Something that often gets overlooked is the impact your environment has on your behavior.

We think we're walking around making choices all day but much of that is being influenced by the places, people, and things around us.

If you're not thinking about food but walk by a bowl of candy, all of a sudden you want a piece of chocolate.

If you had a long day and your gym clothes aren't ready to easily grab and go, you'll skip today's sweat session. Again.

Both the presence and absence of items and people in our environment will impact our behavior.

By being thoughtful in the way we shape our environment, we can make healthier decisions easier and reduce our need to rely on motivation and willpower .

In the transition from Summer to Fall, you have the perfect opportunity to shape some new behaviors and reset your routines.

Here's a few ideas to get you started...

3 Tips for better Habits

1. Get in your own way. Literally put things on your path so that you will see them (or not). Pick a gym that is on your commute home or make your at-home equipment easy to see and access (not a drying rack for clothes).

2. Create friction. Similar to placing things on your path, you can also strategically remove or avoid them. Avoid the route that takes you past whatever drive-thru is the most tempting and remove or hide the snacks that seem to call to you past 9:00pm. If you can't see them or easily grab them, you will be less likely to start the late night munchie mayhem.

3. Make fewer day-of decisions. It's easier to make a healthier decision for the "tomorrow" you than it is for the "now" you. Pack your gym bag and your lunch the night before. Decide in advance what kind of class or workout you will do. Having everything ready to go and having a mental picture of the kind of workout you will do will exponentially increase your odds of following through.

Double Click for More Details

One of the first books that really had an impression on me in my early days of personal and career development is Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard by Chip Heath & Dan Heath.

One of the metaphors they use when describing a strategy for habit change is the idea of the rider, the elephant, and the path.

Rather than squeeze an explanation into this post, I'm including a link to a short (2 minute) video.

If it resonates, I highly recommend checking out the book (or at least a summary if you don't have time for the whole thing right now).

1 Last Thing...

If a full on environment overhaul feels like a lot, you know I'm a fan of starting with just one thing.

And if you're game, the one thing I suggest in this case is a pantry purge.

Go through your pantry, cabinets, and fridge, and ditch the foods that are not serving your healthiest self.

Anything that calls to you in the dark hours...

Anything you can't put down even after you feel full...

Anything that tempts you into waiting until tomorrow get started on eating better...

It's gotta go!

Take Action!

How will you use this information today?

What ONE small action step will you commit to?

Write it down & set a reminder to check your follow through.