The other day in class my teacher pulled up a slide that said “alter your environment” and “alter your perception of your environment”. My teacher then went on to explain the difference.
We are young collegiate women. At this point in our life, it is semi-easy to change our environment. If we do not like the college we are attending we can transfer. If we do not like our roommates we can switch dorms or move houses. If we do not like our jobs we can sit and find new ones. Most of us are not in long-term careers with spouses and children. Our lives are generally malleable and easy to switch up. If we do not like the environment that we are in we can find a new one. This is harder to do once you get older. When you have worked for years at a company to the position that you are in, it is hard to find a new job that will pay you the same and have you in a prestigious position. When you have children and a house and a spouse it is hard to get up and walk away from it all. This is where altering your perception comes into play.
If you are in a position in your life where it is nearly impossible to alter your environment you need to change your perception. For example, if you hate your job and wake up every morning depressed and dreading work, try changing your mental state. Wake up and play happy music, think of how excited you are to go to work and get started on a positive and productive day. This might be hard to do at first, but the more time and effort you put into only thinking happy and positive things about the environment you are in the sooner you will start to believe your mind. This is the notion of mind over matter, or fake it till you make it. If you constantly think great things about not only your job but your family, friends, partner, house, school, etc. you will soon fully believe you love them.
I tried this notion yesterday to test it out. All day long I was being lazy and kept thinking to myself that I did not want to go to a yoga class. I thought of every reason why I did not want to go (didn’t want to drive because I had to get gas, didn’t want to shower after, didn’t want to waste an hour of my life, the list went on and on). As soon as I got there I was in a cloud of negativity and was contemplating getting up and leaving before the instructor came in to start the class. Then I remembered that you can alter your perception of your environment, and I quickly started to think positive thoughts. I listed every reason why it was good that I was there and even forced myself to sit there and smile. I’m sure I looked like a weirdo, just hanging out with a big grin on my face. But it worked! By the time the instructor came into the room I was excited for the class to start. I had successfully changed my perception of the environment I was in and was excited for what was to come.
Obviously, that real world experience I had is not as serious as altering your long term hatred of a job that you hate, but it was interesting to see the power that my mind had. If you are really miserable in your environment, you should change it. But before you try to do so, attempt to change your perception of it first. This might take time, maybe a month of two, but the more you trick your mind into thinking you like your environment, the easier it might be to be a part of it.