Be aware of how your environment shapes you

As I write this, it is a grey and cool day in London, yet only two days ago we had a record-breaking and stifling heatwave. Now that I sit in more typical and cool conditions, It is difficult to even recall, two days ago, how hot it was, yet during that hot period, I was shaping my behaviour and decisions hugely based on the heat.

Our environment does shape us, whether that is weather or people.

For a longer take on this and also a musing on the beauty of Petrichor, view the blog linked above.

In terms of being shaped by people creating our environment, this week I had a regular mentoring call with a brilliant young individual who was feeling challenged by pressure to conform in terms of spending the vast majority of time doing urgent and short term work.

To me it was clear that part of this was that they are surrounded in their work and their industry, their environment, by people who all do the same.

So, despite their instinct to focus more on longer-term and higher-value work, their environment had shaped them to go against what they knew to be right.

So, be aware how your environment shapes you.