Imagine....You are down a path that is not all that beneficial for you; but, regardless, that is where you are presently. What will it take to make a change that will benefit you -- if not immediately -- in the long run that is life. Whether you are going through a hard time at home, at work or just life in general, how can you change that one habit that gets you in trouble? That habit could be anything from complaining about how much work you have and being negative all day to eating mindless amounts of junk food due to stress or simply being sedentary 24/7. You name it, but you are caught in a cycle you feel helpless in getting out of most of the time.
Clearly there can and should be a need to seek clinical help if warranted, but how about the rest of us that are living our lives on a day to day trying to eat right, be productive and make the most out of life? There is no need to "Go Big or Go Home", but attempting small and doable goals would get you on the path to potentially doubling up on habits that you'll want to keep now and in the future.
Author Charles Duhigg, tells us in his book "The Power of Habit" that "Keystone Habits lead to the development of multiple good habits. They start a chain effect in your life that produces a number of positive outcomes". So take exercise as an example. What if you challenged yourself to start out doing 30 minutes of exercise a day. It doesn't have to be 30 straight minutes of exercise, but if you believe you "loathe" exercise with a passion, how can you break it up into 10 minute segments that don't really seem like heavy-duty exercise? What about taking the stairs at work if you are on the 4th floor instead of the elevator for example. What about doing a set of 10 pushups every time you get up to go the bathroom or even 10 jumping jacks, particularly if you have a sedentary job. You see what I mean? You begin to build on a habit that has positive outcomes and that allows you to build on a healthier lifestyle. Don't you want to feel better?
The nice thing about working on creating a keystone habit is that it has a tendency to become like a ripple effect of positive outcomes in your life that you may not have even realized could exist. What if you are more productive at work? What if you are happier with your spouse instead of being that 'cranky morning person'? What if you were more considerate of your 'work peeps' because you've begun to develop some awesome habits that you didn't even know you could consistently do? So, what's stopping you from starting off small and ending in a 'big way'. You may not want to start your trek down a new road; but, remember the benefits that you will receive once you start to see the ripple effect of healthy habits. Now that is incentive, wouldn't you say?
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