FEATURED JULY 2008 GUEST: Jim Bunch
THE POWER OF YOUR ENVIRONMENTS

"Most people spend their whole life frustrated trying to use will power to change who they are. When what they really need to know is that virtually all their thinking and behavior is determined by their 9 environments. If you set up the right environment you will literally be pulled toward your goals.

This is what I mean by,

"Delegate your success to your environment".

- Thomas Leonard, Author of The Portable Coach

WILL POWER VS. ENVIRONMENTS

Before I share a secret that could literally change your future forever, let me ask you a question. Have you ever wondered why so many people who go through seminars never fully realize their goals? As a speaker and trainer for many years, I've seen thousands of people investing time and money into trainings and seminars and not take action on what they learned. I would see some that would be successful temporarily but eventually most would fall back to their old patterns. Something was preventing them from sustaining success.

It wasn't until I was working with my coach and mentor Thomas Leonard, who many call the "father" of coaching, that it finally dawned on me why. What I've found is that there is a hidden element in each of our lives whether we are successful or not that is going to cause you to be Happy, Healthy, and Wealthy or be Miserable, Sick, and Broke and few people really can identify it, even those who have been successful. It's a silent force in our lives that is so powerful it has the ability to mold you and shape you and your future, even if you're not aware of it. So, here it is...it's your Environments. That's right; your Environments will determine your future.

Let me explain. If you go to a seminar and get excited about this new goal or plan, map out how to get there and take off down the path to success, what happens 2-3 days after the seminar? Well, I call it the hot-bath effect. You know, when you step out of a hot shower, you cool off, right? Well the same thing happens after a motivational seminar. So why does that happen? Well, we discovered that when you are in the seminar environment, you are being influenced by the positive influence of the speaker and the attendees. But when you go home, you are being influenced by the same environments that you are exposed to every day. There are actually 9 different environments outside you that influence the internal you that we cover in our program called The Ultimate Game of Life. See the chart below for a snapshot of all nine environments.

	A Snapshot of the Environments You The core of you that is unchanging Memetic Beliefs, Ideas, Knowledge, Cultural Norms, Frameworks Body Physical body, Health, Energy
Self Personality, Gifts, Talents, Strengths, Emotions Spiritual Connection a Higher Source, Love and Self Relationships Family, Friends, Close colleagues, Support personnel Network Community, Strategic Partners, Customers	Financial Money, Investments, Budgeting, Insurance Physical Home, Office, Furnishings, Equipment / Technology Nature Outdoors, Beauty, Seasons, Cycle of life

DESIGNING YOUR ENVIRONMENTS

Even the top athletic coaches in the world will tell you that winning is a bi-product of well designed environments, including having the best in class equipment, having access to the best training, team chemistry, diet and nutrition, weather conditions (each outdoor sport will tell you that there are certain weather conditions that are perfect for each sport), the inner game (beliefs, thoughts, emotions), ample financial resources to be able to afford the best coaches, and boosters to help continue funding a great athletic program. If any of these components is missing from the puzzle, performance will be compromised.

For example, let's look at the scenario of losing weight. What environments impact the success of that goal? You may have the following,

1. 'Memetic' environment with your beliefs around whether you can or cannot reach your goal as well as the knowledge of how to do so.
2. 'Body' environment and the genetics you carry to make it easy or difficult to do so, your energy levels, etc.
3. 'Relationship' environment including the support or lack thereof of your friends, coworkers, and family.
4. 'Physical' environment including the foods you keep stocked in your kitchen, etc.
5. 'Financial' environment which would allow you to have a health team like a personal trainer, nutritionist, etc.
6. 'Nature' environment which would impact how easy it is for you to go out and exercise.

That alone is 6 environments that would impact your weight loss on the basic level. Of course, we could dive deeper into all of those and look at the other 3 environments as well.

With the various levels of our coaching program called The Ultimate Game of Life, we have designed environments for our players to help pull them like a vacuum in the direction of their goals instead of use will power alone. We have put in place a community of like minded individuals for them to feel safe to share their life challenges and goals. They have coaches and experts to train them on the "fundamentals". We set up a way of tracking their goals so they can celebrate their wins and see the improvement they are making. We give them accountability partners to share their goals with and commit to daily actions that will lead them towards their goals. We surround our players with tools and environments to support them in their goals. Can you see areas in your life that if you had supportive environments like these in place, you may have succeeded in reaching your goals?

With our environments, we have a choice. We can design, change, influence, or remove ourselves from them. To say that you are a victim of your environment will not support you. Each choice you have made in your life has led you to your current environment, and if it is no longer serving you, it is up to you to take the responsibility to make a change (often a drastic change such as moving to a new location or ending a key life relationship). As you look at your environment, ask yourself these questions: "Why is this in my environment? What prompted my choice about inviting this into my environment? Is this serving me in winning my ultimate game of life?"

As you are playing in your ultimate game of life, it will be critical for you to take into account everything that is around you. As humans, we have a direct relationship with our environments, including our physical space, the people we spend time with, the books we read and the thoughts we think. In order to make long-term changes, it is important to consider the world around you and how to enhance and evolve everything in your environments (both internal and external environments). If your environment is not growing and evolving as you grow and evolve, you will be living in a state of drag (low energy, resistance, slow movement) rather than in a state of inspiration. By designing your environments so that they are a constant source of inspiration, you will find your daily habits, actions and goals are much easier to attain, and you will no longer have to rely on "will power" to get the job done.

Jim Bunch, The Ultimate Life Coach & Entrepreneur
Inspiring Happiness, Health, and Wealth...Worldwide!

*Excerpted from The Ultimate Game of Life lesson "The Environments of You" By Jim Bunch.

@The Ultimate Game, Inc.