Create The Best Environment: Surround Yourself With "Good" People

Okay, so this topic is kind of a big deal. But it is also a little sensitive because I do not want to make anyone feel like 1. They are not “good” people and/or 2. I don’t want to be around them… Neither of those are the case.

I really wanted to write about this because I have heard from numerous people, mention that they do not live in the best environment for their goals. Let me elaborate…

The people that I have talked to about this are all trying to live a healthier and happier life. But the people they surround themselves with do not have the same goal. This can be a huge problem. I know from personal experience.

When I first decided to change my lifestyle I got a lot of crap for it. From my family, my friends, sometimes even people I didn’t know. “Why do you go to the gym so much?” “Why are you eating that?” “What do you mean you don’t drink?” “One bite won’t kill you.” “You deserve it.” I could go on and on…

People constantly questioning you, especially when it is about a new habit you are trying to create, makes you question yourself. People pressuring you to “just have one bite” is so rude and disrespectful. It all makes your journey to reaching your goals even harder than it already is. And even though I am talking about health and fitness… All of this works the same for other aspects of your life.

At the end of the day, you just have to think about what YOU want most. Your opinion is the only one that really matters. If you aren’t happy with yourself and you want to change your lifestyle; then you have to explain that to the people around you. Let them know how important it is to you. Tell them that just because you are eating a different way, doesn’t mean you are a different person (just healthier). They need to understand that they do not have to do what you are doing. You also need to make sure that you are not pushing anything onto them. Everyone needs to be okay with the situation; and everyone needs to be supportive of each other’s personal decisions. And if they aren’t supportive then…

This is when you have to reevaluate who you are spending most of your time with; which of course is another hard thing to do. We are just piling a bunch of difficult decisions on ourselves aren’t we?! Lol. And if you noticed, I said MOST of your time… Meaning you do not have to cut these people out of your life. You just have to put yourself, and your goals, before them.

I know that putting yourself first can be very challenging. Almost everyone I know has struggled or is struggling with doing this. But just like I tell my clients… If you do not take care of yourself, and work on being the best version of you; you will not be able to take care of anything or anyone else. And you most definitely won’t be putting the best YOU out into the world. This is YOUR life you are living! No one else’s! You have to be in control of your journey. That being said, you also have to be in control of your environment and surroundings.

This is how I took control of my surroundings…

When I was still living at home with my family I wasn’t really in the best environment for what I was trying to accomplish. My family lives a completely different lifestyle than I do. They tend to eat out a lot and have always have a lot of snacks/processed/junk food in the house (my mom runs a daycare and I have 3 younger siblings). My family also isn’t too interested in exercise and fitness. All of this doesn’t make them “bad people,” they just don’t have the same goals as I do. So this made it very difficult for me to live my lifestyle, especially during prep. I was always around junk food, and watching people eat pizza while I ate tilapia and asparagus.

I wanted to bring attention to the fact that my lifestyle was my decision. No one made me do it! And I never made anyone do what I do either. So what did I do? How did I create the best environment for myself?

I now live in Portland, Oregon with my boyfriend. I did not move out here to create a better environment; it just happens that my moving did just that. My boyfriend lives the exactly same lifestyle. We eat the same foods. We both workout every day. We both work in the health and fitness industry. He also pushes me to be a better me in multiple ways.

All in all, if the people are worth having in your life, then they will understand what you are trying to achieve; and they will support you. And make sure you do the same for them. Also, if you really want something, THEN GO AND GET IT! Yes, it will probably be hard. Yes, it will probably take a long time. Yes, there will probably be some bumps in the road. But hey, if it was easy… Then you would probably already have it, or not even want it.

Go out there and create the best environment for YOU and YOUR GOALS! Once you are able to do that, so many things will fall into place.

Thanks for reading! I would love to hear what you think. Please comment below.