Unpacking Keystone Habits

Have you heard about the term 'keystone habits”? Do you know what it means and what they are? If you’re like me, then the answer to all three would be ‘no’ and if that's the case, you’re in luck because I have done my research and I am jumping out of my skin about this. Forget everything you’ve learned or heard about habits. Hell, forget everything I’ve taught you because I have new data and I think this is the missing link that will change everything.

You ready? Let's jump right into it.

Keystone habits are habits that automatically lead to other positive behaviors and positive effects in your life. The term ‘keystone habits’ was first coined by ‘author of The Power of Habit’, Charles Duhigg.

According to Charles Duhigg, keystone habits incite “chain reactions that help other good habits take hold.” Do you understand what this means? Are you beginning to understand my excitement? Let me reel it in. Basically what Duhigg is saying is, keystone habits are catalyst habits of other important habits you may have been trying to get into but desperately struggling to make stick.

If you played TV games when you were younger, this analogy will make sense to you: a keystone habit is like a new level’s “boss”. You don’t advance to a new level or win the game without defeating the boss and the boss is obviously super hard to conquer. The only difference here is, keystone habits need to be conquered first instead of at the end of the game. Once you develop a keystone habit, habits relating to it, will become much easier, if not automatic, to develop.

Now are you excited?!

How crazy is that? How insanely exciting is it to know that your highest self is a few keystone habits away and that you actually don’t need to be changing a page length list of habits to realise your full potential? If you’re wondering what these keystone habits are then I am here to put you at ease. I will be sharing all five keystone habits with you!

Keystone Habit 1: Exercise

Research shows that regular exercise i.e. exercising at least 3 times per week, leads to decreased stress, smoking, alcohol and caffeine consumption. It also improves management of your emotions and increases the likelihood to eat healthy, attend to commitments and be more aware of your spending. Exercise helps improve studying habits as well as memory.

Personally, besides the energy boost, exercise really brings so much clarity to my preoccupied and often overwhelmed brain. It helps me think and when I can think more clearly, I can also make better decisions.

Keystone Habit 2: Planning your day

When you set aside time to do things, you raise the likelihood of actually doing them. By pre-determining when you’re going to do what, you take the ‘guesswork’ out of your day. You remove the need to decide. And when you do that, you get your day in motion without having to rely on willpower or worse, memory.

There’s a psychological term for pre-planning your day and including specifics like where, when and how. It is called an implementation intention.

According to science, implementation intention increases the success rate of following through on an activity from 34% to 91%. This means, when we pre-plan we leave a lot less to chance and give ourselves the opportunity to follow-through on what is important versus what comes to mind or attention.

Keystone Habit 3: Meditation

Did you know what meditation physically changes your brain? A number of studies have linked regular meditation to differences in cortical thickness or density of gray matter in the brain.

One of the most well-known studies, led by Sara Lazar of Harvard University demonstrates just how impactful meditation is and how it physically alters parts of the brain. In her study, we see that regular meditation correlates with increased grey matter which makes it easier for neurons to fire in the following areas of the brain:

• Prefrontal cortex — The area of the brain responsible for our consciousness. So basically our self-discipline, emotions, judgments, plans and overall ability to make conscious choices happens there.

• Left Hippocampus — This is the area of the brain that assists with learning & memory as well as regulates our emotions.

• Temporo-Parietal Junction — This area of the brain is responsible for perspective-taking, empathy and compassion. This is our emotional intelligence zone.

We also learn that meditation correlates with a decrease in grey matter in the amygdala. The amygdala is the area of the brain that controls our ‘fight, flight or freeze’ senses. Less grey matter in the amygdala means experiencing less stress and anxiety.

Key takeaway here? Meditation helps your brain perform better. Daily meditation leads to better decision-making, better ability to focus, better memory, more compassion, better sleep, better communication, less stress and less anxiety.

Keystone Habit 4: Following a Morning Routine

Having a morning routine means that you start your day proactively instead of reactively. You set out intentions for your day and you give yourself the opportunity to fulfill them. A morning routine also gives you a sense of control and focus that you carry into the day and that boosts your productivity.

Doing things like: journaling, meditating, eating a healthy breakfast, exercising, setting goals & priorities; you activate your body’s “beast mode” every day and nothing can stop such a force.

Keystone Habit 5: Sleep

There is so much research that shows how important sleep is to each and every day.

People who get high-quality deep sleep, on a consistent basis are more focused and productive during the day. Sleep is also tied to things like our cravings, our metabolism and weight. People who sleep better tend to eat less junk food. They also see less fluctuations in weight and have an easier time remembering things.

People who don’t get enough quality sleep will see it in their poor attention span, poor memory, poor eating habits and overall physical wellbeing. Not only does the brain need to switch off in order to recharge but our cells need the downtime too, to renew and restore what we lost during the day.

Think about how well you function on limited or poor quality sleep. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to connect that poor sleep = poor personal performance.

When you focus on building keystone habits, you position yourself in the most favourable position. Developing these habits won’t happen overnight but they will bring many other positive habits along with them so they are worth all the effort and sacrifice. Ultimately, the buck will stop with you.

Are you ready to really start changing your life?

 By Phemi Segoe