The 12 Most Common Keystone Habits

If You Have None, Pick One and Get Going!

Keystone habits are certain routines that lead to a cascade of other positive actions. They also create a structure that allows other habits to flourish.  In other words, keystone habits are a catalyst that can unleash a chain-reaction of habitual goodness!

If you aren’t able to determine what your keystone habits are, or you’ve looked and determined you don’t have any, then this short post is for you.

Charles  Duhigg’s book “The Power of Habit” introduced the concept and spurred the interest in keystone habits.  After reading the examples he gives, I wondered of there might be a core set of keystone habits most commonly mentioned by others.  As it turns out, there are. Listed below are 12 of the most common ones I found:

  1. Family Dinners- these have major emotional, behavioral and material impact.
  2. Making your bed every morning- increases productivity with associated internal and external benefits.
  3. Tracking what you eat- people lose twice as much weight compared to those who don’t. 
  4. Regular exercise- often serves as a trigger to start eating better.
  5. Regular Rituals- the associated consistency and organization often jumps-starts progress in a variety of other areas.
  6. Meditation- the mental benefit is enormous, not to mention the spiritual benefit…..and no, you don’t have to be a buddhist to meditate…in fact, the book of Psalms is a primer on biblical meditation.
  7. Planning your day- preferability the night before.
  8. Visualization- mental rehearsal and preparing based on positive expectations (vs fantasies)
  9. Positive Thinking- since we say ~300 – 1000 words to ourselves a minute, make sure they have the right impact.
  10. Journaling- you’ll start noticing the smaller, but important things, that ultimately make you happier.
  11. Getting to bed or waking up earlier- results in more energy and being more efficient with the right things at the right time.
  12. Saving money- eliminates the trivial and reduces clutter.

One list included “willpower.” The problem is that willpower isn’t a habit. I do suppose you can make a habit of exercising will power. A key point to remember though, is that willpower is like a muscle. So when you exercise it, do so in a way that builds it and doesn’t wear it out. In fact, the more habits you build the less willpower you’ll need to expend.

Because keystone habits are defined by the effect they have on you, just about any habit can qualify. However, the ones listed above seem to be unique in that they come up in most of the most common keystone habit lists (like herehereherehere, and here). Putting in place a common keystone habit may be the quickest way to leverage progress in your life. After all, why re-invent the wheel?  It may also be the best way to find out whether you have a keystone habit that is unique to you.

Since our lives are filled with habits, you might as well make them count. Keystone habits are the best way to do that.

So, where are you at with keystone habits?  If your not, which keystone habit are you willing to experiment and what could it do for you if you did?

Please leave a comment and let me know how it goes!

How To Find Your Keystone Habits

And What It Can Do For You

In Charles Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit, he discusses the idea of keystone habits. Keystone habits are certain routines that lead to a cascade of other positive actions. In other words, keystone habits are a catalyst that can unleash a chain-reaction of habitual goodness!

This made me curious and I began to look for my own keystone habits. I found three: exercising 5-6 days a week, following the 2-minute rule for productivity tasks and flossing my teeth every night (weird I know, and see what Michael Hyatt about this one).  I realized that when I have these habits in place, everything else is easier for me…..the discipline carries over.

All keystone habits have the following three basic characteristics:

  • Small wins
  • Leveraging platforms
  • A contagion of excellence

What do you need to do to get keystone habits working for  you?  The first thing is to identify them by examining your own patterns.   A great example to illustrate the basic characteristics of keystone habits are portions of Michael Phelps swimming routine:

1111 SEI TrainPrinciples I

1. Small wins-  they are defined as “a steady application of a small advantage.” Smalls wins have enormous power, contribute disproportionately to accomplishments and give one a mounting sense of victory. To find and capitalize on yours, look for patterns of activity that give you a small sense of victory when done. Phelp’s consistent daily stretching and eating routine were part of the many “small wins” that were nearly automatic for him. “Winning” with these created a mounting sense of victory for him.

2. Leveraging platforms- Platforms are exactly that: a structure that allows you to expend a little effort that is then multiplied several times into a force that yields a disproportionate advantage. In the area of habits, an example would be meditating or deep breathing that then can be leveraged into a calming influence when stressed.  This in itself can become it’s own habit.  In Phelp’s case, his habit of “watching the videotape” every night before bed and upon waking was a leveraging platform. Not a real videotape, but a mental visualization of the perfect race. When race time came he just “put in the tape”, which allowed him to calm down and settle into near perfect form.

3. A contagion of excellence- moments when personal momentum, courage, accomplishment or some other virtue seems to build on your sense of self and what is possible. This becomes incredibly powerful to draw upon when obstacles occur and you need leverage to overcome them. Because Phelp’s was consistent in his other habits, it was no problem when his goggles filled with water on the final lap of his Olympic race. Everything else had gone well that day so a minor inconvenience like swimming blind on the last lap should be no different. And it wasn’t – he won another gold and set the world record.

The reality is the our lives are filled with habits. We are aware of some and others go unrecognized. If we want to be economical and effective with our efforts and conserve our limited reserve of will power, then making progress with keystone habits makes a ton of sense.  This, in essence, is applying “The ONE Thing” principle to habits. The ONE Thing principle is asking yourself “What is the one thing, that if done, would make everything else easier?”

What’s the “ONE Thing” you need to do to find your keystone habit(s)? If you already have one in place, what would it do for you to have more?  If you don’t have any keystone habits, what’s one you could start putting in place?

I’ll share some of the most common keystone habits next time. In the meantime, leave a comment and let me know what you’ve found out about your own keystone.

How To Beat Procrastination Down To Size

Why It Matters More Than You Think

Procrastination isn’t a joke or a trivial matter. This is especially the case for the 20% of adults claim to be chronic procrastinators as well as college students where the rate may be as high as 70% among college students.

The impact and deleterious effects are pretty sobering, as Dr. Joseph Ferraris mentions in this WSJ article (read about 2/3 of the way down):

  • Lower salaries
  • Higher unemployment
  • Failing to save for retirement
  • Neglecting preventative health care
  • A lot of negative self-talk

Regardless of who you talk to, everyone seems to have an “inner procrastinator” at some level. How about you? I know I do, which is why I have to beat it down to size every day. Amidst the sea of information about procrastination, I’ve found a few simple hacks that work really well for me.

Before I share how I beat my inner procrastinator down to size, it’s important to clarify what kind of procrastination I am talking about. There are 2 types:

  1. Productivity procrastination- Related to daily routine or work-flow items that show up intermittently or on a regularly basis and consist mostly of physical or intellectual labor. This type of procrastination is the culprit that will not only limit your productivity, but steal your life if you let it.
  2. Creativity procrastination- Usually related to much larger projects or ideas where the creation process is the primary focus. Surprisingly, a little bit of this type of procrastination in a creative context might just be a good thing (as this TED talk by Adam Grant points out).

However, If your wrestling with productivity procrastination, then you have to take that one by the throat and deal with it very directly.  Here’s how I do it and how you can too:

  1. Firmly commit to the 2 minute rule.  If something….anything….takes less than 2 minutes then knock it out right then. This would include seemingly trivial tasks, like bringing in the 3-4 cups that have collected in the back seat of your car, hanging up the keys you just placed on your dresser because you forgot to do it when you walked in, etc. I could go on here but you get the picture.  By committing to the 2 minute rule you will likely form a “keystone” habit. The discipline associated with keystone habits will spill over into other areas of your life and you’ll be more effective in “getting stuff done” in those areas as well.0062 Procrastination II
  2. Set your Anchor every night before going to bed. What’s your Anchor?  Your Anchor consists of the top three things you want to get done the next day.  This means you chose them intentionally and write them down (literally).
  3. Consistently practice the following small set of Do’s and Don’ts that make the biggest difference in getting your top 3 things done:
    • Don’t get faked out by distractions- Learn to associate them with sabotage instead of sweetness or a serendipitous reward.
    • Don’t give in to feeling good, it’s a trap!- Instead, focus on how you’re going to feel when you do the right thing…the thing that is right in front of you.
    • Do it immediately- if you’ve committed to the 2 minute rule you’ve already got this step licked.
    • Do break it into small chunks- even if it’s already small.

A lot has been written about procrastination. Most procrastinators don’t need to know more, they just need to know and then repeatedly do a few simple things.

If you do want to know more, the 10 bullet points in this short article will be enlightening.  And for those who wish to become serious students of the subject, simply Google Dr. Joseph Ferrari and Dr. Timothy Pychyl, who are two of the most prominent researchers in the field.

If you want to do more, Here is what you need to know:

  • Procrastinators are made, not born.
  • There are big costs to procrastination.
  • Change is possible but not always easy.
  • Sometimes the hardest part is making a decision to start.

How big is your inner procrastinator and how do you keep him or her in check?

I’d love to hear any procrastination beat-down hacks you have, so please comment!

3 Sure-Fire Ways to Realize Your Biggest Dream or Beat Your Biggest Challenge

Few things are as frustrating as committing to something you really enjoy, knowing it will benefit you greatly, and failing to follow-through…..and then not knowing why it happened or how to fix it.

That happened to me in 2014. I love to read but realized I was doing less and less of it. So I set a goal and committed to reading at least 30 minutes a day, 6 days a week. I thought I had the perfect way of making it happen with essentially NET (No Extra Time): just go to bed 30 minutes earlier and incorporate it into my bed-time routine. What seemed to be a “brilliant” strategy at the beginning of the year was anything but that. Instead, it became a constant source of frustration as the year wore on.

Regardless, I kept on on pounding the proverbial “rock” thinking persistence would pay-off. There always seemed to be a valid reason or excuse when reading didn’t happen (which was often). And the few times I was willing to admit I just busted I usually rationalized to the category of “justified exception”. The problem was that the results…..the goods…..were still the same: reading wasn’t happening.

No matter how brilliant the plan, when what you’re doing isn’t getting you the results you want it’s time to change. Despite my best intentions, I only read a pitiful total of 21 books in 2014.

Clearly, I needed to change something. When it comes to the science of achievement, behavior change and habit, taking a solution focused approach  is often more effective than trying to overanalyze what went wrong.  That’s exactly what I did this past year. By adapting and using the 3 steps below, I was able to exponentially move the needle on my reading in 2015. Total number of books read in 2015 (and counting)? Seventy, and I plan to hit 75 before December 31st.0061GetWhatWant II

I’m convinced these same 3 steps that helped me can help you achieve whatever you want in 2016:

  1. Get Focused and Clear– Determine what it is you really want and just as importantly, your powerful, passionate “Why.” Willpower will get you going; only your “Why” will keep you going. In my case, I realized that more reading was an absolute requirement if I wanted to take my leadership and influence with my company and those I care about most to the next level. It became a “must” for me instead of a “want to.”
  2. Get The Best–  Get the best tools, mentors, coaches, and resources you can afford.  For me, this meant taking another speed reading course. I’ve taken several in the past and was skeptical about taking yet another. However, one of my sons had just completed one and couldn’t stop raving about it.  It was clear he was getting results so I decided to take the plunge. It wasn’t expensive, so investing the time is what cost me the most…..and it was worth every minute.
  3. Get the Right Strategy– You can have the first two steps right but still not get what you want if your strategy doesn’t work. In my case, this step made the biggest impact of all. Jim Rohn said it best:  “You can’t head East and expect to catch the sunset; you’ll miss it everytime.”

As it turned out, my “brilliant” 2014 reading strategy was more focused on getting my reading done with NET time and not on my powerful “Why”. It was doomed to fail at the start because when bedtime rolled around I was already exhausted and any excuse was a good one. If I did crack open a book, it just put me out that much quicker.

A strategy that did work was to build reading into the first 15 minutes of my work following my morning ritual  and the first 15 minutes right after lunch. It wasn’t NET time, but it was still efficient and accomplished what I wanted by optimizing my energy and priorities while minimizing the opportunities for excuses and barriers.  My morning reading was much more consistent than after lunch, but regardless, I got a lot of reading done.  The strange thing was that with this routine, make-up reading at bedtime actually became easy because I already had built-in momentum, confidence and interest in what I was reading.

When it comes to strategy, make sure to notice the results you’re getting and if they aren’t what you want, adjust accordingly.

The three steps above are part of what Tony Robbins promotes for creating lasting change. While they are common-sense and effective for helping you achieve what matters, they don’t seem to be common practice.

Which of these 3 steps I have you overlooked, are stepping over or need to adjust in order to achieve the results  you want in 2016?

Please leave a comment, I’d love to learn.