The Kind of Space That Changes How You Live — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00Have you ever noticed that some places
2. 0:01seem to bring out a better version of
3. 0:03you? It might be a historic library or a
4. 0:05quiet study, an old hotel with dark wood
5. 0:08walls and worn leather chairs, or
6. 0:10perhaps it's the home of someone that
7. 0:11you respect. When you walk in, something
8. 0:14feels different, not just externally,
9. 0:16but internally. You notice you're
10. 0:18sitting with better posture, speaking
11. 0:20clearly with more composed thoughts.
12. 0:22Your mind is thinking, registering, and
13. 0:24processing differently. No one has told
14. 0:26you to do this. There is no large sign
15. 0:28on the wall stating that you should be
16. 0:30this way. You are naturally adjusting to
17. 0:33the space as it encourages a certain way
18. 0:36of living. Now, compare that to other
19. 0:38environments, rooms filled with clutter,
20. 0:40distractions, and those that feel
21. 0:42makeshift. They exist solely to pass
22. 0:44time rather than to enrich it. Most
23. 0:47people think these things don't matter.
24. 0:48It's a belief they are completely
25. 0:50independent from their surroundings,
26. 0:52that who they are is determined by
27. 0:54willpower, discipline, and personal
28. 0:56choices alone. Those are very important,
29. 0:59of course, but it's not the entire
30. 1:01picture. There are many different
31. 1:03subjects that revolve around
32. 1:04environments and how they influence
33. 1:06those in them. Surroundings shape
34. 1:08people, not overnight, not dramatically,
35. 1:11but little by little, day after day,
36. 1:13year after year, and eventually those
37. 1:16small influences become a life. My name
38. 1:19is Chad Drury, and today we're
39. 1:20discussing the kind of space that
40. 1:21changes how you live. The most powerful
41. 1:24rooms aren't necessarily the most
42. 1:25expensive, they're the ones that help
43. 1:28shape who an individual becomes. If
44. 1:31you're a returning subscriber, hit the
45. 1:32thumbs up. If you are new here,
46. 1:34hopefully by the end of this video,
47. 1:36you'll be a subscriber. Remember that if
48. 1:38you would like our help in designing
49. 1:40your room, you can have that help by
50. 1:42clicking the link in the description
51. 1:44below. Very commonly, you'll hear men
52. 1:46say some variation of, "It's just a
53. 1:49house, it's just a room, as long as it's
54. 1:51functional, that's all that matters."
55. 1:53Well, just because it's common doesn't
56. 1:55make it right, and marching with the
57. 1:57herd doesn't usually work well for those
58. 1:59of us who want a bit more out of life.
59. 2:02On the surface, the comments are not
60. 2:04unreasonable. A room is just walls,
61. 2:06furniture, lighting, and materials.
62. 2:09Shelter in its most primitive form. But
63. 2:11if environment doesn't matter, then why
64. 2:13do we instinctively understand its
65. 2:15importance everywhere else? Why do
66. 2:17schools invest in campuses? Why do
67. 2:20businesses invest in headquarters?
68. 2:21Universities make effort to preserve
69. 2:23historic buildings. Churches will spend
70. 2:26centuries creating spaces that inspire
71. 2:29reverence. Why do luxury hotels feel
72. 2:31different from budget hotels? And why do
73. 2:33certain restaurants feel special before
74. 2:36you've even tasted the food? Deep down,
75. 2:39we already understand that place
76. 2:41influences experience. Yet for some
77. 2:43reason, many people assume that their
78. 2:45own home is exempt from that reality.
79. 2:48The truth is that environment is never
80. 2:50neutral. Every room is training you.
81. 2:53Training you what to notice, what to
82. 2:55value, how to spend your time, and the
83. 2:57level at which you hold yourself. Most
84. 3:00people never think about their rooms
85. 3:02this way. The question is never whether
86. 3:04a room is influencing you. The question
87. 3:06is what direction that influence is
88. 3:09moving you. If a stranger walked into
89. 3:11your home today, what would they assume
90. 3:13is most important to you? Every room has
91. 3:16an identity, even if no one
92. 3:17intentionally designed it that way. It
93. 3:19communicates values. What matters here?
94. 3:22What happens here? What kind of life is
95. 3:25this room built to support? Think about
96. 3:27a room dominated entirely by a giant
97. 3:29television. The furniture points towards
98. 3:32the screen. The room revolves around the
99. 3:34screen. The visual focus is the screen.
100. 3:37The room doesn't put you in a
101. 3:38straightjacket, sit you down in a metal
102. 3:40chair, and clamp your eyelids open. It's
103. 3:42not forcing you to watch television. But
104. 3:45it is clearly communicating what the
105. 3:47room exists to do. What about a library,
106. 3:50a study, or a well-designed sitting
107. 3:52room. Books are visible, there's
108. 3:54comfortable seating for conversation,
109. 3:56the lighting is intoxicating and makes
110. 3:58you want to stay. The room isn't forcing
111. 4:01anyone to read, but it is absolutely
112. 4:03encouraging a certain behavior, and
113. 4:06that's where this becomes interesting. A
114. 4:09room doesn't force behavior, it
115. 4:10encourages behavior, and what a room
116. 4:13encourages eventually becomes easier.
117. 4:16Throughout our day, the most accessible
118. 4:18behavior is the one that tends to win.
119. 4:21If a book is sitting on a table beside
120. 4:22your favorite chair, you are more likely
121. 4:24to read. If a guitar is visible and
122. 4:26within reach, you are more likely to
123. 4:28play it. If your workspace feels
124. 4:30organized and inviting, you are more
125. 4:32likely to sit down and focus. The huge
126. 4:35issue is that the opposite is also true.
127. 4:38When your room is filled with
128. 4:39distractions, distractions become
129. 4:41easier. If the television dominates
130. 4:43every wall, entertainment takes
131. 4:45precedence over reflection. An
132. 4:47environment that constantly pulls your
133. 4:49attention dozen different directions
134. 4:51will make focus nearly impossible.
135. 4:53Interestingly, a person might believe
136. 4:55that he lacks discipline, when in
137. 4:57reality, he simply has an environment
138. 5:00which is working against him. Do you
139. 5:01remember the movie Limitless? It follows
140. 5:04a struggling writer played by Bradley
141. 5:06Cooper who gains access to a fictional
142. 5:08drug called NZT 48. There's a moment
143. 5:11early in the film that stuck out to me.
144. 5:13For the first time, he experiences
145. 5:16absolute mental clarity. The fog is
146. 5:18gone, his thoughts are organized, his
147. 5:20focus is sharp, and the first place he
148. 5:22looks is his apartment. He walks in
149. 5:25through the front door of his apartment
150. 5:26and he says, "Home, but it couldn't be
151. 5:29my home, could it? I mean, who would
152. 5:31live like this?" The interesting part is
153. 5:34what happens next. He doesn't
154. 5:35immediately start building a business,
155. 5:37he doesn't sit down to write a book, he
156. 5:39doesn't run off to chase some grand
157. 5:41ambition. He cleans his apartment,
158. 5:44organizes it, and and things where they
159. 5:46belong. A sense of order has now been
160. 5:48returned. Only after the environment
161. 5:50changes does he sit down at his desk and
162. 5:53begin his work. What he saw wasn't just
163. 5:56a messy apartment. It was physical
164. 5:58evidence of the person that he used to
165. 6:00be. The room had become a reflection of
166. 6:02confusion, of drift, unfinished
167. 6:04thoughts, and neglected standards. When
168. 6:07clarity arrived, the environment
169. 6:09suddenly felt incompatible with the
170. 6:11person he wanted to become. It's not
171. 6:13that organization is magical, it's that
172. 6:15capable people instinctively seek
173. 6:17alignment. What fascinates me about that
174. 6:20scene is that clarity didn't simply
175. 6:22change his actions, it changed his
176. 6:24standards. Things he was previously
177. 6:26willing to tolerate suddenly stood out.
178. 6:29The clutter and disorder, the lack of
179. 6:31intention. His environment did what
180. 6:33environments do. It influenced what
181. 6:35became normal. Eventually, we stop
182. 6:38noticing what's around us and simply
183. 6:40accept it. Take an honest look around
184. 6:42your home and ask yourself, does this
185. 6:44home still reflect who I am or who I'm
186. 6:47trying to become? Imagine two men, both
187. 6:49wanting to improve themselves. They have
188. 6:51similar goals and similar potential. One
189. 6:54spends years in an environment built
190. 6:56around distraction. The other spends
191. 6:58years in an environment built around
192. 7:00learning, reflection, and purpose. Five
193. 7:03years later, it's likely those
194. 7:04environments will have amplified very
195. 7:07different outcomes. Neither man was
196. 7:09dramatically different to begin with,
197. 7:11but one of the environments consistently
198. 7:13reinforced better habits. Just like
199. 7:15investments, small actions repeated long
200. 7:18enough become impossible to ignore.
201. 7:21At some point, those habits become
202. 7:22standards. Those standards become
203. 7:24expectations, and those expectations
204. 7:26begin shaping who you are. This is
205. 7:28something that many of us have
206. 7:30experienced. We've all walked into a
207. 7:32room and thought, "This isn't helping
208. 7:33me. This isn't supporting the life I'm
209. 7:35trying to build. This doesn't reflect
210. 7:38who I want to be." The room isn't the
211. 7:40problem per se, It reveals the problem.
212. 7:43It's evidence of surroundings
213. 7:45reinforcing a version of you. You have
214. 7:47to wonder, are they reinforcing the
215. 7:49right one?
216. 7:51Do you know what makes a room feel
217. 7:52powerful? It's not the price tag of the
218. 7:54items within it. It's the attraction to
219. 7:56it's standing for something. Look at
220. 7:58gentlemen's clubs and historic homes.
221. 8:01These spaces aren't impressive because
222. 8:03they're expensive. They're impressive
223. 8:05because they communicate values,
224. 8:07knowledge, stewardship, permanence,
225. 8:09character, standards. There is a reason
226. 8:12a room filled with books often feels
227. 8:14different from a room filled with
228. 8:15meaningless decor, and why antique
229. 8:18furniture often carries a different
230. 8:19emotional weight than modern-day
231. 8:21disposable furniture. Things like this
232. 8:24remind us of something, that life is
233. 8:26bigger than convenience, that quality
234. 8:28and care matter. There is value in
235. 8:31having something that lasts. Luxury
236. 8:34says, "Look at what I can afford." while
237. 8:36character says, "Look at what I value."
238. 8:39And those two are very different things.
239. 8:42A room inevitably becomes part of you,
240. 8:44psychologically and emotionally. Year
241. 8:46after year, those spaces become
242. 8:48meaningful to who you are. Your
243. 8:50routines, memories, and identity are all
244. 8:53tied to it. A man who spends years
245. 8:55reading in a thoughtful environment
246. 8:57generally begins to see himself as a
247. 8:59reader. Those who regularly host friends
248. 9:02and family begin to see themselves as a
249. 9:04host. When you value your surroundings,
250. 9:07you develop an appreciation for
251. 9:09stewardship, and that carries over to
252. 9:11other parts of your life. Our identity
253. 9:13is formed through repeated actions, and
254. 9:16repeated actions are influenced by
255. 9:18environment. It is the silent partner in
256. 9:21the life that we build. So, perhaps the
257. 9:23question isn't what style do I like, or
258. 9:26what color should I paint this room.
259. 9:29Perhaps the more important question is,
260. 9:31"Who am I trying to become?" If you
261. 9:33continue living in your current
262. 9:34environment for the next 10 years, what
263. 9:37version of yourself does it encourage?
264. 9:39When you answer that, design becomes
265. 9:41much more simple. If you want deeper
266. 9:44conversations, create a room that
267. 9:45encourages conversation. If you want
268. 9:48greater focus, have an environment that
269. 9:49supports concentration. If calmness is
270. 9:52what you're seeking, remove visual
271. 9:54noise. If you want a life led by
272. 9:56deliberate action, design with
273. 9:58intention. Many people build rooms
274. 10:00around their current habits. The more
275. 10:02powerful approach is to build rooms
276. 10:05around the future version of themselves,
277. 10:07the person they hope to become, not
278. 10:09through fantasy or pretending, but
279. 10:11through alignment. Creating this
280. 10:13environment has very little to do with
281. 10:15wealth. It may result in wealth, but it
282. 10:17doesn't begin with it. You don't need a
283. 10:20mansion. You don't need unlimited money.
284. 10:22You don't need imported antiques or
285. 10:23custom millwork. You simply need
286. 10:26clarity. A room that supports your
287. 10:28values rather than competing with them.
288. 10:30Every man is building something. It
289. 10:32could be a career, a family, a
290. 10:34reputation, health, a future. The
291. 10:36question is whether the place you return
292. 10:38to every day is helping you build those
293. 10:40things. A thought-out room will impress
294. 10:42guests and generate compliments, but
295. 10:44that's not where its power lies. Its
296. 10:47power is in the encouragement of a
297. 10:49better life, more meaningful
298. 10:51conversations, deeper thinking,
299. 10:53confident composure. These things become
300. 10:56something much larger. They become
301. 10:58character, which many times leads to
302. 11:00destiny. Next time you look around your
303. 11:02home, aside from asking yourself whether
304. 11:04you like how it looks, ask yourself a
305. 11:06more important question. If I continue
306. 11:09living in this environment for the next
307. 11:1110 years, who is it helping me become?
308. 11:14If you like the video, hit the thumbs
309. 11:15up. If you feel like sticking around a
310. 11:17while, feel free to subscribe. See you
311. 11:20in the next one.
312. 11:22>> [music]
313. 11:29[music]
314. 11:36>> Mhm.