Your Environment Is Shaping Your Results (More Than You Think)

In this episode of Do The Work, we're talking about something that doesn't get discussed nearly enough in business:

Your environment and your community.

Most entrepreneurs spend all their time searching for better strategies, better tactics, and better marketing. But often the thing holding them back isn't a lack of knowledge, it's the people and environments surrounding them every day. 

Ruben shares lessons from living in the mountains and how being surrounded by people doing extraordinary things can completely change what feels possible. Whether it's running ultra marathons, building businesses, or creating financial freedom, success often starts feeling "normal" when enough people around you are already doing it. 

We also talk about:

• Why your community influences your success more than most strategies
• The danger of being the biggest fish in a small pond
• How masterminds, coaching programs, and communities helped us grow
• Why some environments stretch you while others keep you stuck
• How to create a business you actually enjoy running
• Why long-term success requires more than discipline alone
• The role joy plays in entrepreneurship and resilience
• How to audit your current environment and community for growth opportunities 

Terri also shares how, during one of the hardest seasons of life, intentionally focusing on joy became a daily practice and why building a business you enjoy matters more than most people realize. 

If you've been feeling stuck, uninspired, or like you're carrying your business journey alone, this episode might help you identify what's really missing. Sometimes the next level isn't a new strategy.

Sometimes it's a new room. 

In This Episode, We Cover:

• Why environment impacts results more than most people realize
• How community shapes your standards and expectations
• Why big goals become normal in the right room
• The difference between a stretching community and a limiting one
• How masterminds and coaching programs accelerated our growth
• Why entrepreneurs need people who believe in them
• Creating an environment where you actually enjoy the work
• How joy and sustainability affect long-term success
• Why the best strategy in the world can't overcome the wrong environment 

Free Resource

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Send us a DM with "COMMUNITY" and we'll point you in the right direction.

About Us

Coaches Creating Impact helps health professionals scale to $10K–$20K+ months using proven systems for content, lead generation, and sales.

Connect with Us

Reuben IG: https://www.instagram.com/reubendriedger/
Terri IG: https://www.instagram.com/terridriedger/

Transcript

0:00

There's a digital work podcast or helpers want to stop leaning it and start scaling. Where you're hosting Ruben and Terry use the ideas guide, use the system brain. And together we help you get clients, grow your audience, and actually run a business at work. Expect real talk, tactical strategy, and the kind of perspective you can only get when you're building two things at once a company and a marriage. Let's jump in. Hello, hello, folks. Welcome. Do the work. Do the work. Do the work. Do you know what the other day me and Ruben were driving home from the airport and our phone like auto-connected to whatever. Bluetooth. And it started to play our podcast, and I was like, damn. I'm impressed anybody listens to this. You ever listen to your voice and you're like, wow, I sound annoying. I don't think anyone likes not most people like how their voice sounds recorded. It would actually be interesting psychology to understand. Like, why are we all disgusted by our own voice? Probably because we hear it so often. Isn't it? But then why like I don't like me talking right now, I'm not annoyed, but me listening to myself on a podcast, I am. You know what? That's a great question. I've decided to just think that I sound amazing. Good for you. Because I'm like white male energy. White male energy is where it's at. That's how you just have so much gusto in life. For sure. And so we're gonna be talking about white male privilege. I was thinking with all the new responsibilities I'm taking on in CCI, I was like, I just need to channel my white male every day. Every single day. Yeah. Yeah, I love it. It's really what we aspire to be. I'm gonna bring it up on my one-on-one. I have your one-on-one today. Yep. I love having a one-on-one. I have some great feedback for you. Oh no. Oh no. Anyways, folks, we have a really fun episode for you folks today. I was actually running out in the mountains this morning. You? You know what? It's it's odd. I don't usually do anything like that. Oh my god, are you Canadian Mountain Boy? For those of you who don't know, Ruben has a personal uh Instagram account. You should go follow it. It's called Canadian Mountain Boy. And I'm super cool on there. Yeah. There you are cool. In our local town, sometimes people will be like, wait, it's not sometimes. Guys, I'm an introvert, and it's to the point where when we go out into public, people ask for photos with Ruben. He's constantly getting recognized, and I just walk away and act like I'm not a side. That's so hilarious. Anyways, I was out running the mountains, and I was just thinking about two concepts, which is that your environment and your community will dictate your life and really basically help you either grow or stay the same or shrink. Yeah. And I think a lot of this also came up because, like, we've traveled a little bit recently. We went to Vernon a little bit, we went to Manitoba where we grew up. And I just remember changing our environment and noticing massive differences. Yes. And uh I wanted to talk about these two things because I truly believe that a lot of people, by the way, there's a lot of people who focus heavy on strategy and heavy on what they should do, which is fantastic. You want to do that. But a lot of them don't realize that their environment and then their community, the people, like the environment's more of like just like for us, the environment here living in the mountains is the mountains and nature and all that kind of stuff. And then the community is the people, the people part of it. Those two things will play just as big of a role, if not more of a role, in your success in life and business than the strategies that you deploy. Yeah. And I was thinking about that a lot. So so let me kind of walk a lot of you through this. So not everyone? No, just a lot of them. Just not there's like You're just already like some people are not. 90% of you I'm talking to. No, I'm kidding. So when we moved to the mountains, um you then I started to like realize that there was these people doing these crazy things. And I was like, I'm just hiking mountains, these people are running it, these people are climbing it, these people are paragliding off of it, all these different things. And when I started to get involved in the community, I started to realize like the levels to the game of playing around in the mountains, and I started to get so inspired. And so when I started, I was just like hiking around, and then I wanted to learn scrambling, then I saw people rock climbing and I wanted to rock climb. Then people were doing ultra marathons, and I wanted to do ultra marathons, and it was like this community of people going after it inspired me to want to go after it, and to not see it as such a big thing or put it on a pedestal. Because I think that, like where we grew up, like seeing like the average person running marathons or doing triathlons or like climbing these crazy mountains, it seems like, well, that's a crazy thing. And here it's just an average thing. Yeah, yeah. And in we have this funny saying in Canmore, like you have to train so incredibly hard and exhaust yourself to be Canmore average. We have this kind of saying, yeah, right? And so I started to realize, and this is the same thing in business, is that the community, the people you surround yourself with, either will tell you that, like, for example, some of you you want to get to your first 10k month or 20k month or $50,000 a month. A lot of your communities that you're a part of, if you're not careful, will see that as the exception, not the average. Yeah, and what happens is that if your brain is always thinking a $20,000 a month is insane, it's like out of this world, it's crazy, da-da-da-da-da. Your brain is gonna be a little bit scared to get there. Versus if you're in a community of people who like, well, that's just average. That's just normal. That's that's basically like half the people here are doing that already, half of them are more or whatever it is, half of them are on their way together. Like, then all of a sudden you're like, oh, that's doable for me. Yeah. Um, there's this funny reel going around, basically being like, I don't, it was the reel says something to the effect of like, I don't know when all of a sudden 100 kilometer trail races started to feel average to me by like how much content I'm seeing or whatever it is. But it's it's funny how when a lot of people are doing it and you know these people and you hang out with these people, crazy things become average, yeah, and they become normal. And I think a lot of you who are listening need to get into those types of communities. Um, because I know for us that's made a big difference. Oh, yeah. And my other uh the other thing I see within this is being in Camera. Okay, so when we lived in Manitoba, within our age group, I'm talking, obviously, running a million-dollar business was incredibly impressive. Yes. Like we had friends who would nickname what were our I'm trying to remember our nicknames. It was like million-dollar power. I never whatever. It was just everybody was very impressed. Living in Canmore, guys, we're like the bottom of the barrel. We are like our just in the livable wage. And it's so good for us. Like, yeah, like to hang out with people our age who have way more in stocks than us, way more investments than us overall. Their companies are way larger than us. God, the other day I bob did just somebody at the co-working space. His salary is 430 a year. And and talked about it, like, yeah. That's just normal. Um, and it's it's been so good for me from that perspective as well. Even like we live in a townhome, guys. We live in a townhome, it's like a thousand square feet. This townhome is worth 1.3 right now. Yeah, something like that. Um whereas if we ever want to buy like a standalone home like we used to own in Manitoba, if we ever want to own that out here, we're talking three, four million dollars. Exactly. Um, so it's just it's from that perspective also, it's yeah. Yeah. It stretches you. Yes. It stretches you so much. And I'm absolutely sad. So one of my favorite things is I put all my meetings into my mornings so that in my afternoons I can go work at the local co-working space here. And guys, this co-working space pushes me mentally every single day because just the people I bump into, the businesses they're running, suddenly they're talking about like, oh yeah, we had 20 people quit last month and it caused stress. And you're like, oh my God, what am I worried about here? So exactly. And the whole idea behind the community is also like the opposite is true, which is that if you are in a community where, like, I mean, and I think our community where we grew up was similar to this, where like starting a business, a lot of people question, oh, that's not a good idea, that's risky, that's like that's not a smart move. The community can do the opposite, it can either stretch you and basically help you grow, or it can really hold you back and actually make you have more fears and more doubts. And so, because a lot of our clients and a lot of you listening are building online businesses, if you feel like your in-person community is like either just kind of stagnating you or like even like trying to like cause fears, you need to find at least some type of whether it's in-person or online communities that are gonna pull you in the opposite direction. Because as much as communities can be amazing, it can also be detrimental. Yes. I know so many people who I've I've had sales calls with people in the past who are just like, yeah, my family, my husband, my this, this, and this don't believe in me. And it's like that is so hard. The only way that you can get through that is having a community that believes in you because otherwise you're gonna quit. Yeah, you're gonna quit, and you need those people to help you stick around. And having said that, guys, one of the ways that me and Ruben pushed through that even while we were living in Manitoba, and and by the way, guys, we know so many incredibly successful entrepreneurs in Manitoba. This is not me shitting on Manitoba as a whole. I really hope your premiere is freaking awesome. He was on the same flight as us the other day, and I was like drooling. Um, anyways, that was probably too much. Drew, I drool over men in power who are like actually sticking to morals. Anyways. Wow. Yeah, okay, good to know. Just so you know. Oh my goodness, now I completely lost my train of thought. You're not shooting. The way while we were living in Manitoba, and we were feeling a little bit like kind of had reached the ceiling in our friend group or whatever that may be. Um, one of the ways that we really got through that was masterminds, coaching programs, yeah. Like making sure that even though we didn't have that community in person, that we had it in another way. Exactly. If you feel like you are the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. Or if you're the biggest fish in the pond, like you need to get into a bigger pond. Like the truth is And there are ways that you can do that. If you're like, wow, I would never move away from my family, even though they have different belief systems than me. There are other ways you can input that into the stuff. Yeah, you can join programs, you can be a part of communities or masterminds, you can travel to in-person events. We did a lot of that to like basically get yourself out of the bubble enough because it's it can be suffocating to just be in the bubble all by yourself, absolutely, and like just having so many doubts coming at you. Um, so community is so important, which is why like a big part of like when our clients work with us is we have a community as well, and we have like a group aspect to it because they need to see the other people. Yes. So that's the first thing. The second thing is like environment. Now, environment's so important, and the way I wanted to describe this was on again my run this morning. I was thinking about like the environment where I was at in Manitoba, like when I was like training for athletics and stuff. I just was I just got bored. Yeah. And I love people who are able to do it in Manitoba, like, good for them. But I just find like running the mountains, I got this like sense of adventure and I got this excitement to go out, and like I'm just like so happy to be out there doing these harder things. And I think the same thing can be said in business. Like, there are ways to build a business where you're not enjoying it and it's just pure discipline, which discipline is great, but then there are ways to be in an environment where you can actually enjoy it, where you can what would that be for you? Like, if you're talking about a business environment you would enjoy, what does that look like? Yeah, so number one, I think it's like structuring your business in a way that you enjoy it. So make sure that, like, for for the first example is like setting yourself up that you actually would enjoy working with the clients that you want to work with. Yeah, like work with like tr attract the right people, make sure you're working with the clients that you would actually enjoy. Have yourself set up like in a way like financially or legally in the business that it's actually enjoyable and not stressful. Um, all these different pieces, and it could also be if you're a part of a program, the environment of like the culture and how people are like encouraging these different things, like the environment of just like how you do your business day to day, like enjoying it. Like Terry and I often go out to coffee shops or different things to work or whatever it is, or I often will listen to like music when I need to like really like hone in on something because I want my environment to be something that's enjoyable while I'm doing the work. Yeah, I feel like a lot of people when they start to work remotely online, they like just like stuff themselves in a closet and they just like stare at their computer. Yeah. When like they can do different things to make it more enjoyable. Because if it's not enjoyable, like I find that like it's so much like you want to be in business long term because the longer term you're in business, usually the more successful you can be in business. Like, that's just how it works. You need to have the staying power, and that means that you need to enjoy it in some aspects. Yes. And so I just think that there is like this enjoyment factor. Like again, when I was running outside this morning, being like, I just enjoy this so much more. Yeah. And I just I I legitimately love it, is just finding a way to enjoy the day-to-day of your business, enjoying the the journey in a very cliche term, is just like find ways to enjoy every single day. We talked about this a lot. Was it a year ago, two years ago? It was like, how are we finding joy today? Yes, right? Yeah, coming out of cancer, things were real dark. Um, and so uh, yeah, that was something. It was literally every single morning we would make our coffee and we would sit here and we'd be like, what are we doing today to choose joy? And it could literally be going to elevation place and working from there. Yeah. Or going for a walk after lunch. Like it was little things, but it was enough to start getting our brains to focus on joy instead of everything in our life that seems exactly dark. It seemed dark, yeah, exactly. And that's where I think that like for people to not only grow in the business and like stretch them out of their comfort zone, but to also enjoy it, it's like community and environment. Yeah. And what I would like a lot of you who are listening to this, a lot of all of you who are listening to this to do, is to audit your community environment. Do you feel like you need to actually get into a better community? Do you feel like you need more people like at your level like interacting with you? Um, do you feel like you need to shift up your environments to make things more enjoyable? Because if a lot of you right now do not have a good community and are not in an enjoyable environment, you can try to muscle and hustle your way to like success. It's just gonna be a lot harder. There's a higher chance that you're going to quit, and frankly, you're gonna be at a place where it's just you're not enjoying your day today. Yeah, absolutely. Why not make those shifts so that you are able to stick with it longer? You have people to like breathe belief into you, and you actually have these parts of your day that you're really enjoying while you're working. So I just think you need to find a way to fall in love with the process, the journey, the environment, and just be around the right people so that big goals don't seem big anymore. Yeah. Right? Um, anyways, that's what I wanted to riff on today. I love it. Anything else you want to add to that, Terry? No, that was great. I really enjoyed that. Well, folks, this is a bit of a shorter episode, short and punchy. Hope you enjoyed it. Um, and if you want to be a part of a community and environment that is gonna like speak belief into you and like really help you and help you also learn how to enjoy things, feel free to like join our communities. We got some free communities, we got some paid communities. You can reach out, we'd love to have you a part of anything to just like help you along your journey. And move to Canmore and move to Canmore and run in the mountains, and follow Canadian Mountain Boy on Instagram. Anyways, folks, have a great rest of your day. We love you all. Bye for now.