In the Mykolas Romeris University's (MRU) You Tube series, "Life's Start-up" (Gyvenimo startuolis), coaching professional and founder of the "Akademija Infinitas“ organization Povilas Petrauskas and businessman, running enthusiast and book and webcast author Rimantas Petrauskas recently shared their thoughts on what effect our environment has on us. Discussions in the series, "Environment Filter" („Aplinkos filtras“), reveal the environment's influence and what action we should take so that changes would occur. You'll also hear the story of a famous man about town and how he became a successful person promoting a healthy lifestyle and creating motivating content.
Povilas Petrauskas: "It's Important to Figure Out What We and Our Environment Want
According to coaching professional P. Petrauskas, people act in their environment in a similar way as their environment affects, so he suggests checking if we are in the right environment. We can check this in a simple manner - take 5 or 6 people with whom we spend the most time and we can see that we are actually the average of all those people. We are like them. They are like us, and if you are not happy with the current result - one of those options is to examine what the environment is like. ” He emphasizes that if you decide to change your environment, it is important to exactly enunciate what you want to achieve.
The founder of the "Akademija Infinitas" organization notes that if you notice that your environment is not helping you achieve your goals, it would be irresponsible to simply run away. Conversations are necessary and only when conversing do you find out that maybe the people around you want the same things as you.
"Personally there have been cases when I know what I want and after hearing that phrase that 5, 6 people are the average of how I have, what I have etc. etc., I didn't ask them what they wanted. I wanted to get away from them (getting out is easy these days - it used to be harder to do that but now it is is very easy to do). After I asked them what they wanted, I noticed that they wanted the same things as me," said Povilas Petrauskas.
The coaching specialist said that once you decide to distance yourself from the current environment, it is very important to name what you want to achieve with it.
"So what if you will have time, but you won't take any concrete action? So you saved an hour - but what will you do during that hour? You need to know other things. It's not something complicated. You just bought some extra time you can invest somewhere else. Time is a very big investment. Not only money is an investment, but so is time that you spend somewhere. It can help you grow or perhaps, pull you down and not help you grow."
Rimantas Petrauskas: "None of Us Strived for Anything in Our Lives“
R. Petrauskas when asked what was his environment like before he changed it says that none of us ever strived for anything in life. "We simply sat in a boat carried by the river's current and that was it. Then he hit the shore and sailed into some type of trees and continued to carry on, wherever the current takes you. No one is paddling. No one is turning the wheel so to speak. You are carried there where you are carried and there you live."
During the show, businessman Petrauskas admits that the big turning point that led to the changes took place one day looking in the mirror.
"One day I woke up and looked in the mirror. A thought popped in my mind that I don't like the way I look. I am up to my ears in debt and I have many health problems. I don't really want to go to work and I don't find myself interesting anymore. I don't love myself anymore. It seems to me that this is probably one of the worst things that can happen to a person when you realize that you don't love yourself anymore," he noted.
Rimantas Petrauskas said that he never gave sports much thought in his life. But his business partner was a fan of running long distances and living a healthy lifestyle and thus got him interested.
What advice does he have for those youth who want to change their lives. He said that Robin Sharma's book, "Leader Without a Title" helped him change his way of thinking. You have to try to become a leader yourself and set an example for others.
The entire interviews are available on the MRU "YouTube" channel.