Latest / The Uplift- with Luke Pollock / #21 - Solo Pod- You Need To Change Your Environment
Transcript
- Luke Pollock: Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Uplift. We have another solo pod today for you guys listening. I hope you have had a good bank holiday weekend. I'm recording this on Wednesday during a London heat wave, which ⁓ has taken over everything. mean, when it's too warm, it seems to be all you can really think about is being too warm. ⁓ But yeah, I was back in Cardiff this weekend. from London, visiting the wedding venue, et cetera. And it really had me thinking about changing environments and the power of changing environments. So that's what today's solar pod is gonna be on. Yeah, it's something I realize I feel quite strongly about and passionate about. So I've just spent the morning writing down sort of what I wanna talk about and what. What I want to bring to this podcast today, and I'm going to relate it to sport and rehab, but I'm also going to relate it to ⁓ anyone not in injured or anyone not specifically in sport. It might be business job related. So I think this will be helpful to anyone listening. Bit of a life update, however, we got promoted on Saturday to the championship, the English champ. So that's pretty cool. I had a really, really good season, enjoyable season with Blackheath this year, which is a fine example of what I'm going to talk about, the part of changing your environment and prioritizing a good environment over maybe status, for example. So the temptation when I left Wales was to try and play the highest level possible, so to try and go right into the champ. But actually, I prioritized what seemed like a really good environment and what I thought would be good for my confidence level, getting more game time and just focusing on getting better for a year. And it's really paid off. because now we're going to be in the champ anyway. So yeah, new challenge next year, which is very exciting. And it sort of made me want to push on this off season as well to get my body right. Like I talked about with Josh last week, get niggles and injuries right. And then also just to come into preseason in the best shape possible, which isn't until end of July for us, which is really nice. We're to have some time off. So yeah. Let's just get into it. So being back in, in Cardiff this weekend, I was just thinking loads about what my life was like there for five years and how it changed over the five years. And now what my life is like now that I live in London and obviously meeting up with old friends as well who are thinking about what their next chapter looks like. And I find myself repeating the same thing a few times and to myself as well. And it's just when, when you become stagnant, or your environment becomes stagnant, it's often time to break it and mix it up. So the environment is the water that we swim in essentially. And then a good example of this is a stagnant environment might be, you probably won't remember your commute to work three weeks ago on Thursday. But I remember my commute to the gym on the second Thursday I was in Vietnam three and a half years ago. because the environment was new, it wasn't stagnant, everything was exciting. I was on a motorbike, it was warm, I was wearing a vest, I was going to a new gym I'd never been to before. And for me, realizing this in the past few weeks, when I've been thinking a lot about that trip that I took and planning new trips in the future, which is obviously a luxury and a blessing, but... It made me realize that the antidote to time flying past and the years just rolling into one is switching up your environment and the antidote to your environment becoming stagnant and you feeling like you're stagnant as a person is also switching that environment. So yeah, imagine being a fish. Imagine being a fish in a small tank. You know every stone in that tank. You know when you get fed. You know how much food you should expect. It's comfortable each day. You don't have to look for much. You know the other fish in the tank very well. There might only be one or two. It's really, really comfortable. But ultimately, there's no growth for that fish in the tank. Now imagine taking the fish out of the tank and putting it in a big tank. ⁓ sometimes apparently fish die when you do this actually, but, ⁓ so my research says, but for the analogy set, won't die. ⁓ you're not in a bigger tank. You don't know, ⁓ the stones in the tank. don't know the feeding times. You don't even know how much food you're going to get. So at the start, it's really uncomfortable. but when months or when days pass, turn into weeks and months, ⁓ you would be only able to go back into that, that tank. And this analogy is not me saying I'm not able to go back into Cardiff because I'm in a bigger tank in London. Not that at all. I actually thought that Cardiff is a city that I would love to live ⁓ in again sometimes. And it's not the size I want you to focus on, but it's just the change of circumstance and environment. And almost the discomfort at the start of this ⁓ change of circumstance. My environment in London is still quite small, even though it's a massive city. ⁓ I stay around the same areas. So it's not that I'm saying just go bigger, go bigger, go bigger. Um, it's just the change of environment will ultimately lead to growth. So if you put that, that fish back in that small tank that is very familiar with, um, after about six months, it's going to be bored. It's going to not, uh, it's going to find it easy. Um, it's going to be. Yeah. Not satisfied. I remember I did a podcast a few weeks ago about the rats in there and their comfort and how the we actually need some discomfort to thrive and to change. And this is a reason why health declined so quickly in the, in the UK, especially when we passed retirement edge. So a lot of the starts around dementia, et cetera, show that actually past retirement edge when people are really looking forward to, ⁓ retiring and doing less and just settling into their nice routine. I'm talking about the average person. Obviously you're going to have some crazy parents who love traveling, pick up loads of new hobbies, which is probably the right way to retire. But Normally people's world get a lot smaller, they're exposed to less and less, less novelty, less new stimulus. The stagnant environment literally starts to kill them as their brain stops growing essentially and starts getting smaller and smaller. So the people you surround yourself with, the information you consume and the conversations that you're having are to me your environment. So if we take rehab for example, I have friends who will contact me and clients and they might even be in professional teams and they're frustrated with their progress. But really I feel that they're frustrated with their environment. So they're having the same conversation with the same physios every day. The same teammates every day are asking them, ⁓ how's it going today? How's the knee doing? And they're just repeating themselves. And one day just bleeds into the next and they don't feel that there's much progress being made. Even if there is progress being made over weeks and months, sometimes they don't feel like it's being made because each day just rolls one into the next. Something I learned actually, when I was on placement with Harlequin's Rugby, ⁓ the physio took the rehab group to a different gym and took them out for lunch one day, like three weeks into the rehab block, just because he was like, we just need to change up the environment. And that really stuck with me. thought, why would you, why would you put so much money through the club card on like a new random gym, ⁓ and taking them out for lunch, but it's something that they really value is switching up the environment. I know that physio has since left, but that has, that stuck with me, ⁓ in rehab settings more so than anything else, I feel. ⁓ and it's not that you need to change club, change team, change physio. It's just that you need to switch up the environment even for a day. I would say optimally, optimally for three days to a week to really reset. ⁓ that's enough time to change behavior and outlook. And I'm not, I'm not just talking about having a new physio, but new smells, new noises, new voices, new terminology, being exposed to how someone describes your pain differently or being exposed to how someone describes the problem you're encountering just slightly differently, with a new tone and new accent, whatever it is. Just switching up that environment can lead to drastic process, ⁓ drastic change, ⁓ much beyond that that you were experiencing just day by day. So a good example of this, I was trying to think of an example and for me, my form teacher back in school, which was years ago now, you can't remember any one day that your form teacher, when you go in at 9 a.m. to get registered, you can't remember any one day that they spoke because each day blends into the next. But I can remember some of the sub teachers we had because for the first 10 minutes at least of that morning, it was new. We were learning their name, we were learning how they talked. ⁓ and they did the register often wrong or incorrectly, and we had to help them or take the make out of them. And the sub teacher analogy is really helpful because it just, makes the whole, ⁓ session and period go a little bit slower. So you don't just feel like, this, this is just the same as yesterday, which is the same as tomorrow. It slows things down. There's some novelty and that ultimately makes the whole lesson or, ⁓ registration period more enjoyable. That's just an example I thought of where it's not a massive change in the environment and it's not a massive change of stimulus, but it really mixes up how you feel on that day. So that's sort of point one I want to talk about. And that's probably the longest one, like why I feel change in the environment is important and who it might be important for. And I feel it's really important in a rehab and sports setting as well as a business setting. So then what makes an environment valuable? There are multiple reasons why you might want to change the environment, but it's often not because of what you think. So James Clear quote for you. James Clear talks about the invisible hand. He argues that the physical and digital spaces around us are the invisible hand that shapes our human behavior. Pardon me, I've had sparkling water again, or I am having. And it's so good. I love sparkling water. Anyway, so yeah, he argues that the physical and digital spaces around us are the invisible hand that shapes our human behavior. I love this quote. So there's a reason why people go to private schools and Harvard and Russell Group's uni. And it's not necessarily for the lessons itself. It's not so they get good grades, but it's for the environment. It's similar to the the reason everyone goes to Australia and the UK. They say it's because of the sun and the early mornings and stuff, but it's not just that. It's not just the sun. It's because the environment they're in isn't providing them with the people or the stimulus or the lifestyle that they want. They also might not know what to do. So making coffees in Australia is more appealing than working a recruitment job in England. And the sun might help with that. But often the reason they say they're going is not the reason they go. And it's the same with athletes. Like, white athletes seem to really kick on when they change club. If you look at the Leicester 10 this season, he's been in professional rugby for years and years. And then he joins Leicester, a new environment that seems to really, really work for him. And he's kicked on massively. He's probably been one of the best English Prem 10s this year. It's the same with... With myself as well, feel like my rugby's got so much better in the last year, even though I'm not playing really where I want to be. But from enjoyment point of view, I'm enjoying it so much more just because I've changed environments ⁓ to one where I can thrive, where the environment really works for me and I work in the environment as well. So environment, ⁓ the environment shapes how we think. In the Bible Proverbs 13, 20. It says walk with the wise and become wise for a companion of fools suffers harm, which is a quote I love, is a proverb I love. It's not that we necessarily have to go to Australia, go chase the sun, but it's the people we're with. You're not sending your child to Harvard for the education, but for the person they'll become, the friends they'll make, the connections they'll make. They may think it's the education that might be what we say is a reason for change of environment, but it's actually for opportunity. It's for the person you want to become, the people you want to surround yourself with as well. So point three then, beyond the physical. If that's what makes a good environment and a valuable environment is not only for the luxurious things of that environment, the sun, et cetera, because the sun, there'll be days and hours where it's not sunny. There'll be lessons in Harvard, which are rubbish. There will be periods of rugby which are really frustrating, which I've had this year as well. But overall, the environment, it's difficult to describe because often it's not tangible, but how you react in that environment, how you're accepted in that environment and how the change of stimulus and how the change of environment stimulates you is really, really important as well. Yeah, for me that proverb, going back to that proverb, walk with the wise and become wise is so important. You've heard that you're the average of the five people you spend the most time with. I think that's really, really true, which leads me on to my next point. And it's beyond the physical. So if you can't break the physical environment, then break the informational environment. So if we think about the James Clear quote again, when he says, The physical and digital spaces around us are the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. This is really cool because obviously in modern quote and James Clear is very aware that the digital space is where we spend so much of our time. So like four plus hours a day for many of us on our phones ⁓ and our digital algorithm and interactions online will be the, yeah, will shape our human behavior. So the environment goes beyond the physical. Um, and this is really important for those who can't change their environment right now. So when I was, when I graduated uni, I pretty much had to work in the NHS or in Wales for two years, uh, to, to pay off my uni debt. So there was a deal with the Welsh government that if I worked for two years, they would pay my fees. So was a really good deal. So it's like a bit of a, a no brainer. And so, I committed to, to Wales for two more years. And I couldn't necessarily break that physical environment of the NHS on rotations, which I maybe wasn't most comfortable with. didn't find that inspiring or enjoyable, but I could break the informational environment. So what I listened to, I really, really focused and dialed in on. So I probably didn't listen to the radio for those two years, three years. When I was driving to and from work, when I was on community, I never listened to the radio. I always listening to podcasts or books. and who I talked to changed as well. So it wasn't just the people I worked with, but it was people like Josh, who you heard last episode, who we spoke for the last number of years. People through Instagram, my friends who were more interested in personal growth and business. And I also changed what I was consuming. So it wasn't just Netflix and movies. It was reading more books and yeah, that kind of thing. And I was quite intentional with that. It wasn't like I was like, I'm not gonna listen to the radio, but I just find things I really enjoyed and dive deeper into them. And it does change the way I thought. And to me, the education happened around work for many months. It wasn't in work, ⁓ which is probably the case with most of the listeners. If you've been in that job for a long time, you're probably not learning much day to day. So you should seek to change your informational environment. ⁓ Yeah, build your own environment, your little universe, which will expose you to a new way of thinking. And this talk, this is the physical, ⁓ this is the invisible hand that will will impact you. And I really, really hope people take that one. And that's why I'm so keen for reading books and so keen for listening to books, listening to podcasts, making podcasts, writing. changing our informational environment, changing how we process that information ⁓ can ⁓ change how we think change how we perform ultimately on the pitch, off the pitch, in the business setting, ⁓ at work, it completely can change how we perform. ⁓ Also sort of speaks to rather than putting up barriers for, I really, I'm enjoying this podcast on environment, but obviously I can't change my environment for a while because of XYZ family situation or of kids or they're in school or et cetera, et cetera. There's a million one excuses. And I'm going to talk more about, about that at my last point, but it's more, I want you to see that there's action you can take today. you can get excited about something today. Think, okay, maybe I'm not gonna listen to the radio because it's mostly depressing and unhelpful and I can't remember what the radio man said three days ago or two days ago, but I can remember listening to that class book over the last week. So yeah, instead of relying on motivation to build a good habit, design your environment so the triggers for good behaviors are highly visible and easy to access. Another James Clear quote, and it's titled, It Obvious. And he's talking more about like, and put your running shoes by your bed so it's easy and it's obvious and it's a visual cue for you to go for a run for example. So design your environment so the triggers for good behaviors are highly visible and easy to access. And I would argue that's also why people move to Australia for example because they have to rely on their own motivation to do things like go for a morning run or live, eat healthy food for example because That is everywhere over there in Sydney or Melbourne. It's sort of the done thing where there's a huge health and wellness culture over there. So they have to rely on their own motivation less. But obviously we don't know this. is like these are internal thoughts and I didn't even have this written down. It's just as I'm, as I'm speaking, this is coming to my head. But that's often why people subconsciously change environments. It's because ⁓ good behaviors are highly visible and easy to access as James Clear said. And yeah, I think that's really, powerful. It's one of the main things that brought me to work with the guys at a retail. It's not financially, it's not like I was chasing it financially or yeah, makes them like, wasn't, the finances weren't the main driver for that decision at all. It was the environment and chasing that environment and being surrounded by people who made it. easy for good behaviors to thrive and for learning to thrive. And it was so easy to access for me. Can I be in an environment where I learn while I'm at work, where I can take on new ideas and where I can enjoy myself as well? And I think that's yeah, I think it's really important when you're feeling like the environment you're in isn't isn't providing you the stimulus that you want. and you put your life on hold because you think, I need to move to Australia for that to happen, or I need to move here for that to happen, or I need to move city, or I need to move job for that to happen. But often there's something you can do right here, right now. And actually I would say being fixated on changing environment and being fixated on the future of I can only do this when is a bit of a trap to come to get into as well. So this is my last point, change an environment versus gain a momentum. Chris Williamson says, discipline is I will make myself do the thing. Motivation is I want to do the thing. And obsession is I can't not do the thing. And obsession is what we want to gain. Okay. So I will talk more about that just a second, but obsession is the goal. Okay. So just believe, trust me on that. Obsession is the goal, but by changing environment constantly, I feel I can't. I'm fully committed to discipline, which means I lack motivation, which means I'll never arrive at obsession. the reason why obsession is the goal is because periods of obsession build foundation for future habits. All right. So let me explain when I was 16 or 17, I was felt I was really, really lanky and skinny and wanted to put on weight. So I became obsessed with the gym. wouldn't, yeah, I would say obsessed. I was always in the gym and learning more about the gym. Love talking about the gym, going to the gym. And now for me to go to the gym isn't as hard as it is for someone who has never been obsessed to go to the gym. It's just something that sort of happens. yeah, I don't have to be obsessed with the gym anymore. That period has come and gone. It's the same with, I went through a period of being obsessed with business and probably not in a period where I'm obsessed with growing my own business. But there was a period where I was just obsessed with consuming business information because I wasn't in the position to make money from my own business. So I would just consume loads of business information. So now I have to do a bit less of that because I have a lot of it in my head already. And it just is the way I think now. So that period of obsession is what builds a lasting foundation and is what changed. changes your thinking. So off the back of these obsessive sprints, you make real life changes. You almost become someone new. So Naval Ravikant says, eat like a lion, work like a lion, feel like a lion, live like a lion. I love this quote, and I found that like four years ago, the quote, and it's pretty much the clip. Or the tweet he's done both ⁓ of him talking about this is he says that most people live like cows where they just graze day to day. Their environment remains the same and they're happy doing that. They don't experience much new and they don't experience much growth because every day just looks the same. But if you eat like a lion, so you might not eat for a few days and then go on a hunt and you might be obsessed with that and you work like a lion. But then you also rest like a lion where you have periods where you might do a lot less like this weekend. For me, a bank holiday weekend from Friday evening till Tuesday, I've done zero work, I would say, because I'm resting after a big game and a period of sprinting for a little bit. Then you become someone new. And that's when real growth happens. And I feel the people that live like lions and live like cows are two different people, for example. When you start to feel like you're grazing like a cow, daily and unchanging, that's when time starts to pass more quickly, where frustration, boredom, lack of purpose, and bad habits will start to arise because you're not getting any new stimulus from your day to day. So you search for new stimulus elsewhere, maybe through drinking, ⁓ partying, et cetera, et cetera. know, consuming things you shouldn't because boredom and bad habits will arise because you're just grazing like a cow every day, not, ⁓ not getting excited about anything and not properly resting because you're not properly working. So have direction, don't go chasing the wind. Don't go chasing chasing the change of environment for the sake of it. Put down roots and let them grow. And when you have a good environment, be robust. I'm not saying every few months, just change your environment for the sake of it. If you feel that you're in the period of obsession and sprinting, that's exactly where you need to be. And that's me at the minute. I feel London right now is exactly where I need to be. And to be honest, I find that a change of environment sort of comes naturally every two to three years. So probably my last year in Cardiff, I was ready for a change of environment before that year. So I maybe overstayed my welcome there a little bit. So physical change of environment every two to three years, I would say, but don't go chasing it. ⁓ as an excuse almost because we want to gain momentum. We don't want to change the environment because it takes time to adjust. If we go back to the fish, when they go to the new tank, they're uncomfortable for a few months. They don't know where to eat. They don't know where to sleep. They don't know what to do. I don't even know if the fish really sleep, but I think they do. Um, but they don't know what, to do in that new environment for the first few months. it's, it's the same when you, when you move somewhere new, like that's why I don't get when people go on like work retreats to ballet because If you're there for one or two weeks, you're going to spend the most of that time just settling in and not actually get any work done. If you're there for six months or a year, it's different story, but yeah, have direction, settle in, put some roots down and let them grow. Don't just change the environment for the sake of changing the environment. I'm thinking in terms of years, not weeks. Obviously, if you're in a rehab block or If you're an ACL or rehabbing at the minute, you might find that this nine months is very, very long and intense. So that change might need to be every two months. You go away for a week or talk to a new physio or just change environment every little once in a while. So there's a big changes in environment, whether that's city or moving jobs, et cetera. And then there's a little ones with little breaks, which can change your experience. Like the Quinn's physio taking the boys to a different set in for a day. the wildly important is a quote from ⁓ Deep Work, ⁓ Cal Newport. He says save significant changes for your most challenging long term cognitive projects. So he's arguing that if you need to write a book, for example, it's worth saving ⁓ a change of environment, which you know, you'll be to really lock in and write that book ⁓ quickly. It's worth saving that environment change for writing the book. It's not worth going to that cabin in the woods to write an email because then that will become somewhere where you write emails, not write the book. That makes sense. So for me, like going to London, I really felt that this was the place I would start my business. And it is a place where I have kicked on massively in terms of my business. ⁓ and I feel that if I was still in my old environment in Cardiff, I would not be able to kick on because I'd still be with my old friends. ⁓ my work colleagues, et cetera, and I would still be thinking about what they think of me. Whereas in this new environment, I knew I would be able to almost recreate myself and be myself fully and do what I want to do. But yeah, for me right now, changing environment always changes the way I think, whether that's a physical environment, informational environment. And often the reason you want to change the environment is not what you think it is. So think of the Harvard ⁓ analogy. The reason that the parents want to send you to Harvard isn't because of the lessons in Harvard. It's because of the person they want you to become. They want you to become someone who has been to Harvard. And there's lots of subliminal. ⁓ reasons for this. yeah, remember as well, don't chase optimal. Don't think, ⁓ this environment's not right, or this environment's not right, or maybe this friend group's pulling me back. Become anti-fragile when you're thinking about this. So yes, I've just spent the last half an hour talking about how important environment is. And for some of you, this might have come at a really good time when you're thinking, yeah, I need to switch up environment. This has got really stagnant for me. But. In Man's Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl says, a human being is not one thing amongst others, things that determine each other, but man is ultimately self-determining what he becomes within the limits of endowment and his environment he has made out of himself. So no matter what the environment is, ultimately you decide what and how you become within the limits of his environment, he was saying. So for example, he was in a concentration camp, but he was like the There's certain things that I will be limited by from my environment. So I won't be able to, ⁓ probably run a marathon in this concentration camp, but I can change what I make of myself within this environment still. So he's becoming anti-fragile. He's not, ⁓ he's not using his environment as an excuse, but he he's finding growth within that environment. So don't chase optimal with this. ⁓ the last thing I would want from someone from listening to this podcast is thinking, ⁓ great. I don't have to do the work or do the thing because my environment's just not right. This is more for someone who's feeling frustrated, who's feeling stagnant, who's working up with low motivation each day, and they're not really sure why. They can't really put their finger on it. This is a message to you. Maybe you just need to change the environment. If you're a rehabber and you're really struggling, maybe you just need another voice to look into. And that voice could be me. No, I'm joking. But yeah. just consider your environment and consider how it's serving you. Consider what the smells are, what the taste of the food is, consider what your day to day will look like in that environment, consider the people you will meet in that environment. Consider all those things. Don't just chase the sun, don't just chase the Harvard lessons, but consider the whole environment. And yeah, ultimately you'll thrive in it. So that's just something I've been thinking about recently. And something I'm super grateful for and something that I will continue to hopefully do. And yeah, I imagine as I get older, I will need to change environments less because I'm younger and I'm changing the way I'm thinking a lot and trying to build different stuff. A change of environment is really, really helpful for me. But when I'm, when I'm 14, 50, I don't want to move house every two, three years, you know? So, ⁓ I will likely change my thoughts on this over, over my lifetime, but that's the beauty in it. I hope you have a really good day, good week. you put your sun cream on and don't get burned. I'm just opting for stand inside most of the time, which might be depressing to some but it's the environment that's working for me. So yeah, have a good week. Thanks for listening. Leave a five star review and I will catch you on the next episode.