Key Habits
I woke up this morning thinking about morning routines and what actually made mine work a decade ago. I realized how important certain compounding habits are, such as things like eating right and getting to the gym, as well as how I approach work and other parts of my life.
One thing I became obsessed with when I realized this is what I call a “key habit.” This is a habit that, when you do it, causes your other positive habits to happen almost automatically. I spent a long time searching for this a decade ago, before eventually going on a “walkabout” through other areas of life that I’ve written about here.
Recently, I’ve come back to that idea: maybe there really is one key habit for me. One thing that, when I do it every day, compounds into everything else so I can do what is important and good without as much friction or thought.
The Headspace That Changes Everything
If I boil it all down, the most important habit I have is this: every morning, I get on my knees and say a prayer. A lot of that prayer comes down to:
• Making myself more humble.
• Allowing myself to get out of my own head.
• Thinking about other people rather than just myself.
• Practicing gratitude.
Starting the day from that headspace is what makes the other pieces of my life fall into place. As a result, I show up better for the people in my life. I tend to go to the gym. I tend to eat right, avoid alcohol, and maintain all those other small things that add up to be very big things. It fundamentally changes how I live and how I appear to the world.
Heart Space Over Urgency
This habit has been working for me for a little over a year now. What I’ve realized is that many of the things I thought I “had” to do don’t actually require such urgency.
What I do need is to find myself in that right space, approaching life from a higher degree of thinking. It isn’t just about following steps; it’s about getting myself into the right head and heart space so I can show up the right way every single day.