Most people try to change their lives by stacking more on top.
More tactics. More courses. More funnels. More content sprints. More “this is the year” declarations.
Then, two weeks later, they are back where they started. Same habits. Same anxiety. Same results.
I see it every January. They set goals. They create new routines. They promise themselves this year will be different.
Then the old identity quietly wins.
But what if I told you that you don’t need all of this? What if I told you that you can actually change your entire life with one single move?
Not by implementing a new tactic. Not by forcing more discipline.
In this letter, I will break down how the science of achievement works, what sits at the root of the whole chain, and how to make one single move that will change the entire trajectory of your life.
Let’s go.
To fully understand this, you must first understand the 3 types of goals. These are based on the philosophy of “Be Do Have”. Each type of goal influences the next.
Who you are → what you do → what you attain.
Let’s break them down in reverse order.
Most people set goals only ever thinking about what they want to “have”. This is called an outcome goal, because it’s focused entirely on the outcome.
For example:
→ I want 10 new clients.
→ I want $1M this year.
→ I want to lose 20 pounds.
→ I want 100,000 followers.
But the problem with outcome goals is that you have zero control over them. To believe otherwise is insanity.
By nature, any outcome you want in life is unachievable by your own effort, simply because other people’s choices can affect whether you achieve it or not.
Other people’s actions will always sit between you and that outcome. So if your identity and self-worth are tied to outcomes, you are setting yourself up to feel like a failure most of the time.
But that doesn’t mean that outcome goals are entirely bad.
Outcome goals should be used as targets and filters.
Targets → To give us direction in life
Filters → To filter out the habits and routines that won’t get us there
Ultimately an outcome goal only exists to determine a process goal.
These are called “process goals”. Essentially, this is what you are willing to commit to doing consistently in order to move you toward your outcome.
Example:
→ I publish 3 times a week.
→ I send a newsletter every Tuesday.
→ I book 5 sales conversations every week.
→ I go to the gym at 7am, 5 days a week.
Process goals are systems, routines, and habits. The difference between processes and outcomes is that you can actually control processes.
You cannot force 10 new clients this month. But you can control how many people you invite into a call. You can control how consistently you publish good content. You can control when you go to bed.
Your results do not come from what you dream about. They come from what you repeatedly do.
Once you set a process goal, you must commit to it consistently and completely let go of of the outcome. After a certain period, if the process isn’t moving you toward the outcome, then change the process.
Committing to a process consistently is the only control you have over achieving what you want in life.
So why do most people still fail to keep their processes longer than two weeks? Because they’re missing the last piece.
If you’ve ever struggled to be consistent at any habit or routine for longer than a couple weeks or months, the reason is because you haven’t yet fully adopted the identity of the person who does that thing.
You will never act out of alignment with who you believe yourself to be.
If your current identity does not support the process you’re trying to implement, you will be fighting yourself every step of the way.
You can brute force your way through a new habit for a while. You can white-knuckle content creation for a few weeks. But if, deep down, you still see yourself as someone who “is not a content person,” your brain will drag you back to baseline.
Neuroscience is clear on this. You are not fighting a “lack of willpower.” You are fighting trillions of neural pathways in your brain that have been cemented over decades of life.
These are thought patterns, emotional reactions, and automatic stories about who you are and what is safe.
It doesn’t change overnight. It doesn’t even change in 21 days like they used to teach us.
Real identity-level change takes months of consistent reinforcement. Roughly 3 to 6 months of a new pattern before the new pathway feels like “you.”
So the real question is not “How do I set better goals.” The question is:
How do I change the environment so that the right processes effortlessly become habits and change the very chemical makeup of my brain (my identity)?
The philosophy of determinism basically posits that humans have no free will. That our decisions and actions are pre-determined by preceding circumstances including our environment, our genetic DNA, our relationships, our past experiences and trauma, even the culture we’re raised in, our geographic region, and ancestral patterns.
Essentially the environment we are born into and raised in determines every thought, feeling, decision, and action.
This is definitely a polarizing take, and isn’t proven by any means. You may or may not agree that our lives are determined by our environment.
But I think we can all at least agree that our lives are greatly influenced by it.
Because environment exists at the root of the causal chain.
Environment → Feelings → Thoughts → Decisions → Actions → Outcomes
Where you are and what surrounds you shapes how you feel. What you feel shapes the stories your mind tells. Those stories drive your decisions. Decisions drive actions. And actions create outcomes.
Most people are trying to “master” the last 20% of the chain by implementing new morning routines, buying another course, or downloading a productivity app.
You can do that. It is just the hardest possible way to change.
If you want to change your life in one move, go to the root.
Change your environment.
→ Where you live.
→ The layout of your workspace.
→ The notifications on your phone.
→ The people you see every week.
→ The food in your kitchen.
→ The inputs you let into your mind.
All of it nudges you in one direction or another.
Even if you believe deeply in free will, you still have to admit that some environments make great choices almost automatic, and other environments make those same choices feel nearly impossible.
If you fix environment, you do not need to win as many internal battles. You do not have to “motivate yourself” all day. You are not constantly arguing with your own nervous system.
You simply step into a space where better thoughts are more likely, better decisions feel more obvious, and better actions cost less willpower.
So what environments should you change? There are three main layers.
Change these three, and you change the trajectory of your life without adding more strain.
Your external environment can either be an energy drain or an energy booster.
For example, a clean office with lots of daylight without any distractions can you put you into a creative flow on a daily basis.
Or a dirty, dark office with no window and a TV and gaming console that are constantly drawing your attention can keep you in a distracted, reactive state.
Compounded over years, this one thing could change your entire life.
Here’s some practical drills for your physical environment:
Do the same process for your sleep environment, your family environment, your eating environment, etc.
Your body is the vessel through which you carry out everything in your life.
But many people treat it like an after thought.
“I will push hard now, make the money, and then I will buy back my health later.”
So they burn their nervous systems on constant stress, sacrifice sleep, fuel themselves with dopamine and caffeine, and call it “the grind.”
Then they hit 40, 50, 60, and suddenly they are trying to repair a body that has been under attack for decades while still trying to run a business.
That path is expensive. So flip it.
You do not need to become a biohacker. You simply need to treat your body like the instrument of your life’s work, not a disposable vehicle.
An optimized internal environment means more effortless flow in everything you do.
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.”
It is cliché for a reason. If you took your five closest friends, averaged their income, and compared it to yours, it would probably be close.
Same with their emotional baseline. Their beliefs about money. Their relationship to risk.
But more importantly, this is not just about your real-life relationships. Who you surround yourself with online can be even more damaging.
When you spend hours on X, Reddit, or Instagram comment sections, you are effectively placing yourself in rooms full of angry, anxious, and reactive people.
Even if you are “just observing,” those environments are shaping you. You start to think the way they think. You start to feel what they feel.
Instead, spend your time in rooms where people are building, encouraging, and telling the truth, like coaching calls, masterminds, online events, and long form conversations with people who are committed to growth.
You do not need to cut everyone out of your life. You simply need to be honest about where your time goes.
Remember, you are not just “influenced” by your social environment.
You are formed by it.
We are living through an age of acceleration. AI is moving at light speed. Social platforms are noisier than ever. And there’s a new “hot thing” every week.
Most people respond to this by frantically chasing more tactics. They try to outrun their own identity while standing in an environment that guarantees the old identity wins.
You do not need to sprint harder. You need to design the room you are sprinting in.
You are, in a very real way, a product of the environment you inhabit.
Everything else happens downstream from this one thing.
Change your environment, change your life.
Enter your email below to read this letter, and get one actionable tip sent to your inbox every week on online business, content creation, and personal development.
Already a subscriber? Enter your email above for access.
…and you’re ready to take your brand, your content, and your business to the next level, here’s a few ways I can help you:
1. Join my free Skool community - and get free content, trainings, industry updates, and network with other amazing creators.
2. Join my free workshop to learn how to build your content production system and send a flow of leads to your business.
3. Book a free strategy session - I’m opening a few slots on my calendar to meet with serious entrepreneurs who want to grow their audience and their business. I’ll look at what you’ve got going on and help you develop a winning strategy.
