The Power of Levers

“Success is actually a short race; a sprint (that is) fueled by discipline just long enough for habit to kick in and take over.”_Gary Keller

In our daily lives, some things don’t really matter. However, there are certain things that matter so much that they can make or break us in more ways than we think.

Today, we will have a look at one of those things of critical importance in our behaviours. 

If we act upon this simple truth, the rest of our lives shall be the best of our lives—no joke.

In case you are in a hurry to decipher what I want to write about, relax!

The central focus of my article here is: keystone habits. And to satisfy your curiosity, I will start with what the master of habit science, Charles Duhigg writes about in his best-selling book, ‘The Power of Habit,’ as follows:

“Keystone habits start a process that, over time, transforms everything. 

Keystone habits say that success doesn’t depend on getting every single thing right.

But instead relies on identifying a few key priorities and fashioning them into powerful levers.”

You see, a keystone habit is a single power habit that has the capacity to multiply in more than one area of our lives. 

For example, for many people exercise is a keystone habit that helps them think clearer, stay focused, eat smarter and sleep deeper. With one keystone habit thoroughly established, they find significant improvement in other key areas of their lives. 

Now, I implore you to figure-out the one key behaviour in your life with this kind of multiplying power. For you, it may be gratitude, prayer, quality sleep, morning meditation or daily planning. Whatever it is, just figure it out first.

Find Your Own Lever

To become the person we yearn to be, the kind of person who would naturally do what we can be proud of, the kind of person with the self-control to procrastinate less and act right for the most part of our day; the kind of person who can achieve anything he sets his minds to, a keystone habit is the one thing we cannot afford to be careless about because it is the subtle secret of many great people.  

Becoming the best version of ourselves is not as difficult as most people assume. But that is because they are not making use of the power of a good lever to help them live a better life. 

That is because they don’t really understand the power of keystone habits. Now that you know better, it is my hope that you will act far better than ever before.

You only need to find out what’s the right keystone habit for you. Again, it means a behavior that, once made into a habit, effortlessly puts other parts of your life in forward motion. Once you figure it out, and live by it every day, your life will never remain the same again. 

If you will make the strategic sacrifice to forge an impactful keystone habit in your life today, extra-ordinary results will appear in different areas of your life tomorrow.  

Keystone habits are the most powerful lever of self-discipline that is always at our disposal; they are the strongest behavioural foundation a human being can have.