Two words that have been propagated since early childhood into our mental operating system: Try Harder. That’s a cruel little myth we’ve been force-fed. As if effort alone can out-muscle the gravitational pull of everything around us.
Because we’ve been sold a lie. A beautifully packaged, multi-billion dollar lie that success, health, and productivity are born from a single, Herculean muscle: Willpower. You’ve been told to swim upstream. To fight the current. To be the salmon. I’m here to tell you that the salmon, for all its effort, usually ends up dead and eaten by a bear. Charming, I know.The truth is, your willpower is a finite, flimsy little shield. Your environment, however, is a relentless, 24/7 army. Guess who wins?
The Lisbon ‘Mojito Trigger’: Why Your Cues Are Smarter Than You
Lisbon, mid-2000s. The city had a problem. A litter problem. The authorities had tried everything—fines, campaigns, you name it. They were swimming upstream. Then, a behavioural insights team did something absurdly simple.They placed small, quirky, brightly designed bins around the city that made a funny sound—a comical “thwump” or a silly jingle—when you tossed trash in. They didn’t appeal to willpower (“Citizens, you should keep the city clean!”). They redesigned the environment.Littering dropped dramatically. The act of throwing trash became a tiny, delightful game. The environment was no longer passive; it was an active participant, making the right behavior easy and fun.
This is what I call a “Positive Trigger.” Your environment is full of them. The problem is, most are sabotaging you.
The cookie jar on the counter is a trigger.
The Netflix button on your remote is a trigger.
The phone notification is a screaming, neon-lit trigger.
You, relying on willpower, are a medieval soldier facing a drone strike. It’s not a fair fight.
The Surat ‘Silent Saboteur’: How India’s Diamond Capital Cut Distraction
Now, let’s bring it closer home. To the relentless, chaotic, and glorious energy of an Indian city, Surat. Imagine trying to get deep work done here. Your willpower stands no chance against the “chai-wallah!”call, the blaring horns, and the gravitational pull of family demands.
But in the diamond polishing units of Surat, they cracked this code centuries ago. In these workshops, artisans perform work that demands microscopic focus for hours on end. A single lapse could mean a fortune lost.Their secret? It wasn’t superior discipline. It was a perfectly crafted environment.The workshops are designed as sound-proofed, climate-controlled cocoons. The lighting is perfect, the seating ergonomic.
But the masterstroke?
The “No-Voice Zone.” They developed a complex, silent hand-signal language to communicate everything from “pass me that tool” to “lunch is here.”They didn’t tell their artisans to “focus harder.” They surgically removed the environmental distractions that required focus to overcome. They stopped the current, so they didn’t have to swim.Are you building a ‘No-Voice Zone‘ for your most important work? Or are you trying to perform brain surgery in a crowded bazaar and then blaming your shaky hands?
Stop Swimming Upstream. Start Redirecting the River
So, what’s the play? Do we just surrender to our surroundings? No. We become environmental architects.This isn’t about white-knuckling your way through the day. It’s about making the right behavior the path of least resistance, and the wrong one a pain in the you-know-what.
The Architecture of Behavior
We’ve been sold the biggest lie in self-help literature: that success is a function of grit, determination, and iron-clad willpower. That if only we tried harder, wanted it more, and resisted temptation better, we’d crack the code.
Nonsense.
Behavior is not a battle between good and evil happening inside your skull. Behavior is a transaction between you and your surroundings. And in that transaction, the environment always has the upper hand.
Consider this: A study tracking foraging human populations across 300+ locations worldwide found that humans behave remarkably similar to the birds and mammals living in the exact same environment. Whether it’s how we find food, organize socially, or even reproduce—the local environment dictates behavior far more than individual determination or cultural background. If you’re in the African rainforest, you store less food (just like 96% of mammal species around you). If you’re in colder climates, you hoard for winter. The environment writes the script; we just follow stage directions.
Now, if environment can override millions of years of human evolution, what chance does your Monday morning motivation stand?
The Japanese Know Something We Don’t
Walk into any convenience store in Tokyo—a konbini, as locals call it—and you’ll witness environmental design at its most ruthless efficiency.
Fresh onigiri at eye level. Hot coffee for ¥100 at the entrance. Fried chicken packaged in bags specifically engineered so you can eat while walking without grease on your hands. The average konbini rotates 100-200 products every single week based on what sells. If something doesn’t move, it vanishes. No second chances.
But here’s the kicker: They restock food multiple times a day. Why? Because freshness drives behavior. You’re not buying “a sandwich.” You’re buying “a sandwich made 3 hours ago that tastes better than what you’d make at home.” The environment has removed every friction point between desire and action.
Result? Over 55,000 convenience stores across Japan generating ¥11.8 trillion in annual sales. That’s not convenience. That’s environmental manipulation disguised as service.
Meanwhile, we’re still telling ourselves we’ll wake up at 5 AM tomorrow because “this time it’s different.”
The Supermarket Isn’t Selling You Groceries. It’s Selling You Impulses
Dutch researchers created a virtual supermarket to test how “nudges” affect purchasing behavior. They placed healthy foods at eye level, added subtle visual cues, and used strategic lighting.
Sales of promoted healthy items increased. Not because people suddenly developed nutritional consciousness. But because the environment made the healthy choice easier than the unhealthy one.
Now flip that. When was the last time you went to buy milk and came back without chips, biscuits, or that “on sale” chocolate bar at the checkout counter? The store layout isn’t random. Those chips aren’t at the billing counter by accident. They’re positioned where your willpower is at its lowest—after you’ve already made 27 other decisions about what to buy.
Your brain is tired. Your resistance is depleted. And there’s Kurkure, whispering sweet nothings at you. The environment wins. Every single time.
The Bengaluru Footpath Paradox
In India, we love to talk about behavioral change. “People just don’t follow rules.” “Nobody wants to walk.” “Indians prefer cars.”
No. What Indians prefer is not breaking their ankles on broken footpaths that vendors have occupied because urban planning treated pedestrians as an afterthought.
Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai—our cities are designed for vehicles, not humans. Wide roads, narrow sidewalks, no safe crossings, no continuous walking paths. Then we’re shocked that people prefer Ola over walking.
Compare this to Ahmedabad’s BRTS or the heritage streetscape revival on Mumbai’s Dadabhai Naoroji Road. When you design streets with pedestrians in mind—proper signage, lighting, accessible pathways—people walk. Not because they suddenly became virtuous. Because the environment supported the behavior.
Change the stage, and the actors will follow the new script.
Don’t Swim Upstream
There’s a Zen saying: “You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes a day. Unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.“
Inspiring? Sure. Practical? Absolutely not.
If your environment demands chaos, no amount of willpower will deliver calm. If your desk faces the TV, your “focus time” will remain fiction. If your phone buzzes 146 times a day, your deep work won’t materialize through sheer determination.
The smarter move? Don’t fight the current. Change the river.
Want to read more? Don’t put books on your wishlist. Put them on your pillow.
Want to eat healthier? Don’t stock junk food “for guests.” Guests will survive.
Want to exercise daily? Don’t rely on motivation. Place your running shoes next to your bed.
Stop trying to be a better person in a broken environment. Start building a better environment for the person you already are.
The Reality Check( I Know It Is Unsolicited)
Your gym membership isn’t the problem. The 45-minute commute to get there is.
Your lack of focus isn’t a character flaw. Your open office plan is.
Your inability to save money isn’t about discipline. It’s about Swiggy notifications and one-click checkouts.
We overestimate willpower and underestimate the silent, relentless influence of our surroundings. Neuroscience backs this up: The basal ganglia—the part of your brain forming habits—responds automatically to environmental cues. You don’t “decide” to brush your teeth every morning. You just do it because the toothbrush is there, the bathroom is there, and the routine is embedded in your environment.
The same mechanism works for everything else. The only question is: Are you designing your environment for the behavior you want, or are you swimming upstream against environmental currents pulling you in the opposite direction?
So, What Could We Takeaway? Stuff That You Could Use?
1. Audit Your Environment Like a Forensic Investigator Walk through your home, workspace, phone. What’s begging for your attention? What’s creating friction? What’s making bad choices easy and good choices hard? Write it down.
2. The 2-Minute Rule (Backwards) Instead of asking “What can I do in 2 minutes?”, ask: “What can I remove in 2 minutes that will save me hours of resisting temptation?” Delete apps. Hide remote controls. Unsubscribe from retail emails.
3. Make the Right Thing the Lazy Thing Humans are efficiency machines. We take the path of least resistance. Design your environment so that the easiest choice is the right choice. Meal prep on Sunday so grabbing healthy food is easier than ordering in. Pre-pack your gym bag the night before.
4. Change One Thing This Week Not ten. One. Move your phone charger out of the bedroom. Rearrange your desk so distractions are behind you. Place a water bottle where you sit most often. Small environmental tweaks compound into massive behavioral shifts.
5. Stop Heroic. Start Strategic. Discipline is overrated. Systems are underrated. You don’t need to be superhuman. You just need to be smart about your surroundings. Olympians don’t train in chaotic environments. Bestselling authors don’t write in noisy cafes (unless that’s their system). Figure out your system, then engineer the environment to support it.
Before I sign off, a Final Word
Your willpower is finite. Your environment is infinite.
Stop fighting a battle you’ll never win. Change the battlefield instead.
Don’t swim upstream. Reroute the river.