A launchpad for leveling up

Habits shape our daily lives. They influence our behaviors and ultimately determine our success. Among them, there lives a super secret, super powerful type of habit. A type of habit that has the power to make all your future habits more attainable.

It's called a Keystone habit.

Keystone habits are foundational habits. They create positive ripple effects in every area of our lives.

Let's explore what keystone habits are and how you can find and implement them to transform your life.

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What is a Keystone Habit?

Popularized by Charles Duhigg, A keystone habit is a habit that leads to positive outcomes in many areas of your life. Examples include exercise, daily journaling, meal planning, or my favorite, great sleep.

Focusing on a keystone habit can set off a chain reaction of improvements. For example, getting great sleep can improve your energy, mood, and mental acuity, all while reducing stress.

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How to Find Your Perfect Keystone Habit

A Keystone Habit needs to be rooted in your goals. It all starts with your goals. The guide below will help you get clear on your goals and establish your ideal Keystone Habit. So grab a paper and pen and let's do this.

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Step 1. Identify the current gaps in your life

Rate each area of your life on a scale of 1-10 in terms of satisfaction:

  • Mental health
  • Physical health
  • Emotional health
  • Hobbies and interests
  • Fun and adventure
  • Daily contentment
  • Family
  • Friends
  • Job enjoyment
  • Work/life balance

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Step 2. Choose your top 5 areas

Identify the top five areas where you want to improve the most.

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Step 3. Set Goals

Now write down one goal for each of these top five areas. If you could do anything in this area, what would it be?

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Step 4. Choose what scares you

Now choose the three goals that scare you the most. These often lead to the most growth.

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Step 5. Find a Common Thread

Look for a common thread among these three goals. This could be a skill or behavior that impacts all three. Even if these goals seem completely unrelated, there is a common thread, don't give up looking!

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Step 6. Turn the Thread into a Habit

Now that we have our thread, use the principles from the Designing a habit post to create an actionable habit from this common thread.

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Step 7. Set an Implementation Intention

So let's take our new keystone habit and create an Implementation Intention. It looks like this: After I (cue), I will (habit), then (reward). For examples, after I get dressed, I will go on a 10 minute walk, then make myself a cup of coffee.

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And there you have it!

Hopefully now you have your new Keystone Habit, your Implementation Intention, and you're ready to rock!