If you’ve been with us here at My Blooming Biz for a while you know how much we continuously stress the importance of improving our lives with the formation of good, positive habits. Why? Because habits are at the center of who we are. They are an integral part of all that we say, do, and allow in our lives, and will be the defining factor in whether we succeed or fail at anything. Keystone habits can further our habit formation agenda by showing up our bad habits, stealthily requiring changes in those areas, and creating a ripple effect of good, positive changes in our lives.
What are Keystone Habits?
Keystone is a term used widely to define the significance of one piece or component in a system of parts. Habits are things we continuously do, even without any conscious thought to doing them. Thus Keystone Habits are those central habits that dictate the functionality of all other habits. In habit development, the keystone habit symbolizes the importance of one single habit that brings together multiple other habits. The keystone habit acts as a center stone, providing support for the development of the other habits that are surrounding it.
One solid example of keystone habit is expense journaling. When you keep an expense journal, you track every single penny you spend on a daily basis, the time you spend it, what you spend it on, and why you spend it. When expense journaling becomes a habit, it acts as a keystone in the identification of unnecessary expenditures, and the ability to see a vast overview of spending patterns and thus able to do something about it. In turn, this leads to better financial goal setting, an adjustment of expenses, and other positive financial habits.
Habits are not formed overnight! So the deliberate act of developing keystone habits will ultimately command better habits by subtly disrupting established habits, resulting in positive changes to our lifestyles.
How to Form Keystone Habits
Like any other habit, forming keystone habits takes time, discipline, consistency, and patience. It takes an identification of the habit itself, and a plan to form the habit – over time. No habit will be easy to form! Habit formation takes work, so you have to be prepared to dig your heels in, and do the work required with consistency and tenacity.
According to a research study by Phillipa Lally – a postdoctoral fellow on Economic and Social Research Council at the University of London, habit formation takes, on average, 66 days before the behavior becomes automatic. The study examined 96 people over the course of 12 weeks to determine just how long it took for a behavior to solidify as an unconscious and repetitive routine in the mind. With that in mind, and considering that habit formation is going to take an exhaustive amount of work, why not focus on keystone habits? Good keystone habits! These habits will be at the core foundation of a group of other positive habits in your life and will help in developing more good habits while in the process eliminating any bad habits.
How to Leverage Keystone Habits to Improve Your Life
Step 1. Create a Checklist of Your Goals & Habits Needed To Achieve Those Goals
The first step in leveraging keystone habits is to create a checklist of the habits you need to have in order to accomplish your goals. On a clean sheet of printing paper – laid out horizontally (landscape), make two vertical lines that will divide the page in 3 equal parts. Next, make a horizontal line close to the top of page. On the left, write the heading GOALS, in the mid section write the heading NEEDED TO ACHIEVE GOALS, and on the right ‘MUST HAVE’ HABITS. Input your first goal under GOALS. Then, list all the things you need in order to achieve that goal under NEEDED TO ACHIEVE GOALS. Next, list the habits you must have in order to achieve that goal under ‘MUST HAVE’ HABITS. Repeat this process for all the other goals you have.
Our signature Goal Book has a section for this exercise in it, purchase your copy if you haven’t already done so.
Step 2. Identify Your Keystone Habits
The second step in leveraging keystone habits is to identify the keystone habits from your list of ‘Must Have’ habits. To do this, look at what you’ve listed under ‘MUST HAVE’ HABITS and identify the one habit that is central to all the other habits. That habit, that once you get a hold of, will command the other habits to get in formation. That is your Keystone Habit! Focus on getting that habit on par and improve your chance of reaching that goal. Repeat this process for all the goals you have listed.
Step 3. Put Those Keystone Habits Into Action
Put those keystone habits you have identified in Step 2 into action, and work consistently at developing them into habits – your new good habits. Things like weight loss, elimination of debt, increase in income begin with keystone habits. If you want to lose more weight, form the keystone habit of food journaling. If you want to eliminate debt, form the keystone habit of expense journaling. If you want to increase your income, form the keystone habit of effective time management. The keystone habit will be your gateway to the other habits that will help to support and improve your life in any given area.
“Successful people are simply those with successful habits” – Brian Tracy
Make every effort to form good success habits in your life and watch your life blossom and bloom. Focus on the small, minute changes through the development of good, solid keystone habits, and stay the course. Don’t try to take on too much, too fast. Focus on the keystone habit for each goal you’ve set, and watch the other habits surreptitiously fall in line.
With love, gratitude, and empowered attitude,
Great topic!
I love the idea of keystone habits and have implemented some of them myself. The main one being ‘getting enough sleep’ or as Coach Eugenie Nugent would say “know your sleep number and get it everyday”. When I get ample amount of sleep, it does wonders for my body, my work life, and my overall deportment. I feel so much better and my thinking skills are sharper. Trust me, I use to be trying to follow those coaches who say the less amount of time you sleep the more productive you will be, and going to bed later and waking up earlier will make you more successful. Nonsense!
While you could be more productive by getting up earlier, you could see major improvements without trying to be superhuman. Be intentional with your actions. That’s a solution that is sustainable. And more important #BeYOU.
When you know your sleep number and get it, you won’t need an alarm clock to wake you up, and you most certainly won’t need coffee to keep you functional. If you need an alarm to wake up and if you need coffee to function, those are warning signs you’re getting too little sleep.
That’s making my case as to why you should all implement this keystone habit of ‘getting enough sleep’. Here is an article explaining sleep number. (scroll to #6)
Good for you Janice! Put those keystone habits to work! Getting enough sleep is often overlooked, but it’s still one of the most vital elements that’s crucial to our overall well-being. We can definitely get enough sleep and still be productive. We do not have to trade sleep for productivity! In fact, getting ample amount of sleep daily invigorates and vitalizes us which increase our chances of being ultra-productive.
Thanks for your input!
I will definitely try this exercise to kickstart my keystone habits.
“The first step in leveraging keystone habits is to create a checklist of the habits you need to have in order to accomplish your goals. On a clean sheet of printing paper – laid out horizontally (landscape), make two vertical lines that will divide the page in 3 equal parts. Next, make a horizontal line close to the top of page. On the left, write the heading GOALS, in the mid section write the heading NEEDED TO ACHIEVE GOALS, and on the right ‘MUST HAVE’ HABITS. Input your first goal under GOALS. Then, list all the things you need in order to achieve that goal under NEEDED TO ACHIEVE GOALS. Next, list the habits you must have in order to achieve that goal under ‘MUST HAVE’ HABITS. Repeat this process for all the other goals you have”.
Thanks for sharing!
Go ahead Desiree! Do the exercise, and begin implementing. With discipline and consistency, you will succeed.
Never heard of keystone habits but they sure do sound interesting! Habits are really hard to form and just as hard to break. I agree that having something tied to the habit, something meaningful, will give you a better chance of bringing that habit to fruition or breaking a habit that is hindering something very important to you. After reading this article and your how to break bad habits and develop good habits article that landed me here, I know I’ll be better equipped to channel the habits that will enable other healthy habits to come together to get me to my goals and enjoying a better way of life sooner. My keystone habits!
Thank you for this enlightening article 🙂 . I’ll be forever grateful.
Gillian, thank you for your input and for being a part of our vibrant community! Habits do make or break us, and that’s what make it all the more important to form good habits that support us and our goals, and discard the bad ones that distract and disable us.
Never heard of keystone habits but pretty good concept. I wonder how long it takes to form?! I know regular good habits are more difficult to form than bad habits, but maybe keystone takes less time.
Very interesting! Great read too. I’m going to do that sleep number challenge and see if I can nail my right sleep number. Would do wonders for me.
I always enjoy reading your blogs, so informative and straightforward. I will definitely work at implementing some keystone habits. Could only help, right?
Keystone habits work 💯 They take time to form but once they’re formed they will enhance your life immensely. Just work at formulating the right ones, the ones that are more central.