Establishing Your Personal Environment

Culture is defined as “The Way We Do Things Around Here”. This could apply to the workplace, to church, to your home, or other areas. You can just watch what goes on and you will be able to define the culture.

My grandchildren spent the night at some people’s home and when they returned, they had much to say about how different things were done and expected at the home they visited. It was very humorous. The culture of the home visited was significantly different than their own home.

Culture can be changed if desired. It just takes a little time. Some habits are hard to break. My mother was like a Drill Sargent. Our rooms had to be cleaned and the beds made up before we left for school. She was very organized to a fault, and expected us boys to be the same way.

As adults, we are still affected by her actions.

Culture can include the way decisions are made and problems are solved. It can include the way people talk and the words they use. In a fraternity house, the culture could be to have a drunken party every weekend. Today, many people are into the “drug” culture.

When a high school student gets their first job at a fast food restaurant, they find the expectations are clearly defined and they have to learn certain processes and be consistent. If they were not raised in a disciplined environment, they may have trouble with the new culture.

If you are wanting to be successful, what type of culture do you need to build around you? How will you look? How will you talk? How will you act? Before you go to work, how do you prepare for the day? These and other factors are necessary to approach in order to achieve your goals.

Two dimensions in success are consistency and discipline. Determine what culture is necessary and then apply the factors you determined are needed with strong consistency and be disciplined in your approach.

John Malloy wrote a book, “Dress for Success”. In the book, he related about teaching young people who were unsuccessfully finding a job, as to how to dress and act. Many had not been able to get a job but after going through John Malloy’s course, they were able to get a job on the next job interview. What was different? John Malloy knew the business culture and taught the young people how to relate and act to meet the culture of those hiring.

In many cases, some people are clueless about their presentation. And in some cases they are arrogant about changing to meet the employer’s expectation. In most cases, this is just immaturity and the inability to understand the business world. If their whole life has been spent playing video games, their ability to relate might be a problem.

Start your personal process by evaluating yourself and begin to be aware of how you speak, act, dress, write, and prepare. Then investigate the environment you will be addressing. Evaluate the gaps that come up and begin to change to be able to meet the expectation.

Get friends or family to help you understand yourself. Learn to go to bed at a decent time so you can awaken in time to be fresh for your job or interview.

I once had a coach who told me to only clean my desk after 5:00 in the afternoon. He said that prime times should not have interference from “cleaning or sorting and straightening”. It was extremely difficult, but I was able to perform according to the new culture and the results were extremely gratifying. I established a new component in my personal environment; being productive. I had to initiate other changes as well.

If you are a parent, recognize that your daily routine, mannerisms, and actions are being learned by your children. What they say at school will mirror what they have heard at home. You can help them by setting a good example. Monkey see, monkey do.

Good luck in creating your personal environment. You may find it will be far superior to what you have at this time. 

Consistency And Discipline

Many people desire success, whatever that may mean to themselves. Everyone has a different definition. But there are two behaviors that are necessary to be able to get to the goals that have been set. These are consistency and discipline.

We need to know where we are headed. We should have some goals of some kind and if we are anywhere close to being serious about them, they should be written down. We should have a list of actions that need to be accomplished to reach these goals. This is where consistency comes into play. If we do not make an effort to do something about these actions, we will not reach our goals. Those who have goals and who are consistent, accomplish much more than others. They are labeled as being lucky because they are getting results.

The ability to be consistent requires discipline. We must be able to eliminate the outliers that distract us from getting what we want. When we get serious about our actions and goals, we quit doing things that get in the way. For a college student, it could be studying for a test or doing homework. You can put something off for so long or the consequence catches up with you. Another example is looking for a job. There are jobs everywhere for those who want them. But you have to get out of your chair and seek them out and then you have to be responsive to the process each organization uses. I have seen job seekers sit around for months when there were jobs available from day one.

Your greatest power is the power of choice. If the results are not what you want, then change something. Situations produce unintended consequences because no action was taken.

There is a term called “Singleness of Purpose” that relates to discipline. When we get a laser focus on a goal, we are able to accomplish much more. So defining what we want is a major component of our goal setting. Like focusing a camera, everything comes into clear view and we have the basis for success. When we take action, something happens.

When you are in the ditch and look backwards, it is easy to see why you are there. Identify your mistakes and replace them with positive actions. Work on changing what needs to be changed.

We develop patterns of habit through the process of doing something repetitively. Make sure you have good habits and create some good ones to replace others that are not getting you where you want to go.

Proverbs 23:7 says “You are what you think about”. Evaluate what goes into your mind and then fertilize the things that you need to focus on. Ideas lead to thinking which leads to action which leads to results.

Consistency and discipline are continuously observable in high performance people and provide a physical snapshot of their true values.  The culture of their life is defined as what they do when others are not present.