Atomic Habits by James Clear

Atomic habit is a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do but is also the source of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.

The Best Way to Start a New Habit

The 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it obvious

• One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do and then stack your new behavior on top of it using habit stacking
• Two most common cues are time and location
• Create an implementation intention
• Implementation intention formula is: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”
• Habit stacking is a strategy you can use to pair new habits with a specific time

How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps

The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits: make it obvious, make it attractive

• make it easy and make it satisfying
• Any habit can be broken down into a feedback loop: cue, craving, response, and reward

Chapter 4: The Man Who Didn’t Look Right

Ask yourself: ‘Does this behavior help me become the type of person I wish to be? Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?'”

• Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.

Chapter 14: How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible

A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future

• The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits
• Onetime choices-like buying a better mattress-are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver increasing returns over time

Chapter 13: How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule

Decisive moments set the options available to your future self

• A habit must be established before it can be improved
• When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do
• Ritualize the beginning of a process to help you focus

Chapter 6: Motivation is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More

Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior

• Small changes in context can lead to large changes in behavior over time.”
• Every habit is initiated by a cue. We are more likely to notice cues that stand out
• Make the cues of good habits obvious in your environment

The Truth About Talent (When Genes Matter and When They Don’t)

The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition

• Pick the right habit and progress is easy. Pick the wrong habit and life is a struggle.”
• Genes cannot be easily changed, which means they provide a powerful advantage in favorable circumstances and a serious disadvantage in unfavorable circumstances
• Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities
• Play a game that favors your strengths
• They tell us what to work hard on

Chapter 7: The Secret to Self-Control

The inversion of the 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it invisible

Chapter 1: The Surprising Power of Tiny Habits

Success is the product of daily habits

• You should be far more concerned about your current trajectory than with your current results
• Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits.
• If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, it is often because you have not yet crossed what James calls the “Plateau of Latent Potential.”
• The purpose of setting goals is to win the game; the purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game
• True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking

The Downside of Creating Good Habits

The upside of good habits is that we can do things without thinking. The downside is we stop paying attention to little errors.

The Five Big Ideas

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Focus on your system instead.

• The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become. The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, make it attractive
• make it easy and make it satisfying.

The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change

Make it Satisfying

• We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying
• The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards
• What is immediately rewarded is repeated and what is immediately punished is avoided
• To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful-even if it’s a small way

Chapter 17: How an Accountability Partner Changes Everything

An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction.

• A habit contract can be used to add a social cost to any behavior. It makes the costs of violating your promises public and painful.
• Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator.

The Role of Family and Friends in Shaping Your Habits

The culture we live in determines which behaviors are attractive to us

• We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe
• If a behavior can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it attractive

Chapter 10: How to Find and Fix The Cause of Your Bad Habits

The inversion of the 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it unattractive

• Every behavior has a surface level craving and a deeper underlying motive
• Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires
• Highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit to make it seem unattractive

How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)

Changing your habits is challenging for two reasons: changing our habits in the wrong way or trying to change our habits the right way

• There are three layers of behavior change: outcomes, processes, and identity
• The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity, and every action you take is a vote for who you want to become

The Goldilocks Rule-How to Stay Motivated in Life and Work

Humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities.

Chapter 11: Walk Slowly, But Never Backward

Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition.

The Law of Least Effort

Humans naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work

Chapter 16: How to Stick with Good Habits Every Day

Goodhart’s Law states, “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”

• One of the most satisfying feelings is the feeling of making progress.
• A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit-like marking an X on a calendar
• Don’t break the chain. Try to keep your habit streak alive. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.”

How to Make a Habit Irresistible

Make it attractive

• The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming
• Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop
• When dopamine rises, so does our motivation to act
• Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive

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