Optimize your environments

If you're reading this, personal success is most likely one of your biggest priorities in life.

Unfortunately, I think too many people who are obsessed with personal development spend too much time on the wrong things.

If you're prioritizing the quality of the sources you get your information from, or the strategies you implement to attain maximum productivity, or even the projects you work on, you're doing it all wrong.

When it comes to personal growth, activities don't shape us; people do. The people you surround yourself with are far more important than the work that you do.

Influence

From birth, our decisions are influenced by our environments. By the time we reach age 3, 80% of our brain is already developed - and the environments we're surrounded in during that time equally develop our character. It's no coincidence that 90% of people that grow up to become thieves, school shooters and rapists grew up in households where they felt neglected, unloved or in constant threat of danger.

For the flip side of that coin, look no further than Silicon Valley. How is it that virtually all ground breaking startups, technology and innovators emerge from one small city? Surprise, surprise - it's the environment.

But why are strong environments so powerful, you ask? Simple - because they shape Mental models.

Mental Models

Our environments are responsible for one thing: creating the culture in our lives. If you grew up in an environment that prioritized the answer, as opposed to the process, you'd be afraid to fail. If you grew up in an environment full of love and empathy, you'd only be capable of reciprocating the same feeling.

The environments we live in shape who we are, because they shape how we think. The notion that "everybody is unique" is an outcome of everybody's unique interpretation of their environments. The thing that makes us unique from one another is our environment-influenced thoughts, beliefs and abilities.

The technical term for this phenomenon is Mental Models. They're the structures and underlying foundation that shape the way that we think, react, perceive and process information.

Optimizing your mental models

Alright, so if mental models dictate how we live our lives, how can we optimize them for success?

Well, it's pretty straightforward. Remember, our mental models are purely influenced by the environments we surround ourselves in. If we surround ourselves with smart, ambitious, empathetic people, those qualities will surely pass on to us given enough time.

On the other hand, if you continue to surround yourself with the toxic, judgemental people in your life, their very shortcomings you despise so much will manifest in you.

It's as simple as that.