HOW A KEYSTONE HABIT CAN PUT YOUR LIFE IN ORDER

There’s a general belief that new habits are hard to form.

Likewise, when it comes to breaking old habits, it’s such a hard nut to crack.

Many times, we focus on breaking old habits that we forget about creating new positive ones in place of them.

In Charles Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habits, Charles talks about how you will be more productive and have the life you want by forming keystone habits.

Keystone habits lead to the development of many good habits. They start a chain effect in your life that produces several positive outcomes.

Keystone habits, according to Charles, are “small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives.”

From Charles:

The power of a keystone habit draws from its ability to change your self-image. Basically anything can become a keystone habit if it has this power to make you see yourself in a different way.

For example, when you exercise every morning, you get ready for the day’s activity; you eat more healthy foods instead of junks and drink more water. You get enough sleep when you do; you realize that smoking and drinking are not helping your body, and you work on breaking these habits. It will also make you feel motivated towards your goals. All these with just one habit formed. Isn’t that amazing?

You don’t have to change dozens of habits to get to your goals. You only have to form a few keystone habits that will have a ripple effect on your outcomes.

Here Are Simple Keystone Habits That Will Positively Impact Your Life

1.    I mentioned exercise earlier in this article. You do not need an hour every day at the gym to accomplish this. You can start running for 20-30 minutes every morning. Studies have shown that healthier eating begins with regular exercise. It makes sense. You start feeling good about your body. For many people who start exercising, the credit card is often no longer used, causing you to save more. At work, they postpone less. They make their dishes earlier in the day. It seems to be proof that exercise is an essential habit for many people. Once you start changing your exercise habits, it will trigger a chain reaction that will also improve other habits.

2.    Journaling: Almost every personal development writeup these days talk about keeping a daily journal. It is also among the keystone habits that affect a chain of events in your life. Keeping a daily journal of in-depth analysis and evaluation of your experiences is a high-leverage activity that increases self-awareness and enhances all the endowments and the synergy among them. Journaling optimizes one’s creative potentials. It accelerates the ability to manifest your goals and generates clarity and congruence.

You can write in your journal at any time of the day; morning, afternoon, and night. You will be more accountable about how your day went, the food you ate, what you achieved, new ideas you had and set your daily goals. Not only that, writing tends to bring out that which is in our subconsciousness and makes it clear to us.

3.    Meditation: In the ever noisy and boisterous world we are living, we tend to keep our mind on autopilot all day, giving it little or no time to live in the moment.

While you meditate, you develop a sense of gratitude; your mind rests at the moment and gets rid of the noise. When this happens, you’re able to create a more evident mindset and vision, your physical body is kept healthy, and every part of your body relaxes. A morning meditation could help set your mind straight for the remainder of the day. Also, meditating has been discovered to give medical advantages like reducing blood pressure.

Besides, meditation is related to mindfulness and increased memory, reduced anxiety and stress, and enhanced goal-setting.

Why You Need to Have a Keystone Habit Today.

Keystone habits work since they center on creating a unique improvement in your life. They produce a trickle-down effect. Before long, you will see more open doors for personal development from the keystone habits that you're developing.

Success with a keystone habit occurs when you take this first step. First, make a list of all the habits you want to develop. Pay special attention to those that can have a ripple effect in your life. Then focus on forming that habit for the next 30 days. You would be surprised how this little change can bring many positive results.

What are you doing when everything falls into place? What is your keystone habit?