Being outdoors doesn�t just make us feel better, it makes us more productive.� Spending time amongst nature makes us

more creative and�seems to recharge us mentally as well. �Readying us to take on the next stint at the desk. Try taking your lunchbreak in the park or�incorporate some �green time� into your morning walk or run.

Not only that, it has been shown that hospital patients whose windows face a natural environment � including trees and grass � recover at a faster rate than those who face city-scapes.� And five minutes of exercise surrounded by nature boosts immune system function, subjective well-being and decreases the risk of mental health problems.

Do you need any more excuses to get outdoors

Belonging Equals Performance

This is the third blog in a series about the science behind the right environment for success.� See the related posts at thebottom of this article for the others.So you don�t have the time to build relationships in your team?� Think again.

Imagine this.� You are playing an online video game with three other players in cyberspace.� It is a simple game: it literally just involves hitting a ball to one another.� All of a sudden the other two players stop including you, they just keep hitting the ball to each other and you no longer get a turn.� How do you feel?

Social Pain = Physical Pain

This was actually an experiment carried out a few years ago.� And, even though it�s only a simple game and even though you don�t even know the people you are supposedly playing against, you feel pretty lousy.� Painfully so.� In fact the very same part of your brain that lights up for physical pain, also lights up during this social pain.

But what�s more, your ability to think clearly gets compromised as well.� If you are given a problem-solving or working memory task immediately after this little episode you do significantly worse than do normally.

Social safety is one of the key elements of performing in a team.� As in most of the other tips I have given under the banner of this blog, a safe social environment creates a reward response in the brain, sending out both feel-good and performance chemicals that help us perform at our mental peak.

So what do you need to be doing to help people feel they belong?

Be clear and consistent on the team goals

• Make sure that they stay front of mind and most important.� Most people are rewarded far more for individual contribution than for team performance.� This needs to change so that people feel they all contribute to something bigger.

Address tension NOW

• The longer you let social tension develop the worse it becomes and the greater impact it has on people�s performance.� It will be uncomfortable and our first instinct is to put it off for another time, but doing it sooner is always the better option

Take the time to build relationships

• This should be part of your agenda every time your team meets.� Review sales targets, update on project developments��.and build relationships.� Your team doesn�t need to know it�s part of your agenda, but every time your team gets together it is another opportunity to cement trust.

Build self-awareness and you will build other-awareness

• When you help people to become more self-aware through targeted feedback and coaching, you activate the part of their brain that thinks about other people more openly (generally because in this feedback situation most people think of themselves as though they are thinking of another person).� When you activate this neural circuitry, it gets stronger.

Most people only focus on building their team once or twice a year at the annual retreat, but the truth is that it needs to be an ongoing process.� Don�t miss the valuable opportunities that you have every week to keep building your people�s capability.

How the things we say belie our efforts

I am doing some research for a new book on creating the environment for people to thrive. Along the way, we have been looking at the reasons that people succeed on an individual level and the overwhelming amount of research (as I am sure most of you will know) points to self-regulation as the common denominator.

Self-regulation: the key to success?

What is self-regulation? I�m glad you asked (well, I asked), because the definitions are pretty vague and general. But we can safely say that, broadly, self-regulation involves being able to regulate your behaviours � to stop doing the things you shouldn�t do and also have the discipline to do the things that are best for you, even if it involves some short term discomfort.

And central to this argument is that we choose our own behaviours, because if we aren�t responsible and accountable for them, then we have no chance of self-regulating. The research in particular by Martin Seligman, which is dated but still incredibly relevant, and the famous �marshmallow experiments� by Mischel** shows this in an entertaining and enlightening way.

**(If you haven�t seen the �marshmallow experiments� they gave children the choice of taking one marshmallow, in front of them, right now, or wait and get more marshmallows. Those who waited (self-regulated) tested higher in almost every measurement of success in their early adult life).

What does this have to do with language?

What we say can sabotage our ability to succeed

Think about the language that many people use. It actually runs counter to these foundations of success. You hear people use the following phrases mainly when they are feeling out of control. Here are just a few that come to mind:

�If only I had/did/could�..�
This is really saying �I�d like to be able to do this, but because something isn�t in place for me, it ain�t gonna happen. So I might as well just wait until this thing falls into place because then I will be able to perform/succeed.�

A mentor of mine once told me that losers say �if only this happened�I would perform� winners say �only if I do this�.will I perform.�

�He makes me angry�
When people say this, they are telling themselves that they are not in control of their emotions. Think about it�.he MAKES me angry. Did he really make you angry? Of course not. He did x, and you got angry. Big difference. This is disturbing because I hear myself say it to my children sometimes.

�You make me so angry sometimes!� I should say, �When you push your brother down the stairs, I get angry.� Poor example but you get the picture.

�I have to go to work/the gym/my mother-in-law�s�
You don�t have to do anything. I used to say this to athletes all the time. �you don�t have to turn up to training; you don�t have to run this drill��..but if you don�t you have to live with the consequences.�

If we indeed choose all of our behaviours, then you choose to do all of these things. �I am going to��� or �I choose to��� would be a better option.

�I can�t do it�
This gives you no choice. If you can�t do it, you can�t do it. No point in trying anymore. The correct answer would sound like �I don�t know how to do it yet� or even �I don�t know how to do it�. Even this hints at the fact that you have options � you can learn.

Are these just excuses?
The funny thing is that all of these phrases excuse us from doing our best, in any zones of performance. The reason we say them is because it makes us feel better about not doing the thing we know we should be doing. It gives us a reason not to do it.

We all have the ability to self-regulate and therefore the ability to perform at our best in any situation. Maybe it just starts with the things that we say.