do, then the problem is probably not with you. The
problem is with the interface between you and your environments.
Pay attention to the interface. Change the environments you can change, leave
the environments you can't change, and get a coach to help you figure out which
is which. Putting this off only makes things worse. Jumping on it quickly can
enable you to more effortlessly, consistently, and enjoyably become the kind of
person you want to become.
Coaching Inquiries: How are your environments working for you? Are the holding
you back or moving you forward? Are they making things easier or harder? Do they
support or frustrate your intentions? What environments can you change? What
environments can you leave? How can you muster the patience, the courage, and
the wisdom to make it so?
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LifeTrek Readers' Forum (selected feedback
from the past week)
Editor's Note: The LifeTrek Readers' Forum contains selections from the comments
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Email Bob..
Great to be in touch after all these years. I look forward to your
Provisions, even if I do not respond. I have seen the options you have on your
web site too. I am very pleased that this new "ministry" has really taken off
for you. You are the enterprise minister in getting things going, not the
captain of a mainline cruise ship. I admire your creativity and wisdom. Way to
go! Top
May you be filled with goodness, peace, and joy.
Bob Tschannen-Moran, President
LifeTrek Coaching International
121 Will Scarlet Lane
Williamsburg, VA 23185-5043
Email: Coach@LifeTrekCoaching.com
Phone: (757) 345-3452
Fax: (772) 382-3258
Twitter: LifeTrekBob
Web: www.LifeTrekCoaching.com
Mobile: www.LifeTrekMobile.com
Coach Training: www.EvocativeCoaching.com
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