Whether intentional or not, chances are you have formed a few habits that you practice every day. Maybe you have a habit of waking up and going straight to look at your phone. Perhaps you have a habit of cleaning up as you cook. Or, maybe you have developed a habit of biting your nails when you feel stressed or nervous.
Habits, whether good or bad, are a necessary part of life. Why? They help free the decision-making areas of your brain up for choices that need more of your attention. Forming habits isn’t as simple as it seems, though. Evidence from numerous studies has suggested that habit-forming is a complex process occurring across multiple regions of the brain. The more we understand habit-formation, the better our techniques for consciously forming good, healthy habits become. One of these highly effective techniques is known as cornerstone habits.
What are Cornerstone Habits?
Cornerstone habits are small habits we form that begin to impact more prominent behaviors in our day to day lives. For instance, you can create a habit of cooking at home rather than eating out. Once this small habit begins to take hold, you will find that your habits of spending frivolously on food, eating unhealthy, and skipping meals altogether start to change.
The objective of forming cornerstone habits is to attack bad habits at their roots. Significant bad habits, like unhealthy eating, spending irresponsibly, or procrastinating important work can normally be found to have a smaller, more approachable root cause. Like the cooking at home example, one small habit can impact a significant amount of your behaviors and habits throughout your day.
Tips to Begin Implementing Cornerstone Habits into Your Day
Take a moment to consider behaviors taking away from your quality of life. Do these habits appear to be related to each other? Could there be a small habit leading to the behaviors behind these bad habits? Writing your thoughts out can be a great way to navigate your habits and behaviors, which might help you think of great cornerstone habits to begin implementing into your daily routine.
Still feeling lost on where to start? That’s no problem at all. I can provide you with a few easy cornerstone habits to get started. You can build from these and work your way to improve your happiness, health, and overall quality of life through cornerstone habits.
To Begin Your Day on a High Note
The way you begin your day can significantly impact how the rest of it flows. Consider starting a habit of leaving your phone in another room at night and beginning your morning with mindful practices like yoga, meditation, or journaling.
For Your Physical Health
Movement is a massive part of a healthy life. Make a habit of sneaking in fifteen minutes of movement every day. This movement can be simple as a morning walk or as intense as a kickboxing class at the end of your day. Choose a method of movement that you enjoy, and creating the habit will be even easier.
Cornerstone habits make creating a healthier, happier life easy. When you set a goal to lose weight or begin a spiritual journey, you can become overwhelmed by the need to form a hundred new habits at once. Starting with a small habit that changes our perspective and behaviors in other areas of your day will help you improve your quality of life, one step at a time.
