Let’s talk about a truth that most people ignore: your environment isn’t the problem.
Your perception of it is.
Viktor Frankl, a man who endured the horrors of a concentration camp and emerged with unshakable wisdom, put it best:
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
Let that sink in. Here was a man stripped of everything—his home, his freedom, his family. And yet, he still had control over one thing: his mind. His attitude. His response.
Your Environment Is Not Your Excuse
We love to blame our environment. The economy is tough. The government is failing us. The industry is saturated. Our colleagues, our families, our circumstances—surely, they’re the reason we’re stuck. Right?
Wrong.
Frankl’s insight wasn’t born from privilege, comfort, or luck. It was forged in a place where suffering was inescapable. And yet, he recognised that even in the most unbearable conditions, we still have a choice.
What does this mean for you? It means that the story you’re telling yourself about your environment is either keeping you trapped or setting you free.
The Illusion of Circumstance
Over the years, working with people across different walks of life, I’ve noticed something fascinating. The real struggle isn’t the situation itself—it’s the perception of the situation.
Two people can experience the same event, yet one feels victimised while the other sees opportunity. Why? Because the mind dictates the experience, not the external world.
This is why some people thrive during economic downturns while others crumble. It’s why one person will take a layoff as the worst thing that’s ever happened to them, while another uses it as the catalyst to build something better.
Your suffering isn’t caused by the event. It’s caused by the meaning you attach to it.
Building Psychological Immunity
Think of your mind like an immune system. Your body is constantly surrounded by bacteria, viruses, and environmental threats. But a strong immune system doesn’t eliminate every germ—it simply prevents them from taking over.
The same applies to your mind. You can’t eliminate challenges, negativity, or difficulty. But you can build resilience so they don’t define you.
And resilience comes from mastering perception. It comes from asking better questions:
- Instead of “Why is this happening to me?” ask, “How is this happening for me?”
- Instead of “What if I fail?” ask, “What could I gain if I succeed?”
- Instead of “Who’s to blame?” ask, “What can I take responsibility for?”
The way you see your circumstances dictates whether you grow or stay stuck.
Your Life is a Classroom
Every adversity carries a lesson and a gift. But most people are too focused on the suffering to look for the wisdom.
If Frankl could find meaning in a concentration camp, you can find meaning in your challenges. If others have thrived in your industry, so can you. If someone has built a great life despite similar conditions, it proves that it’s possible.
So the question isn’t, “Why is this happening?”
The question is, “What am I going to do with it?”
The Call to Take Ownership
No one is coming to save you. No change in government, no miracle financial breakthrough, no external shift is going to fix your life.
But the moment you take ownership—the moment you stop waiting for the environment to change and instead change the way you show up in it—everything shifts.
Your freedom isn’t in changing your environment. It’s in changing yourself within that environment.
And that choice is yours, always.