On today’s show, we’re talking about a topic that is near and dear to my heart. This week and all week, my company is offsite working on goal setting. This is a process of values clarification and values alignment. Once you’re clear on your values, then setting goals is much easier. But along the way, you might discover that you’re not living your life in alignment with your values.

This is a deep introspective process that requires heavy lifting. In that process you can learn things about yourself that sometimes it’s difficult and painful to confront.

Anytime we confront something that fundamentally challenges core beliefs, there is a natural human process.

The first step is denial. No way! That can’t be true about me. You don’t understand.

Then when the truth is inescapable, the next step in the process usually involves anger. Some people stay stuck in a loop of anger and denial and never move past that step. The third step in the process is moving to acceptance. Once you are at acceptance, you have a chance at growth or transformation which is the final step. But moving from acceptance to transformation involves work. It requires an inherent desire to grow, to become aware of blind spots and eliminate those blind spots.

We all have them. By definition, you can’t see yourself the way others see you, because we don’t spend our entire lives looking in the mirror. Those rare people who do spend all their time looking in the mirror are self absorbed and hopelessly ineffective at much else.

If you’ve been listening to this podcast for a while, you’ll have heard me say that you require three things to accomplish anything in life.

1) Knowledge. There are many people who focus all their energies on taking courses and getting more information. If more information was the differentiator, then everyone with a smartphone in their pocket with instant access to virtually all the world’s information would be excelling. So clearly that’s not the ticket

2) Emotional fortitude. You often hear people talk about mindset. Not to downplay this aspect. Mindset is important. Having the emotional drive and the emotional fortitude to overcome the difficult moments you will encounter along the way is absolutely important. But it’s not enough. You need a third element,

3) You need to be in the right environment. Its that third element which is the game changer, the secret to superior performance.

Environment is the game changer. I often get questions from aspiring developers, and from listeners to this podcast. How do I find the right environment?

I’m here to tell you that you might find the right environment. The perfect environment for you definitely exists out there. But no one environment will fulfill all your needs in every dimension of your life.

You might find an existing mastermind group full of people who are smart, driven, generous, uplifting, and encouraging. But if you don’t, then go create one.

Decoder Ring - Decoder Ring Presents The Sporkful’s Mission: ImPASTAble