Focus On Keystone Habits
Keystone habits lead to the development of multiple good habits.
Exercise is a good example of this. Once you start to change your exercise habits, it sets off a chain reaction that changes other habits as well: you start feeling good about your body, you eat healthy foods, you procrastinate less, etc.
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Focus on baby steps. The key to new good habits is to do the minimum and be consistent.
Do not be ambitious at the beginning. That leads to failure. Consistency is what you’re shooting for, so make the hurdle as low as possible.
Thinking about the details makes you more likely to follow through.
Just writing down your plan also makes a big difference in effectively committing to your goals.
Tie a “want” to a “should.”
For example: if you want to listen to an audiobook but you know you should go to the gym, allow yourself to only listen to audiobooks while working out.
Mark the calendar. Set the alarm. Use a checklist.
When you’re trying to break bad habits, you need to resist. But with good habits, you need to remind.
Peer pressure works. And a good support network shows us that change is possible.
Hang out with pals who have the habit you want. Across many different kinds of behavior (voting, smoking, weight loss and weight gain, happiness, etc), people are very meaningfully affected by the behaviors of other people to whom they’re connected.
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They tend to have ripple effects which change your behavior in unexpected ways.
The power of a keystone habit draws from its ability to set off a chain reaction that causes other patterns to change as well.
While we may not like to admit this, we all are making a lot of bad decisions, be it our personal lives, careers or in our jobs. Here is what research says about making good decisions:
- You need the right information, not more of it.
- Feelings can be utilized
- Know your strengths
- Make a 'good enough' decision