Atomic Habits

James Clear

Introduction

James Clear

Work has appeared in

The New York Times

TIme

Entreprenuer

CBS This Morning

Taught in Colleges around the world

His website: jamesclear.com gets millions of visitors every single month

Also created Habits Academy which is the premier training platform for
organizations and individuals that are interested in building better habits in life and
work
Atomic Habits

"If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem
is your system. bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you
don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change."
"You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."

"Focusing on the overall system, rather than a single goal, is one of the core themes
of this book. It is also one of the deeper meanings behind the word atomic. By
now, you've probably realized that an atomic habit refers to a tiny change, a
marginal gain, a 1 percent improvement. But atomic habits are not just any old
habits, however small. They are little habits that are part of a larger system. Just as
atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of
remarkable results."

"Habits are like the atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that
contributes to your overall improvement. At first, these tiny routines seem
insignificant, but soon they build on each other and fuel bigger wins that multiply to
a degree that far outweighs the cost of their initial investment. They are both small
and might. This is the meaning of the phrase atomic habits"
"A regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do, but also the
source of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth."
*This book is packed with big ideas.. It's so good that it's definitely worth buying
and having as a reference guide!
Tiny Changes - Remarkable Results
Overestimating Effort

“It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and

underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. Too often,
we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action. Whether it is
losing weight, building a business, writing a book, winning a championship, or
achieving any other goal, we put pressure on ourselves to make some earth-
shattering improvement that everyone will talk about."

So often we fail to change our behaviors because we convince ourselves that we

have to make a drastic change..
Where have you failed at something because you attempted to make a massive
change?

Where are you currently putting off changing something because you are
overestimating what it might take?
Tiny Changes

"Meanwhile, improving 1 percent isn’t particularly notable—sometimes it isn’t even

noticeable— but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. The
difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the
math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up
thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent
worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a
small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more."

One percent improvement is the fundamental teaching of atomic habits

Choosing to make a small change instead of a large change can feel scary at
first.. Often because we've built up the pain of the current habit we're doing in
our mind! Then we're willing to almost do everything towards changing..
Tony Robbins says in order to make a change we need to associate massive
pain with our current behavior and massive pleasure to our potential..

I believe most people are already very good at this! But because we're
constantly doing that exercise in our head we automatically want to take
massive action..
"Massive Action" is hard to keep up.. Plus the power of compounding is a
force much much more powerful than any action we can take in a moment.

Not paying attention to small slides is something far more insidious..

When you let certain cornerstone habits slip you slowly but surely get to a
pretty dark place..
That's why it's so important to not only set a positive vision for the future but
also set a negative vision..

*Jordan Peterson Self Authoring Program

Remarkable Results
 "Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money
multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you
repeat them. They seem to make little difference on any given day and yet the
impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. It is only when
looking back two, five, or perhaps ten years later that the value of good habits and
the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent.”

One Percent Improvement Numbers

1 year = 37x

2 Years = 1400x

5 Years = 76,240,507x

10 Years = Too Big a Number For This Mindmap

Graph 1

Potential is UNKOWABLE

It's literally impossible to know what we are capable of until we let go of limits.

Plateau of Latent Potential

“If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, it is not
because you have lost your ability to improve. It is often because you have not yet
crossed the Plateau of Latent Potential."
"Complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining
about an ice cube not melting when you heated it from twenty-five to thirty-one
degrees. Your work was not wasted; it is just being stored. All the action happens at
thirty-two degrees. When you finally break through the Plateau of Latent Potential,
people will call it an overnight success."

"Mastery requires patience. The San Antonio Spurs, one of the most successful
teams in NBA history, have a quote from social reformer Jacob Riis hanging in their
locker room: ‘When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter
hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack
showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was
not that last blow that did it—but all that had gone before.’”
Little things add up to big things..
It's just not always visible!

Too often we set goals like I want to lose X weight by Y time.. Setting goals like this
is a recipe for failure!
When we set goals like this if the results don't show up by that day and time we stop
doing the little things that would have led to success

Power of Compounding

"It's a hallmark of any compounding process: the most powerful outcomes are
delayed"
 Be The Stonecutter

Have you ever bailed during the plateau of latent potential?

How can you remind yourself to be the stone cutter?

Identity

“Identity change is the North Star of habit change. The remainder of this book will
provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to build better habits for yourself,
your family, your team, your company, and anywhere else you wish. But the true
question is: ‘Are you becoming the type of person you want to become?’ The first step
is not what or how, but who. You need to know who you want to be. Otherwise, your
quest for change is like a boat without a rudder. And that’s why we’re starting here."

"You have the power to change your beliefs about yourself. Your identity is not set in
stone. You have a choice in every moment. You can choose the identity you want to
reinforce today with habits you choose today. And this brings us to the deeper
purpose of this book and the real reason habits matter."
"Building better habits isn’t about littering your day with life hacks. It’s not about
flossing one tooth each night or taking a cold shower each morning or wearing the
same outfit each day. It’s not about achieving external measures of success like
earning more money, losing weight, or reducing stress. Habits can help you achieve
all of these things, but fundamentally they are not about having something. They are
about becoming someone."
"Ultimately, your habits matter because they help you become the type of person
you wish to be. They are the channel through which you develop your deepest
beliefs about yourself. Quite literally, you become your habits.”
"Life Hacks"

These are very popular now adays with the media selling them as the salve to cure
your ails..
 Not only do these not lead to any real measurable success! But they confuse your
identity.. Because you're not acting as yourself you are acting as the person who
created this "life hack"

Robert Dilts Model

Who Do You Want to Become?

This is the question you should be asking BEFORE you decide what habits you want
to develop or change..
Identity

Healthy and fit athlete?

Successful business person?

Family Member?

Meditation

Take time to think on this.. Quite time where you listen your thoughts can be
extremely helpful here!
What is truly you and what is something that was given to you?

Become Who You Are

"The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated
with that behavior. In fact, the word identity was originally derived from the Latin
word essentitas, which means being, and identidem, which means repeatedly. Your
identity is literally your repeated beingness"
"Whatever you identity is now, you only believe it because you have proof"

Changing your identity

James talks about how to change your identity by repeating the desired behavior
as frequently as possible.. and if you want to repeat your desired behavior? Live
from your new identity..

Self Talk

Dr. Shad Helmstetter says "you are what you tell yourself"

Self talk is what you say to yourself all the time

 Listening and modifying your self talk can be extremely powerful when trying
to make habit change..
Habits are changed easiest at the identity level and supported by the
behavior level
The 4 Laws

“If a behavior is insufficient in any of the four stages, it will not become a habit.
Eliminate the cue and your habit will never start. Reduce the craving and you won’t
experience enough motivation to act. Make the behavior difficult and you won’t be able
to do it. And if the reward fails to satisfy your desire, then you’ll have no reason to do it
again in the future. Without the first three steps, a behavior will not occur. Without all
four, a behavior will not be repeated."
"In summary, the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides
a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the
cue. Together, these four steps form a neurological feedback loop—cue, craving,
response, reward; cue, craving, response, reward—that ultimately allows you to
create automatic habits. This cycle is known as the habit loop.”
Four Stages of a Habit

Four Laws

Law 1: Cue

Create a Habit

Make it obvious

Break a Habit

Make it invisible

Law 2: Craving

Create a Habit

Make it attractive

Break a Habit

Make it unattractive

Law 3: Response
 Create a Habit

Make it easy

Break a Habit

Make it difficult

Law 4: Reward

Create a Habit

Make it satisfying

Break a Habit

Make it unsatisfying

Examples

Create a Good habit

Exercise

Law 1: Make it Obvious

Implementation Intention: "I will workout first thing in the morning at my

home gym"

Design The Environment: "Put your clothes out the night before; make your
gym appealing"
Law 2: Make it Attractive

Visualization: "Think about how you will feel after and all the benefits of
exercise"

Pairing: "Pair the habit with something you enjoy like drinking coffee or tea"

Law 3: Make it Easy

Downscale: "How can you downscale your exercise so they can be 'done' in
two minutes or less?" Maybe you could say I will walk on the treadmill for
two minutes.
Think The One Thing: "What one thing can I do that will make everything else
easy or unnecessary"

Law 4: Make it Satisfying

Immediate Reward: "Drinking coffee or tea after your workout or listening to

good music"
Habit Chain: "Track your habits somehow and create a chain.. Growing that
chain will have satisfaction and breaking the chain will feel bad"

Break a Bad Habit

Eating Junk Food

Law 1: Make it Invisible

 Out of Sight: "Take out all the junk food or at least put it out of sight"

Law 2: Make it Unattractive

Reframe: "Highlight the benefits of avoiding the junk food in your mind using
visualization"

Law 3: Make it Difficult

Increase Friction: "More steps between you and the junk food aka at the
store"
Law 4: Make it Unsatisfying

Remember the Reframe: "Keep in mind how much better you feel and your
energy levels increasing"

Sorties Paradox

“There is an ancient Greek parable known as the Sorites Paradox, which talks about the
effect one small action can have when repeated enough times. One formulation of the
paradox goes as follows: Can one coin make a person rich? If you give a person a pile of
ten coins, you wouldn’t claim that he or she is rich. But what if you add another? And
another? And another? At some point, you will have to admit that no one can be rich
unless one coin can make him or her so."
"We can say the same thing about habits. Can one tiny change transform your life?
It’s unlikely you would say so. But what if you made another? And another? And
another? At some point, you will have to admit that your life was transformed by
one small change."

"The holy grail of habit change is not a single 1 percent improvement but a
thousand of them. It’s a bunch of atomic habits stacking up, each one a fundamental
unit of the overall system."
"The secret of getting results that last is to never stop making improvements. It’s
remarkable what you can build if you just don’t stop. ... Small habits don’t add up.
They compound. That’s the power of atomic habits. Tiny changes. Remarkable
results.”

Never Stop Making Improvements

Building good habits is a lifelong journey towards becoming who you wish to be..
Remember identity?
Think can you change your identity to the type of person who is constantly
improving?

What would that persons habits look like after a year? 2 years? 5 years? 10
years?