Atomic Habits

James Clear

4/5

"I really liked it"

People rave about Atomic Habits, and I believe that for some people, this book just clicks and helps them make big changes in their life. I also believe that for non-readers, picking up a self-help book like Atomic Habits can, if nothing else, force you to “wake up” and reflect on your habits and whether you’re being the person you want to be. So I think this book gets some points just for doing that, if nothing else.

That being said, there is real wisdom in this book. I’m a firm believer of the principle of limited willpower. When you wake up each morning, you have a limited amount of willpower; when it’s gone, you are far more likely to indulge in bad behavior. You can only walk by a bowl of chocolate so many times before you pick one up. The easiest way to reduce bad behavior (read: “habits”), in my opinion, is to change your environment. Atomic Habits discusses this principle in the “Cue” section of a habit, where you can choose to make good habits “obvious” and bad habits “invisible”. Beyond the principle of changing your environment, there are a few other practical applications of the principles in this book. Just read it, or see my notes below.

I found Atomic Habits to be repetitive and uninteresting at times, but it is a great book overall, and I would recommend it to anyone. I will always remember this principle from the book, because I’ve found it to be true over and over again in my life:

You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Notes

It’s not about your results, or your goals; it’s about your “systems”

• It doesn’t matter how successful or unsuccessful you are right now. What matters is whether your habits are putting you on a path towards success. You should be far more concerned with your trajectory than with your current results.

• Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits.

• We often expect progress to be linear. At the very least, we hope it will come quickly. In reality, the results of our efforts are often delayed.

• Winners and losers have the same goals.” You want to win? Great, so does everyone else.

• You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Change occurs at 3 levels: identity, processes, and outcomes

• True behavior change is identity change. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity.

• Identity is hard to change:

  • When you have repeated a story to yourself for years, it is easy to… accept them as fact.

• The more deeply a thought or action is tied to your identity, the more difficult it is to change it.

• Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.

• Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.

Habits have 4 parts

• Cue: like a trigger
• Craving: internal motivation to do the response, so you can get the reward
• Response: The habit itself
• Reward: The dopamine or whatever
  • Principle: rewards need to happen ASAP for max effect
    • For a habit to stick, it needs to be immediately successful— even if it’s just a small way
    • The more immediate and costly a mistake is, the faster you will learn

    • An accountability partner can create an immediate cost. We care deeply what others think if us. Knowing that someone else is watching us can be a painful motivator.

4 laws of habits:

1. (Cue) make it obvious/invisible
2. (Craving) make it attractive/unattractive
3. (Response) make it easy/hard
4. (Reward) make it satisfying/unsatisfying

2 methods to get habits to stick:

1. “Implementation Intention”: “I will do [behavior] at [time] in [location].”

   • Often, people pick habits that are too vague. Make them specific.
   • E.g. “when I take a work break, I will do 10 push-ups” -> trigger is unclear, where/when/how? -> “when I close my laptop lid to take a break, I will do 10 push-ups next to my desk” -> ambiguity is gone

2. “Habit Stacking”: “after I do [established habit], I will do [new habit]”

   • Build on top of existing habits

”Motivation is Overrated: Environment Often Matters More”

• People think they simply lack motivation to create/break habits; in reality, it’s much easier and more effective to change your environment
  • E.g. hide the cookies, drive to a coffee shop to do work, bring your water bottle everywhere, place your running shoes by the door

• When we are approaching behavior change as an individual, a parent, a coach, or a leader, we should ask ourselves the same question: ‘how can we design a world where it’s easy to do what’s right?‘

Recognize that your skills and tendencies are different from everyone else. Find what you’re good at, and exploit that.

• How do I find out what I’m good at? Well, ask yourself:
  • “What feels like fun to me, but work for others?”
  • “What makes me lose track of time?”
  • “What makes me get in the ‘flow’?”
  • “What feels natural to me?”

Integrity Report

1. Come up with a list of characteristics and rules for my perfect self/“the person I want to be”.
2. Occasionally, compare your recent actions to the list, and reflect on how to improve.

Takeaways

• Remember: your motivation and willpower are limited; use your environment to your advantage to affect your habits

• Remember: for maximum effect, make new habits easy, small, and very specific

• Remember: it’s about your underlying systems: “You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

• Remember: habits are closely tied to your identity; be flexible and willing to change who you are

• Task: an integrity report and reflect every few months on how you’re doing/how to improve