Keystone Habits and Why They’re Important

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Have you ever heard of keystone habits?

They’re kind of the most important habits in our lives – and that’s no exaggeration.

In fact, keystone habits influence all of our other habits. They’re the habits that produce a number of positive outcomes in our lives.

They affect how we live, work, and spend our time – basically everything we do. And building positive keystone habits could quite possibly transform your life.

So, today I thought I’d share what I’ve learned about keystone habits – what they are, why they’re important, and some of the best keystone habits that you can form!

First – what are keystone habits, exactly?

Keystone habits are essentially your main (biggest) habits, and they affect a number of other different habits and areas of your life – perhaps unknowingly. They’re kind of the “building blocks” of our habits and they can create a domino effect.

For example, let’s say your main goal is to exercise more. So exercising has become a habit for you. But, unintentionally, this led to other positive traits:

You’ve gained more energy to do other things
You’re more productive and get more work done
You’re getting more sleep each night
etc.

So your initial goal was to exercise more, but that keystone habit created many other positive habits in your life. Almost all of our habits come from more important keystone habits. That’s why, when you’re trying to create more positive habits, you should start with creating a keystone habit.

Now – why are keystone habits so important?

Keystone habits are important for many reasons. As I said, one of the biggest reasons is that they create a sort of domino effect. You develop a positive habit, and pretty soon you’ll notice many other little positive habits follow, like a chain reaction. Developing effective keystone habits can change – and improve – your whole life.

1. Regularly setting goals

So many successful people, including one of my favorites, Dave Ramsey, say setting goals is one of the biggest things you can do to set yourself up for success. It’s one of the main habits that separates successful people from unsuccessful people.

One of the most important parts of setting successful goals is writing them down. Make a list of your long-term goals – everything that you want to accomplish, no matter how big or how small. Then break each one of them down into smaller, more manageable goals. Then turn them into weekly, monthly, and yearly goals. This will help you to achieve those long-term goals without feeling so overwhelmed. It will also lead to many more positive habits.

You might like: 8 Steps for Setting + Achieving SMART Goals

2. Making your bed

I know, you probably think this is pointless. How can making your bed improve your life? Besides, it’s just going to get messed up again anyway. Or maybe you’ve heard how important it is but you just don’t understand why.

Making your bed is shown to be linked to increased productivity, feeling more well-rested, and a better overall sense of well-being. This can lead to building more positive habits as well. Plus, a tidy bed just makes the whole bedroom look tidier, doesn’t it?

3. Having a daily routine

There are many benefits to having a daily routine, but I’ll just name a few right now. Daily routines are shown to save time because they remove the need to deliberate and spend time making decisions. You already know what you have to do, and you get it done.

Your daily routine will become a habit and you won’t even need to think about getting things done anymore. You won’t need motivation, because you’ll just do the things that you’re supposed to do. If you want to build better habits, just add them into your routine and they’ll become no-brainers before you know it.

4. Practicing daily gratitude

So many of us complain about things we want all the time, but sometimes we forget to appreciate everything that we already have.

Sometimes it’s hard to see what we have when we’re so focused on what we want. When our mind focuses on abundance, more abundance tends to come into our lives. Practicing gratitude is also shown to improve self-esteem. Take a few minutes out of your day (I do this in the morning) to list out, on paper or in your mind, everything that you’re grateful for.

You might like: How I Practice Daily Gratitude (Free Printable)

5. Practicing visualization

There are also many benefits of visualization. It’s been said that if you imagine yourself achieving your goals, it will trigger a subconscious process that will help you achieve them. I don’t know if I necessarily believe that, but I do believe that if you visualize yourself achieving your goals, it makes you feel more confident. And if you’re confident, you have a better chance of achieving them.

I think that visualization is also relaxing, and it helps you become more focused on your goals. If you keep visualizing them, it will make you more determined to achieve them. It can also make you happier to imagine yourself achieving your goals and living your dream life!

You might like: How to Create a Vision Board That Works for You