For the past fourteen days, I’ve been writing and publishing on Substack every morning. (Twelve of those posts are on this publication and two were published on my superheroes substack.)
I am running a fellowship program, and I have tasked the fellows with maintaining a daily Substack in order to “learn out loud” and develop their writing skills. By subjecting myself to the same discipline, I’m trying to get the same value from the practice for myself (as I discussed in “Bread for My Journey”) as well as model it for them. I am also doing it to “write my way into good days” (as I explained here).
Morning blogging has for me proven to be what author Charles Duhigg calls a “keystone habit”: a good habit that begets other good habits.
Writing to be read and understood shortly after waking has given each of the past fourteen days a “smart start.” By challenging me to marshal my thoughts, it has made me smarter faster at the start of every day. By the time I click publish, I am primed to launch into the rest of my day with more intelligence and intentionality. And that has translated into better conduct and habits. For example, I have been more talkative and jovial with my family at breakfast time as well as later in the day.
My morning posts have often explored self-improvement topics. That has made morning blogging even more of a keystone habit, because it has helped me formulate and commit to the good habits that I write about. For example, I have adopted the technique I wrote about in “One Way to Break Your Addiction to ‘Checking,’" and it has greatly enhanced my focus and productivity.
Morning blogging (especially in the “self-advice” genre) has been a powerful keystone habit for me, so I highly recommend it.