Atomic Habits
James Clear
“Habits are automatic choices that influence the conscious decisions that follow
What I like
Short, easily-digestible chapters with excellent line height. Reading this book felt easy
Use of stories to illustrate concepts such as habit stacking, great context
The book reads very fluidly, each chapter carries over to the next
Good balance of theory along with practical advice to build/break habits
Frankly I think that everyone should read this book
Minor critiques
At times the book comes off as idealistic and pragmatic
Some content might seem painfully obvious to those familiar with behavioral design
Review
Atomic Habits is one part behavioral design, and another part self-help. I’ve heard about it all over the place, from book-stores, to a chiropractor of mine, to my brother-in-law. It’s no surprise that this book has gotten so many reviews on Amazon (almost 100,000). I think it has the power to impact a lot of people. What I find more interesting, however, is how this book can be paired with books like Measure What Matters to create a system that allows both individuals and businesses alike set goals, build habits, and measure success. This is why I bought both books at the same time (I’m sure I’m not alone).
James Clear does a wonderful job blending real stories with theories from behavioral psychology, and ties the two together to create a practical system that anyone can use to create change. What I really liked about this book and what will stick with me the most is the interplay between habits and identity- where the habits we have in our life shape who we are as a person. This book also helped simplify what a “goal” is and how habits can be used to help us reach them. Clear also did a fantastic job of weaving in scientific evidence without ever coming off as overly-academic. The tone in the book is friendly. It’s written like a self-help book but it provides a lot more to those looking for proof in the pudding, which is why I think it’s so successful.
So, if you’re looking for a book about building or breaking habits, whether for yourself, a child, a user group, or a business, I’d recommend this book.
Learnings
A goal is a north-star, what we want to achieve. A system is a collection of habits that helps us achieve that goal.
Habits are unconscious actions and behaviors we take, often times in pursuit of predicting the future, and begins with awareness.
If you want to make a habit a bit part of your life, then make a cue a big part of your environment.
Cues need to be made stupidly obvious in order for them to be successfully invoked.
We can make cues invisible or change environments to reduce bad habits.
Desire drives behavior, specifically desire for reward.
People generally imitate the habits of three groups: those that are close to them, their culture or social groups, and those of powerful people.
With habit development, it’s not so much about how long you have been doing something for, but how frequently, that determines how long it takes for a habit to become automatic.
People will naturally gravitate towards what’s easy, and away from things where there’s enough friction.
“Habits are automatic choices that influence the conscious decisions that follow”.
The third way to make a habit stick is to make habits easy to do.
The cardinal rule of behavior change is that what is rewarded is repeated.
Habit tracking is the process of measuring how well you are keeping up with your habits, and it is obvious, attractive, and satisfying.
If we wish to break a bad habit, one of the best ways to do that is to make a habit contract either with yourself or someone else.
Personality is the set of personal characteristics that are consistent from situation to situation.
The Goldilocks rule in habit development suggests that we hit a flow state when we are doing an activity that is about 4% more difficult than our current skills.
Reflection and review is the best way to prevent our good habits from degrading over time.