Tag: environment

Stepping Away from the Heat (7-16-25)

Last week we kicked off a series of lessons my family learned when our air conditioning went out.  This entry is about stepping away from the heat.

Our air conditioning was down for around a week or so.  We spent the first five of those days staying at home, trying to keep cool, while the temperature continually rose in the house.  By the fifth day, we were all sick of consistently being hot, sweaty, and uncomfortable.  We were all low key grumpy and irritated at each other and the world. 

While it wasn’t ideal, I decided to get us a hotel room just down the street for the night.  It might sound silly, but this made a HUGE difference.  Everyone had a chance to step away from the environment for a day and be more comfortable.  It gave us a chance to recharge and recenter.  The next day, we opted to drive over to my parents’ house and have a sleepover in the middle of the week, which my kids thought was the best thing ever.  After stepping away for a couple of days we had recharged and were ready to handle the heat and other things life threw in our direction.

You might be wondering what this has to do with anything.  When we first went to the hotel room, we weren’t aware of the toll the heat was taking on us.  We didn’t realize how agitated we had become.  Stepping away from that heat not only gave us perspective, but it gave us a chance to recharge.

Think about your life for a minute.  Maybe there’s a challenge at work.  Maybe there’s a challenge at home.  Maybe there is a tough environment.  Sure, you could just stay in that environment every day, but sooner or later that will wear you down.  You might need to step away from it for a minute.  You might need to step away to clear your mind.  You might need to step away into a better feeling environment to reground.  You might need to step away, so you can recharge.  The heat of life is always going to be there, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay in it all the time.

The challenge: Will you recognize when you need to step away from the heat?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Patio Furniture and Designing Spaces (5-8-24)

This week we are going to start a series inspired by patio furniture.  We will begin by thinking about patio furniture and designing spaces.

Back in March, my wife and I started talking about getting some different patio furniture.  At the time we had this large and super heavy hexagon shaped table made of wood with built in benches.  It had managed to make it through quite a few years, but now the wood was warping, and the table was starting to fall apart.  While the table was super durable, it wasn’t exactly comfortable and inviting.  My wife and I wanted a space where we would all hang out and enjoy reading books, playing games, or just chilling.  We kept this in mind as we went furniture shopping and focused on things that felt cozy and comfy.  We set up the new furniture in early April, and we’ve already spent more time outside on that furniture than we did all last year on the old wooden table.  (Side note-I know what you’re thinking.  “Dang! I wish I could look as cool as Andrew.”  Be patient folks.  It took me years to get here.)

What does this have to do with anything?  In the above story, my wife and I wanted to drive a specific behavior (having the family hang out together outside).  We knew that we wouldn’t do this just by saying we needed to spend more time outside.  Instead, we had to alter the environment to make it easier to spend time together outside.

Think about your environment.  Does your environment make it easier or harder to achieve your desired behaviors?  Maybe you have a personal goal to be more active, how are you designing your environment to make that easier?  For me, I’ve found that if I set out my running gear the night before, then it’s so much easier to go for a run in the morning.  As you think about work, how does your environment enable the right behaviors?  Maybe, there are changes in the physical environment you could make.  Maybe, it’s about setting up the right culture, so the desired behaviors become easier and are rewarded, while the negative behaviors are discouraged.  Maybe it’s about having better meeting hygiene, where clear objectives make it easier to accomplish things.

The challenge- How will you design your environment to help you be successful?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry