Have you ever heard the saying…“We buy things we don’t want to impress people we don’t like!” Over the decades I have thought about and noticed this type of behaviour in nearly every aspect of my life and amazingly even within the Arabian horse community. In fact I used a version of the quote in my novel ‘Tails Carried High’. The words sum up how we all often do or buy things and don’t fully understand why! I hope ‘The Power of Environmental Perfection’ gets you thinking about your busy life and how you might be able to make some changes for the better.

The Power of Environmental Perfection

Written & Published by Philip E. Humbert, PhD
Visit Philip E. Humbert’s website at: www.philiphumbert.com

Modern life demands much of us. Almost every day we are asked to do more with less, and to do it faster, better, cheaper and with ever-greater levels of competitive expertise. The expectations, at work and in our personal lives, keep growing, and it’s not going to stop.
Our grandparents often worked at the same job for 30 years or longer and they often used the same tools for many years, even from one generation to another. My Grandfather died only a few miles from where he was born, and the men who “stood up” at his wedding were the honorary pall-bearers at his funeral. While they worked very hard, in many ways their lives were simpler, less stressed and infinitely less complex than ours. Those days are gone forever. And yet we still have about the same amount of personal energy and the same 24-hour day. Clearly, we need new skills and one of the most important, and most over-looked, is understanding how personal environments impact our productivity.

This week in our World Class Life program, we talked about the Personal Eco-Systems(tm) within which we live and work every day. We talked about your home and office, your car, and even your computer, and the tremendous impact these so-called “little things” have on our ability to live the rich, satisfying and empowered life we all desire.

In his recent book, “Blink,” Malcolm Gladwell gives many examples of how “little things” influence our behaviour, often without our knowing it. We buy things and don’t fully understand why. We feel relaxed or stressed, comfortable or restless because we are subtly influenced by a thousand “little things” in our personal environment. From the words we read, to the posters on the wall, to the music we hear, to the furnishings in our offices, we are powerful influenced by our surroundings. No one denies this and marketers often use it to their advantage.

Have you ever tried to sleep with a mosquito buzzing in your ear? Have you ever been kept awake by a dripping faucet or a noisy party down the street? We’ve all had these common, everyday experiences.If those things can undermine a good night’s sleep, how much more does a balky computer undermine your performance at work? If a mosquito can keep you awake at night, how much more does a dingy or inefficient office impact your
productivity during the day, or over a career? Environmental perfection has become an essential skill, and high achievers are experts at surrounding themselves with excellence.

We all know that top performers have superb surroundings. From Oprah Winfrey to Bill Gates to Barak Obama, highly effective people demand environmental perfection, and so should you! Donald Trump does not own a wrinkled suit. Top executives and CEO’s do not lose critical reports or misplace essential documents. The tools they need are at their finger-tips. You can and should demand the same degree of environmental perfection in your world. You may claim that isn’t possible. You say you have young
children or a dog, that you can’t afford a housekeeper, are “too busy,” or have a hundred other excuses. Well.

The truth is we have more control over our personal environments than any people in history. We can turn off the television and surround ourselves with the best books, the best movies, the most inspiring audio programs and videos ever made. A clean desk, fresh flowers or a nice picture of your family cost very little, and they’ll make your life so much richer! Surround yourself with the BEST! We can do this, and success requires nothing less.

To achieve great things requires that we become great people. Greatness requires that we commit to our highest values and greatest aspirations, and that means “no junk!” Surround yourself with excellence. Set higher standards for yourself. Demand and expect environmental perfection.