This 5-Minute Keystone Habit for Kickstarting 2023 - ViaroHealth

Welcome to January 2023, the month when we all feel pressure to pick and enforce a New Years Resolution. While it can sound cliche, January is an optimal time to create healthy changes in your life. When thinking about goal setting, it can feel overwhelming and daunting. A Keystone Habit might be a worthwhile tool to streamline and optimize the work you invest into your resolution. Wouldn’t it be great if by changing one thing in your life you could receive multiple benefits and more bang for your buck? Learning about Keystones Habits might be the game changer you’ve been looking for. Let’s get into it.

What is a Keystone Habit?
It’s a term coined by Charles Duhigg (author or The Power of Habit) and are habits that automatically lead to multiple positive behaviors and positive effects in your life. These habits spark “chain reactions that help other good habits take hold.” Building a Keystone Habit is like knocking down the biggest or first domino – it will automatically knock down the other dominos as well.

Here are 3 Keystone Habit pillars that often build off each other.

• Exercise
• Diet
• Sleep

Choose one, and the domino effect will take place and naturally, and will have a positive affect on the other two areas.

We spoke with Jane, who firsthand experienced great and lasting results from starting the keystone habit of exercise. Below explains her firsthand experience of just how powerful the domino effect of a Keystone Habit can be.

Jane decided to start exercising 3 to 4 times a week because she was ready to take better care of her body so she could be a better and healthier mother, wife, employee, and friend. Down goes domino number one.

The byproduct aka 2^nd domino of this habit was an increased awareness and desire to fuel her body with better food options. She began to meal prep and make better choices as often as possible.

By eating better food and exercising she was sleeping great at night and her body was able to restore and repair itself from the inside out, que the 3^rd domino.

Jane is not only seeing the physical changes her body has made, but more importantly she is feeling the changes in all areas of her life. She has more energy to play with her kids, more mental clarity and focus at work, and more will power to make better choices throughout the day. Down goes more dominos!

In one’s years’ time, by focusing on the one Keystone Habit of exercising at an average of 3-4 times a week Jane has lost 30 pounds, but more importantly for the first time Jane feels in control of her life and excited about the intentional version of herself. Jane started her journey in July of 2019 and is still maintaining her habits today.

5 Tools to consider before starting your Keystone Habit.

1. Reduce your goal to a sustainable and achievable number, sounds crazy but the smaller the goal the more likely you are the keep it. Notice Jane did not have a goal of 5-6 times a week.
2. Add meditation to your routine, mental breaks of stillness provide many benefits such as reduced stress and anxiety and improve brain function.
3. Record and track your progress with an app or journal, there are so many tools available at zero or low cost that can help us leverage our time and efforts for maximized results.
4. Implement a planner or calendar to keep up with meal prep, exercise schedule, and work life balance. Weather on paper or on your device, planning is key to setting yourself up to be successful. Being prepared with the tools you need will ensure you will stay on track.
5. Yes committing to a keystone habit is work but the only time success comes before work is in the dictionary.

References

Habit You MUST Acquire – Keystone Habit

5 ‘Keystone Habits’ To Take Your Life To The Next Level