If you're trying to suck it up and do it, you're probably going to lose.

Benjamin Hardy describes the fact that willpower is a limited resource, and generally not a good one. James Clear echoes that sentiment by showing how your environment leads to a greater degree of success. Hard things are hard, don't make them more so.

Here are a few ways to win through environmental design.

Don't have chips in your pantry.

I am not hating on chips, in fact, I love chips.

If you have chips in the pantry there's a chance you will eat them. If you DON'T have them in the pantry there's a high chance that you won't leave your house, run down to the corner store and buy some. Are you saying there's a chance?? Yes... but very small.

You've designed an environment to keep from eating empty calories.

Set your alarm... on the opposite side of your bedroom.

Turn the alarm up as loud as it will go and put it on the opposite side of your room.

This will increase the odds that you get out of that warm cozy bed to turn the blasting alarm off. By, then you should be awake enough to head to the kitchen for that first cup of coffee rather than getting back into the bed. Bonus points for making the sound of your alarm, the most annoying sound you can think of.

You've designed an environment that gets you out of bed on time.

Layout your workout clothes.

Layout your clothes and shoes, and any equipment you need for your workout, the night before

Seeing those clothes beckoning you like the siren on the shore will help you get to the gym or out on the road. Will it make you exercise? No... but it gets you one step closer.

These aren't groundbreaking ideas, definitely not original to me. The point is, by being intentional about what you want to accomplish, designing the environment will give you more success.