Books & Our Environment: A Pathway To Self Discovery

Photo Credit: list challenges.com

We are a product of the books we read and the people we associate with.
In reading the book Tribe of Mentors by Timothy Ferriss, he posed this question, “What are one to three books that have greatly influenced your life?” We found this to be an incredibly powerful question to ask over 100+ of the most successful, well-known and influential people across the world. Reading is one of our most underutilized skills. Reading exposes us to new insight, allows us to gain new perspectives, improves our understanding and prepares us to be more intentional with our actions. It gives us insight to other people’s experiences, improves our communication, creates connectivity in the brain and boosts our creativity. A book can speak to us in ways that even person-to-person communication cannot. Self development and self improvement begins with self discovery. Challenging ourselves to develop a consistent habit of reading, We believe, is transformative.

If we want to radically change our life, change our behaviors. If we want to drastically change our behaviors, change our environment. The cues that occur in our environments trigger certain thoughts and desires that cause our behaviors. Therefore, if we want to change our outcome, we have to identify those triggers that encourage our behavior. By nature, most people choose the path of least resistance rather than the path of resistance that often promotes growth and challenges us to stretch our comfort zone. If we set up our environment in a way that making positive, growth-oriented decisions comes easily, then we can set ourselves up to practice better habits. Joel Osteen said, “You need to associate with people that inspire you, people that challenge you to rise higher, people that make you better. Don’t waste your valuable time with people that are not adding to your growth. Your destiny is too important.” Change isn’t easy, but it is necessary.

We wanted to write on this subject because we believe that being selective about what we input into our minds and being intentional and consistent with our reading have been revolutionary. Perhaps the other greatest source of change for us was learning to disassociate from toxic environments. Learning to set proper boundaries and be very selective with our association, has allowed us to transform the way we live. We decided to live a life of intention.

Be great!
Brandon & Amanda Wood