If you are looking to get healthier, lose fat, or start an exercise routine, you know that “going on a diet” or “doing a program for a month” doesn’t work long-term.
You know that habits – making it so engrained in you that it feels weird to NOT do it – are the key to success.
Well what if I told you there was a key for the key to success?
They are called keystone habits, and they are the habits that make everything else fall into place.
The name comes from architecture, where the wedge-shaped stone at the top of an arched doorway or window gives the structure strength.
With that stone, the arch stays strong for centuries.
Without it, the arch collapses, along with the walls and structure above.
The same is true for your health – one or two keystone habits keep the arch strong so other habits can be effortlessly built on top.
For instance, if you’ve been a reader for long you know that I don’t love exercise – I do it because I love what exercise does for my body and mind.
Although I don’t always want to admit it, exercise is a keystone habit for me.
When I exercise a few days per week, my lower back feels better because I am doing the things I need for joint mobility and core strength.
When my lower back feels better, I sleep better.
And when I sleep better, I’m energetic and feel better, I’m less stressed and happier, and I show up as my best self for the people I care about.
Plus, when I exercise I eat better. I’m less inclined to snack on junk because I have momentum.
With that momentum, I’m motivated to eat healthier meals.
When I’m eating healthier, I feel a greater sense of integrity because I’m acting in accordance with my values.
And, I lose fat, drop a belt size, and feel damn good about myself.
It all comes from consistent exercise.
The same is probably true for you.
In the words of James Clear, author of Atomic 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.
So often, we struggle to live the way we want to simply because we don’t have the willpower to make different decisions. Whether it’s having the discipline to eat healthy or the courage to take a risk or the energy to volunteer more often or the drive to perform better at work, we delay these choices — even though we know they are important — simply because we don’t have the willpower to make something new happen today.
Improving your lifestyle and becoming the type of person who “has their act together” isn’t nearly as hard as you might think. In fact, you might need just one keystone habit before the dominoes start falling everywhere.”
To find your keystone habit, think of when you are top of your game and everything seems to just come together.
What behaviour are you doing that makes it all come together?
That’s your keystone habit.
(SPOILER: for most of us it’s exercising consistently, even when we don’t want to)
Now that you’ve found it, do more of it and don’t stop
All you need to focus on is that habit and you know everything else comes together.
There is no need to split your attention, let perfection impede your progress, or major in the minors.
Focus on your keystone habit, and everything else simply works.
Click HERE to book a call and get started on that keystone habit!
