Habits are how we live our lives. Like it or not. If you don’t nurture your habits they won’t nurture you. If you are free wheeling, seemingly habit free, then that is your habit. Habits allow you to preserve the mental energy for decisions because once a habit is formed the decision is automatic. These automatic decisions are what some rile against. But if you don’t steer your intentions and habits then we risk decisions either bogging us down mentally (as in decision fatigue) or our decisions not supporting our goals. Forming positive habits puts part of our live on cruise control letting us focus on other aspects of life. We have to watch that we don’t “set it and forget it”. Periodic updating and review is called for.

Keystone Habits — habit that lead to other synergistic habits.

• Fitness - weight training and cardio. This leads to watching eating habits. Looking at between meal snacks and before bed treats. Not that these are bad but being mindful helps.
• Waking up early - which means going to bed early. I find regularity helpful. Each day is the same as far as sleep-time and wake-time. Even the weekends and holidays. Why not.
• Writing - including journaling and blogging. This is a skill worth developing. Speaking extemporaneously is not my forte. Slow methodical writing and revision helps form ideas.
• Meditating 
• Reading - the only thing that prevents my ignorance. A superpower indeed. Reading = exposure to ideas = learning about the world = living within nature. 
• Walking - time to think. This sort of is related to fitness although a little different. Walking allows the mind to slow and focus in a unique way. 
• Oddly enough procrastination is a keystone habit - change it and many areas of life change. If I could quench procrastination in my life then indeed I’d monumentally change, be happier, more productive and truer to my word.

What other “keystone habits” are you applying to your life?  

"This is how I came to lose my lamp: the thief was better than I am in staying awake. But he acquired the lamp at a price: he became a thief for its sake, for its sake, he lost his ability to be trusted, for a lamp he became a brute. And he imagined he came out ahead!" Epictetus in the  Discourses I, 29.21  — This is a nice way to think about Trump and his cohorts. They imagine they are winners.