Where you live and how you succeed are joined at the hip.

Written By Jeffrey Gitomer
@GITOMER

KING OF SALES, The author of seventeen best-selling books including The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, and The Little Gold Book of Yes! Attitude. His live coaching program, Sales Mastery, is available at gitomer.me.

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Where you live and how you succeed are joined at the hip.

When I say “success environment” what do you think about? Is it the French Riviera where you are out sunbathing and relaxing? Is it a brand new office, with a brand new computer, and you in a brand new suit?

Throw some cold water on your face there, Sparky.

That’s not the environment I’m talking about. I’m referring to the environment you set for yourself — your personal environment, your success-setting environment. In short, your surroundings both physical and mental, how they play a vital role in your success, and how you can harness their power by taking control of them. Oh, THAT environment.

NOTE WELL: The success environment begins in your head (environ-MENTAL) and manifests itself in everything you do, and every place that you occupy. It also manifests itself through the people you interact with — your family, your friends, your business associates, and, of course, your customers. It starts with the “weather and climate” you set in your head. Hopefully yours is set on “sunny and mild.”

Your mental environment starts with a positive attitude and grows to your thought dedication and your acceptance of new things (change), new people, and new ideas. It’s your mental receptiveness, your mental willingness to see the bright side of everything, and your mental ability to turn obstacles into opportunities.

By setting the right mental environment, your physical environments and your personal relationships become the stepping stones to your success. Think about where you live, think about where you work, and think about who you associate with. These are your environments. They’re your surroundings and the people you surround yourself with.

Is your work environment success conducive? If it isn’t, it’s your responsibility to make it a better one. Is your home environment success conducive? If it isn’t, it’s your responsibility to make it a better one.

Think about how you grew up and where you grew up. And think about the impact that has had not just on your success, but also on your entire belief system. Think about the people you hang around with. Not just the ones at work. I’m also talking about your friends, and your relatives — maybe even your spouse or your significant other. Are the people you hang out with encouraging you? Are they supportive of you? If they’re not, it’s time to find a new bunch of people.

Is it easy to concentrate at work? Are the ergonomics right? Are your work associates great? Do they help you succeed? How about your boss?

I don’t think you understand the value and the power of environment. Don’t start working on your home, or your office, or your friends until you have started working on yourself. You have to set your own mental tone for environment, or you will begin to blame your existing environment for your lack of success. This is not a fatal flaw, this is THE fatal flaw.

If you have the right environment in your head, you can slowly begin to create the right environment in every other area of your life. If I tell you that your success is tied to your environment, you may not believe me until you change it in your mind — your internal environment. Then, and only then, can you begin to watch your success momentum build as you slowly change your external environment.

Here are a few things you can do to create your total success environment:

1. Create a great place to read, study, and write at home. Some small space that’s yours. Inhabit the space an hour or two a day.

2. Set your mental tone by reading positive books and thoughts while you’re in your space. Write and generate new ideas. Make it a habit by doing it every day without fail.

3. Make appointments with successful people. Entice them by creating a value proposition for them as incentive to meet with you.

4. Create a success space at work. At work it may be harder to create your own space. But don’t limit yourself to your desk or office. Find an empty room that’s not used and claim it. Even if you’re just there an hour a day to think out ideas and situations. Have a white board or a flip chart to document your immediate thoughts.

4.5 Be aware of where you are at all times both physically and mentally. This will give you the control AND the option to change your situation as you go through your day.

You have both the opportunity and the responsibility to create your own environments in everything you do and touch, in every place that you live, in every place that you work, and with everyone that you meet or know.

Success environments do not come easy. You may have a struggle to gain control in some of the elements. HERE’S THE GOOD NEWS: The harder you fight for control of every facet of your environment, the easier success will become. Once you gain control of your environment, you’ll also gain control of one other important element in your success. Your bank account.

THINK ABOUT THIS: You spend twenty or thirty minutes a day watching the weather on TV and zero minutes a day creating the weather in your head. Seems pretty silly when you think about it, doesn’t it? What’s the weather like in your head?

Want more ideas on setting your mental environment? Go to www.gitomer.com, register if you’re a first-time visitor, and enter the words SUCCESS ATTITIUDE in the GitBit box.

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of The Little Red Book of Selling and The Little Red Book of Sales Answers. President of Charlotte-based Buy Gitomer, he gives seminars, runs annual sales meetings, and conducts Internet training programs on sales and customer service at www.trainone.com. He can be reached at 704/333-1112 or e-mail to salesman@gitomer.com