Habits: The Building Blocks of Confidence and Productivity
According to Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, "keystone habits influence how we work, eat, play, live, spend, and communicate," and they “start a process that, over time, transforms everything.” B and I were thinking about what OUR keystone habit was when it comes to staying on track with meals and workouts. It may not make much sense, but believe it or not, we established that our keystone habit for staying on track with meals and workouts was as simple as keeping our sink clean and clear! After careful thought and consideration we BOTH determined that the weeks we are diligent about keeping our kitchen sink clean and FREE of dirty dishes we are MUCH more likely to stay on track with our meals AND workouts. How are the two related??? Duhigg's book The Power of Habit states that keystone habits do the following: Keystone habits give you “numerous, small senses of victory.” Keystone habits are “the soil from which other habits [grow].” "Keystone habits are powerful because they change our sense of self and our sense of what is possible.” To recognize a keystone habit, be mindful of “moments when excellence—or change, or perseverance, or some other virtue—seem to become contagious." For B and I, it is as simple as keeping our sink tidy and neat. A gleaming, shiny sink motivates us to get the rest of our kitchen cleaned up, which then spills into our living room, bedroom, bathroom, closet...err, okay, well the closet pretty much ALWAYS gets ignored...so let's not go overboard here! Keeping up with our keystone habit of doing the dishes right away helps us stay on track with the rest of our routine. I think everyone has experienced, at least to a certain degree, the feeling of being happy and energized walking into a clean, organized home versus one that is dirty and disheveled. *Insider Info*: B likes to hide out at work for two reasons: 1. If I am hangry and 2. If I am OVERWHELMED and stressed. Walking into our apartment when it is OUT of CONTROL with mess and clutter makes me feel SUPER anxious and stressed. (RUN!) Do we ALWAYS keep our sink tidy and free of dishes??? Is our apartment ALWAYS clean??? Do we ALWAYS stay on top of EVERYTHING??? OF COURSE NOT!!! We ARE human and sometimes life JUST happens, but it is comforting to know that when we make a small effort such as keeping our dishes clean, it helps us along in getting back on track! What is your keystone habit? I'd love to hear from you on the Mind Body Aware facebook page.
xo, Kristin
