A huge part of living a healthy lifestyle is the environment you are in on daily basis. If you are constantly surrounded by negativity, it’s hard to continue to be look forward and push yourself to accomplish your goals. Am I right? Don’t get me wrong, there is a difference between being honest and being negative. I completely understand that life is not always sunshine and rainbows. Being a competitive gymnastics coach and part of competitive sport for most of my life has really opened my eyes to being able to understand this concept and also know the difference between honesty and negativity. There are times when you do have to be honest and say or do things that you or others don’t like in order to get a message across. Sometimes, holding someone accountable to their goals and dreams can feel negative but it’s only pushing them to get over whatever is temporarily holding them back.

I am referring more towards your friends, family, work and places that you spend most of your day. Putting yourself in an environment where people are always finding excuses or easy ways out is really only putting a bump in your own road to success. You can decide to continue to sit behind the bump or step over it. 

Sitting back and not making any effort is easy but it is not going to allow you to move forward. The environment that you put yourself in everyday and the people you surround yourself with plays such an important role in your personal development that if you truly want to see improvement in your attitude, habits and mindset you have to put yourself in a place where that is possible. Sometimes that means removing yourself from a situation and finding something else that sparks joy in your life. For me, I used to feel bad for people who constantly think negative and don’t make any efforts to find solutions because they were feeling sorry for themselves. I used to feel bad because I didn’t like seeing them in that dark place. Then I started to realize that if they weren’t going to make any effort to change something, then it really wasn’t going to matter how much they complained or felt upset about their situation. Feeling bad wasn’t the correct way of looking at it because I would only be allowing my own feelings to be affected by their issues. It’s okay to be there for someone but you don’t have to feel bad for them. You can encourage them and be a strong role model for them but at the end of the day it is their choice when they are going to decide to be ready for change. I like to look at situations like this as an opportunity to show how exciting life can actually be by introducing them to a more positive way of thinking. If they don’t take to it, I try not to blame myself for their choices. Sometimes it is hard to do that especially when you care for someone deeply but only they can make the choice to improve themselves, just as only you can make the choice to improve yourself. That being said, surround yourself with people who are positive and goal oriented. People who are proactive in coming up with solutions to problems instead of blaming others or feeling sorry for themselves. People who are motivated in their own goals and honest with you and themselves when it matters most. These are the type of people you want to be influenced by so that you can work on being the best version of yourself. This is the type of positive environment you want to be part of.

“You are your own most powerful motivator and critic. Which will you be?”

-Coach Brittany-