We often hear the expression that we’re “products of our environment”. Unconsciously, our environment influences our behavior, mindset, and bodies.
So, becoming greater than the environment presented in every career has its own obstacles. In trucking, drivers are required to sit for much of the day. This requirement has contributed to the stereotype of the "obese driver". While we should be aware of the potential negative impacts the trucking environment has, the purpose of this blog is to highlight the benefits of the trucking environment and career.
For starters, most trucking is “over the road” (OTR), which means that drivers are pulled away from their friends and family. Most of our friends and family are positive influences, but sometimes they can be negative influences, even though we don’t always realize it. The great thing about trucking is that it's easy to avoid family and peer pressure when you’re 1,000 miles away. The point being that your friends and family influence your personality, but when the amount of association time is reduced with them, so is their influence.
"You are the average of the top 5 people you associate with" is an expression that reinforces this idea.
This leads me to my next point: mental diet is possibly the single most influential ingredient that creates our world views. What we choose to focus on influences our thoughts, and affects the way we perceive the world. This is why, much like our regular diets, our mental diets can benefit from healthy content.
People tend to eat fast food out of convenience because of the abundance of options, in spite of having a vague awareness of the poor nutrition it has, in most cases (Convenience is a major contributing factor to the trucking environment). In trucking, you have the internet at your fingertips, and you can surround yourself with positive, uplifting, inspiring content, and get paid to do it.
The final example I’ll provide you with is mob mentality, (think of riots), group think (tribalism), and social conditioning. The latter has basically constructed our worldview, mostly unconsciously. Trucking gives drivers the time to reflect on their own echo chambers and bubbles. Introspection is much easier when you’re not constantly engaging with coworkers or customers.
I leave you with these questions:
Does environment control your thinking, or does your thinking control your environment?
What are some of the benefits and limitations your career choice has had on your physical body, behavior, and mindset?