Humans with great discipline aren’t fundamentally different from those without it. They’re simply better at structuring their environment.
There’s fascinating data supporting this idea.
Research* suggests proximity to high / low performers can have a substantial impact on your own performance.
✅ Sitting near high performers led to a ~15% increase in productivity
✅ Sitting near low performers led to a ~30% decrease in productivity
Positive spillover exists, but negative spillover is stronger and faster.
This reinforces something that often gets misunderstood about performance. As Shane Parrish writes in Clear Thinking:
“What may look like discipline often involves a carefully created environment to encourage certain behaviors. And what may look like poor choices is often just someone trying their best to use willpower and bumping up against their defaults.”
Take the time to architect your environment.
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*Based on research by Housman and Minor (link in comments)