The Power of Environment: Creating the Right Space for Success

In Atomic Habits, James Clear emphasizes the importance of your environment in shaping your habits. He argues that it’s much easier to build good habits when your environment supports them and harder to stick to bad habits when your surroundings are structured to discourage them. As a coach, understanding this principle is key in both your own routine and in setting up an environment where your athletes can thrive.

Think about it: If you want your athletes to focus on their diet, create an environment where healthy snacks are readily available and unhealthy options are out of sight. If you want to improve their mental game, make sure their locker room or practice space is filled with motivational quotes and reminders of their goals.

The same goes for your own habits as a coach. If you want to consistently lead productive team meetings or organize better practice schedules, make your workspace conducive to those actions. Create systems that make the good habits easier and the bad habits harder. For example, you could organize your coaching materials in a way that saves you time or set aside time each day for planning so you’re not scrambling to get things done.