Keystone Habits: Why a Little Goes a Long Way

It's already three months into the new year and you haven't exercised as much as you've wanted. You started strong along with others at the gym and had your hour and a half routine written down to tackle the new year. Days pass and your muscles are sore, you can't wash your back, and it hurts to sit down on the toilet. You tell yourself this is normal to "get those gains". A couple days pass and you begin to dread going to the gym, you're tired of feeling sore, and you can't keep consistent with this workout routine you found online. It becomes too much too soon and you take a break, vowing to return. You give it some thought and tell yourself "I have to start from day 1 of the program again?!" "I don't want to feel as sore as I did on the first day!" You tell yourself you'll go back, and sometimes you do, but you just don't have the will power to be consistent as you want. "It's a test of heart and will" you tell yourself.

For many, this may be a situation you find yourself in. You want to start quality habits such as exercise, but they don't seem to stick, you get frustrated and never return or return inconsistently. You may think it's your fault and while there is a component of individual choice and effort involved, the playbook which so many of us seem to follow is flawed. We inherently believe that more is better and throw ourselves into the fire without actually having a procedure in place. While we tend to give credit to our conscious minds making decisions all of the time, we should focus on the unconscious behaviors that are hard wired into our brain. Its these very behaviors that make or break us. Depending on the habit, it can bleed over to other areas in the best way possible or destroy our most precious goals. To understand further how you can meet your goals and transition into the lifestyle that you want, it’s important to understand habits and how they work. In the case of this blog, I will be discussing the use of habit structure in relation to exercise, but this template can be applied to any skill or discipline.

Day after day you repeat the same habits without even thinking. We believe that we choose the same actions every day, but choice is a very difficult thing to consistently maintain. The power of will can only go so far, so when our will runs out, we resort to our habits. For example, you rarely think about your morning routine when trying to get ready before you leave for work. Habits are unconscious and require very little decision making, so instead of deciding what routine to have in the morning, you're ready at 6:00 am with a routine and you barely have to give it thought.

On paper, habits seem to be an easy process. "Do something every day for multiple days, and it'll eventually become second nature." Although on the surface this sounds right, there is a little bit more to peel back. In Charles Duhigg's book, The Power of Habit, he goes into detail on habit structure, why it’s important and several examples you can draw from to help you change your own. It’s a brilliant book which I encourage anyone to read, but for the sake of this blog, I'll only discuss the core components which anyone can use.

To be brief, you have three parts of a habit which make up a loop. You have your cue, which triggers your habitual behavior. This could be your alarm clock going off, signaling to make a cup of coffee or the smell of coffee brewing as you wake up. The routine would be having the cup of coffee. The reward is the pleasure you experience from the coffee, whether it’s the alertness you feel, or the taste and the warmth you get from it. Knowing all three of these components and how to manipulate them gives you a structure of every habit you have.

In my opinion, the best habits to keep in mind are keystone habits. Keystone habits are ones that require a base level of operation which you do not need any willpower or persuasion. They bleed over to other routines and change the way you go about them. They're the first domino that triggers how you carry out the rest of your actions. This is the crucial part of the puzzle piece that’ll help you change your other lifestyle choices.

Its key that this choice is easy to do and effective in giving you a solid starting point. For many that want to exercise, they initially become excited and begin a comprehensive workout routine that is hours long, where the goal is to break you. Its only after a couple of days where the association with exercise is a chore, and a task where you constantly need will power to push through each and every session. For a beginner, this can be a huge deterrent and it may cause them to never return because of this negative association. For some, they don’t even want to start because it feels like exercise needs to be this long-drawn-out process of blood, sweat, and tears.

Using the principle of keystone habits, begin by just walking. Its minimal, costs nothing, and can be progressed from walking around your neighborhood to taking a longer trip through the woods or at the park. You get the reward of a workout, and won't burn out as easily because you’re starting to move at a fundamental base level. When you begin to walk, you may want to coordinate your time better so you find more time. When walking is too easy, you may progress to a jog, or a full run. Since starting, this opens you to other forms of exercise. You may even want to try your hand at resistance training. You want to eat better, so you start cooking healthier recipes and eat out less. You begin establishing belief in yourself to do more. All of this from walking!

There are certainly other factors to consider and it may not be as ideal as I just described, but you should get the concept of it. Start something simple or from the base level and slowly progress. It can carry over to other areas and seriously change your life if you give it a chance. The concept of radical change is a very attractive idea, but it lacks substance or consistency. Realistically, not many people can hop out of their bed and change themselves over night. These bursts of energy can be maintained for so long and eventually they fizzle out. Take the pressure off of yourself to perform at a high level from day one and start slow, at your own pace. I'm hoping this helps those who want to exercise, but for any other activity you want to try, give this a shot. Write that first paragraph, take that first college course, read that first page. Get those little victories and see how they add up because a little goes a long way.