I just finished wrapping up this year’s final session of our “Rock Your Productivity Time Management Program.” It’s a virtual program that helps people drive more revenue in fewer hours so they’ll have more time to do things they really want to do. During the final session, participants are asked to imagine one habit that, once mastered, would be a total game changer for them.
On the surface, this might seem like a straightforward exercise—to come up with a habit that would make a significant difference in moving the ball forward in one’s endeavors. Typical responses are usually things like, “I can make 10 sales calls every day!” or “I can commit to knocking out my single most important income-producing activity every day before I do anything else.” These kinds of habits will definitely drive more revenue growth, but if you want to make a farther-reaching, multi-faceted change in your life, professionally and/or personally, I’d like to introduce you to the idea of a process called: Identifying a Keystone Habit.
A keystone habit is a beneficial activity performed on a regular basis (i.e. habitually)—giving rise to other beneficial habits. A keystone habit can ultimately change the course of your life.
I’ll illustrate this phenomenon by sharing some highlights from a conversation I recently had with a client whom I’ll call Kelly.
For some time, Kelly had been talking about establishing an exercise regimen for herself—ideally working out 3 times a week. She’s attempted to incorporate this routine into her weekly schedule, but found it impossible to keep up with it on a regular basis. Kelly is a highly disciplined individual overall, and rarely, if ever, leaves items on her to-do list undone. So her lack of follow-through on this particular goal was a thorn in her side; she takes pride in her self-discipline, and was primed to add this new item to her list—but her work schedule was so overloaded, she simply couldn’t find time to add in 3 exercise sessions each week.
The point of focus here is not the benefits of a regular exercise program; that’s a no-brainer. The key factor we’re examining is the power of habit itself, i.e. the act of regularly engaging in a beneficial activity, and the potential of that repeated action to create a cascading impact on other beneficial activities that can, in turn, also become habits. (Check out The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg for an in-depth study of this topic.)
A notable detail: As much as Kelly knew she needed to exercise, it wasn’t something she enjoyed doing. She knew it would result in her shedding a few pounds, and that she’d feel better overall, but she hadn’t considered that a habitual exercise regimen had the potential to do more for her beyond the direct benefits of exercise itself.
So I asked Kelly, “How might this habit create opportunities for the formation of other useful habits in your life?”
After a few moments—she came up with a plethora of enthusiastic answers. Here are a few:
“If I’m exercising regularly, I’ll be more inclined to improve my eating habits overall.”
“I can download some business books I’ve been meaning to read, and can listen to them while I’m working out. “
“Committing to an exercise regimen will require re-vamping my schedule, which will ultimately improve my time management skills.”
“I’ll start my day in a great mood which will improve my whole outlook for the entire day, and I will have greater self-esteem and confidence.”
“Here’s a big one: By establishing the habit of doing something I need to do for myself (even if I don’t particularly want do it) I’ll be creating a template for tackling other tasks I don’t particularly like to do at work—like sales calls.”
Once Kelly identified a perfect Keystone Habit, her list of associated beneficial habits continued growing!
It’s important to note that Kelly had attempted to master this habit before and failed because she became so busy with other important tasks. However, it’s different this time. She realized in our session that if she continues to push her exercise routine to the back burner, she will always find a way to put something else in its place. In effect, she will always be stuck on her self-created hamster wheel. By creating a habit of exercising on a regular basis, she will likely unlock an entire new lifestyle—one in which she finally feels in control.
And that was her epiphany – she realized that until now, she felt that other things and other people were in control of her life. For the first time, she finally found a way to create a habit that would grant her more direct control of her life!
2016 is right around the corner. Why wait till the New Year to identify and create your groundbreaking Keystone habit? If you start today, it could be the beginning of a whole new chapter in your life.
