Have you ever seen a Roman arch with a keystone rock piece at the top that holds it all together? This single rock is the key to balancing the other pieces of the arch and keeping the structure intact. I can think of some important habits that function like that in life…
In his book The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg defines keystone habits as “small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives.” One keystone habit that I’ve focused on over the last few years has been sleep. We know sleep has huge mental, emotional and physical benefits. I’ve even used an app on my Apple Watch called AutoSleep (what can I say I’m an Enneagram 5 nerd). Every night the app gives me a sleep score. I’m still averaging in the 80s. My wife, on the other hand is a sleep champion every night with close to 100 every night!
How Sleep Creates Unintended Benefits in Other Areas of Life
As I’ve focused on sleep I’ve noticed a few beneficial results in other areas of my life:
• Relying less on caffeine and avoid the health issues related to drinking too much caffeine.
• Starting with a full physical, emotional and mental tank, rather than in a deficit.
• Staying healthy and fight off viruses easier.
• Producing more during the day and noticeable energy that lasts longer into the afternoon.
Plus, and this one is key, I’m more likely to pursue my other good habits of daily reading and prayer, tracking and eating healthy foods, and planning a productive day — all when I have better night’s sleep. I’m also less likely to take shortcuts like tons of caffeine, sugar or other comfort foods. So that’s just sleep for me, but maybe you have other keystone habits that you want to focus on?
Example of Keystone Habits
Here are some additional examples of keystone habits and why they can be considered keystone:
Meditation — gives us good mental perspective, slows the stress response, and actively engages the executive functions of our brain to tackle life’s tasks.
Cooking Food — often leads to eating healthier, whole foods which give us better nutrients, are less processed, and help build immunity and maintain weight.
Gratitude — another example of a daily exercise that reframes our attitude and gives us a positive outlook on life and better handle the stressors of the day.
Making Your Bed — gives us an early win or accomplishment of the day and a sense that we are disciplined, organized and on top of things and “ready” for what comes today.
Family Meals — for busy families the regular family meal provides regular space for communication, builds daily rapport and establishes a relationship of loving and trust, even if there are not hugely significant conversations but just sharing of life.
Exercise — regular exercise, especially a morning routine, can set you up for a productive day by releasing positive endorphins and putting you into a good mental frame of mind, not to mention the actual physiological benefits for your blood sugar, digestion, etc.
Can you think of other examples?
How can you identify which keystone habit may be important to your life right now? Start here.
How to Identify Your Keystone Habit
Start from Strength
Is there an area of your life that you are already good at? For example, maybe you love to cook. Use your cooking passion to start planning and preparing healthy meals. Or if you like to write, starting a daily gratitude journal could be a great way to focus on all the things you consider blessing and could help you get perspective on the more difficult areas (by the way, I like the Day One app for a digital journal on my phone and web). The point is start building from an area of your strengths.
Focus on the Morning
Morning is a great time to build a good keystone habit, because we have the benefits to reap all day. Evening is good too, but morning routines build momentum throughout our day. Focusing on a morning exercise, meditation or planning routine can reap dividends for the day. If you’re just starting out, begin with your morning.
Connect to Your Vision
Do you have a vision for being a writer? Develop a keystone habit of daily writing, even if it’s just 15 minutes? Does your life vision include being fit enough at 65 to wrestle on the floor with grandchildren? Start your mornings by building core strength today in a stretching, yoga or plyometric program. You’ll reap daily benefits, but it will connect to your larger “why” and build toward a bigger vision of who you want to become.
To summarize, begin to focus on keystone habits by starting from your strengths, focus first on your morning, and connect it to your bigger vision and purpose.
What keystone habit is important to you in this season? Pick one using these few criteria and start brainstorming what you’d like to see happen with this habit.
The next post will focus on starting small to create momentum for a new habit.
As always I want to help you run your path toward a vision of your best self. Let me know in the comments whether this post resonates with you and how I can help you take action on what matters most.
Peace,
Jeff
I recently graduated an 18-month leadership academy. Before we started class each morning and before we ended the class each day, we practiced mindfulness. We could sit in our chairs, lay on the floor, close our eyes, lower our gaze and just get comfortable. We essentially would breathe in for counts of four, hold for counts of four, exhale for counts of four and so on for several minutes. We all took turns leading the class and experimented with different approaches to mindfulness.
I found myself practicing mindfulness at night at before I went to sleep and I was falling asleep faster as a way of quieting the mind before bed. If you go on YouTube and type in “mindfulness” there are all kinds of TED talks, discussions and follow along for beginners, which are useful.
It has certainly helped me as someone who struggles with PTSD from war as I have trouble sleeping at night.
Sean, that’s cool. Kristen and I have been using the Breathe app on our watches. It’s totally helped me at night before I fall asleep and first thing when I wake up. I’m a data freak too so I like seeing how the breathing affects my heart rate. Would love to hear more offline about your leadership academy.