Over the course of four seasons, we get to watch plants come to life and then slowly fall back into the earth in the midwest. The transformation is humbling and a beautiful reminder that nothing stays the same forever.

This past year or so has really been the first time in my adult life that I’ve seen this process in a full year. I know that sounds funny, but I’m serious. Once I decided to leave my job and I started to pay more attention to life and stopped letting it go by unnoticed.

Watching the trees and flowers in Louisville change has changed me, really. But when I was in Los Angeles a few days ago I couldn’t stop noticing how alive all of the plants are there.

Massive succulents.

Palm trees and pines growing together.

I couldn’t stop touching them and oh’ing and ah’ing at their beauty. I saw another way of living there that was equally as beautiful.

My point? Different environments yield different results. (And, I don't believe there's one perfect set up)

When I sat at a desk every day with a computer screen in my face, emails taking up brain space, and stressed to the max about “the next thing due” I couldn’t see the bigger picture...the beauty that life is. I was caught up in the game.

When I left? Life suddenly began coming to life.

For me, I needed a different environment. Something that allowed me to come alive. Since leaving the environment that wasn’t working, I feel like the succulents in LA. BIG, luscious, breathtaking.

You can’t thrive in an environment that isn’t nourishing you. The right environment will allow you to thrive. Period.

If your environment drains you, sucks the life out of you, doesn’t feed you… simply change it and see how it feels. Place yourself in the sunny, LA mindset and let yourself thrive. Seriously.

Start discovering how to thrive with this free workbook.