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A simple way to improve all aspects of your life.

A simple way to improve all aspects of your life.
Photo by Oveth Martinez / Unsplash

There is a 6 letter word that will change your life. Now that I think about it, many 6 letter words likely fit that bill:

  • Income
  • Church
  • School
  • Breath

I'm a big fan of that last one, but these are not the 6 letter word I referring. That word is

Habits

You may already practice some of these habits, even though you are unaware of it right now. I want to show you how not only to be aware of these magic little buggers, but how to harness them to live the life you deserve.

In Charles Duhigg’s book, The Power of Habit, he discusses the idea of keystone habits.

We have habits everywhere in our life: from our shower routine to the order we put on our shoes (sock, sock, right on, right tie, left on, left tie).

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But there are other habits, keystone habits, that cascade into other actions because of them.

Some examples of keystone habits

  • As Duhigg writes, "Families who habitually eat dinner together seem to raise children with better homework skills, higher grades, greater emotional control, and more confidence."
  • Duhigg writes. "Bedmakers are also more likely to like their jobs, own a home, exercise regularly, and feel well rested," Psychology Today reports.
  • Duhigg cites a 2009 study by the National Institutes of Health in which participants with food journals lost twice as much weight as those without.
  • Duhigg says "Dozens of studies show that willpower [the ability to self-discipline] is the single most important keystone habit for individual success."

I wake up at 5am. Some days, it's a big bummer. But the days I wake up are the days I find time to run, journal, write, and plan my day.

One keystone habit of waking up at 5am cascades into various other habits, shaping the kind of life I want.

What are your keystone habits?

Imagine how much easier and more fulfilling your lifestyle could be if you discovered one or two keystone habits that naturally put the rest of your life in place.

We frequently struggle to live the way we want to simply because we lack the drive to make new choices. Whether it's having the discipline to eat healthy, the courage to take a risk, the energy to volunteer more frequently, or the drive to perform better at work, we put off these decisions — even though we know they're important — because we lack the willpower to make something new happen today.

Improving your lifestyle and becoming someone who "has their act together" isn't as difficult as you would believe. In fact, you may only need one keystone habit before the dominoes begin to fall everywhere.

What do you do when everything comes together? What is your most important habit?

Discover it and do more of it.

A list of potential keystone habits:

Regular Exercise
Planning Your Day
Daily Routines
Going to Bed Earlier
Stretching
Cooking at Home
Tacking Your Food
Meal Prepping
Making Your Bed
Journaling
Reading
Positive Visualization
Morning Prayer
Tracking Expenses & Saving Money
Practicing Gratitude