Atomic Habits By James Clear — Review and Summary
Introduction
In this day and age, we are often told that we need to think big and make drastic changes in order to change our lives for the better. In Atomic Habits, James Clear proves this notion wrong by explaining how just a few small changes to our daily routines can result in major transformations. James describes how many people tend to overestimate the importance of single actions and underestimate the importance of small repetitive improvements. He adopts the overall idea of how real change comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions or habits that overtime “accumulate into remarkable results.”
For me, Atomic Habits has changed my life in a huge way. Not only have I been able to create practical and effective strategies in order to form my habits, but I have also learned to reshape the way I think of progress. In this article, I hope to share the main takeaways from the book, what I thought about them and, how I will be applying this to my day to day life. So, without further ado, let’s begin!!
Note:
- The text typed in roman — written at the same time of reading the book (finished in 1 day).
- The text typed in italics — written two weeks after reading the book.
The Fundamentals — The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits
Improving By 1% Every Day
In Atomic Habits, James Clear tells us that improving by just 1% is not always noticeable but can be extremely significant in the long run. The overall concept is that if you can become 1% better every day for 1 year, you’ll end up 37 times better than you were at the beginning of the year. On the other hand, if you become 1% worse every single day, you will hit rock bottom and end up at ~0 by the end of the year. As you can see, just this tiny bit of math shows just how much these little differences can shape our lives. It is only after a year or more that we finally understand the overall value of our good habits and the cost of our bad ones. In the book, Clear gives a notable example of shifting the route of an airplane by just a few degrees. He gives the example of flying from Los Angeles to New York City. If the pilot was to make a small adjustment and turn 3.5 degrees south, the plane would end up in Washington DC, instead of New York City. As you can see, just a small change is barely noticeable when taking off. However, by the end of your ride, you will be hundreds of miles away from your intended destination.
In my opinion, the idea of improving by 1% every day is truly remarkable and rewarding. This is due to the fact that it is a process of continual improvement and not a “one and done” activity. Personally, I was able to apply this concept to a goal I have had for the longest time (meditate every day for 30 minutes). As much as I tried to achieve this goal in the past year, I could never find the time to meditate and lacked the overall motivation to do so. Nonetheless, after reading Atomic Habits, specifically this part of the book, I realized that I didn't have to start off with 30 minutes of meditation. Instead, I decided that I would start my day with just a minute of meditation and then, every single day, add 30 seconds to that time (until I got to 30 minutes). By doing this, I have been able to take on the goal in a slow, steady, and consistent way. In fact, for the last two weeks, I have been able to successfully adopt this process in my daily life (At the time of publication, I am at 8 minutes of meditation every morning after waking up).
A slight change in your daily habits can guide your life to a very different destination. Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.
What Progress Looks Like
To paint a picture of his conception of progress, James Clear presents the analogy of an ice cube.
If you place an ice cube in a room at -15 degrees. As you slowly increase the temperature of the room degree by degree. From -15° to -14°, the ice cube doesn’t move and remains intact. From -2 to -1, the ice cube still doesn’t melt and remains intact. In contrast, from 0° to 1°, the ice cube begins to melt. A difference of 1 degree has triggered a huge change whereas previously this increase seemed insignificant.
This analogy is exactly like our habits. Sometimes change takes quite a long time. Sometimes change requires persistent effort. Nonetheless, in both situations, you must trust that you will eventually see your hard work paying off.
Systems > Goals
Personally, I am the type of person who ends up being too caught up in the notion of the goal itself versus the actual process. Nevertheless, after reading Atomic Habits by James Clear, I think it is safe to say that I have started to achieve more by actually bringing more attention to the actual process. Now, you might be wondering what exactly the difference between a system and a goal is. While goals are the desired result that a person or group wants, a system is an overall process that leads to your wanted outcome. Therefore, in short, goals give you a direction, but systems help you make progress.
In Atomic Habits, Clear describes the 4 upmost problems that occur when an individual focuses on a goal. This includes;
- Winners and losers have the same goals
- Reaching a goal is only a momentary change
- The goal restricts your level of happiness
- The goal is at odds with long-term progress
Most of the time, if you are having problems with changing your habits, the problem is not you, but your overall system.
You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.
One of the core themes of Atomic Habits was the overall concept of valuing the overall system, rather than one specific goal. Personally, I tend to be an extremely goal-oriented individual as I always focus on results. However, in the last two weeks, I have set out to become more of a system-oriented person by diverting my attention to the process. For example, one goal I have had is to increase my running endurance. Rather than focusing on my goal, I decided to create a system that allowed me to run a 5k every single day without fail.
The Fundamentals — How Your Habits Define Your Identity (and Vice Versa)
When changing our habits, it can be extremely challenging as 1) we try to change the wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.
In Atomic Habits, James Clear proposes that there are 3 layers that can make any change in behaviour possible:
- Outcomes (Outer Layer)
- Processes (Inner Layer)
- Identity (Core)
Outcome refers to what we get out of a certain action/habit.
Process refers to what we do.
Identity refers to what exactly we believe in.
Most goals that people make are related to an outcome. For instance, by 30, I want to have a salary of over $200k. On the other hand, most habits people set are related to a process. An example of this would be learning something new every single day for 30 minutes.
Now, what James Clear proposes instead is to always start with your identity (the core of behaviour change). This is due to the fact that the minute a habit becomes a part of your identity, you are motivated to maintain them.
The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. 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. True behavior change is identity change.
How to Change Your Identity
In the book, James Clear suggests a 2-step process in order to change your identity.
- Decide what kind of person you really want to be
- Pick up “small wins” in order to prove to yourself that you are the person you want to be
want to achieve. With identity-based habits, the focus is on who
you wish to become.
For instance, if you wanted to lose weight, instead of saying that you “want to lose weight,” you could say that you “are a healthy person” Then, ask yourself what a healthy person would do. “Would a healthy person eat a burrito to a salad.” The overall concept here is to understand and communicate with yourself and with others that you are changing. Declare who exactly you are (by finding out who you want to be) and stick to that identity.
Honestly, by the time I reached this part of the book, I was HOOKED. This is due to the fact that I genuinely love the overall concept of identity-based habits. As stated above, identity-based habits focus primarily on the person you wish to become. One example of a goal I have is the overall idea of growing my network. Rather than sticking to the OUTCOME of having a diverse network, I have utilized the idea of focusing on my identity by saying something like, “I am an extroverted individual who is always connecting with new people.” By doing this, I have only completed one part of identity-based habits as I have established my identity but need to achieve small wins in order to prove to myself that this statement is actually true. Therefore, one small win that I have been able to achieve (in order to make myself believe that I am an extroverted individual) is connecting with one new person every 3 days and having an authentic conversation with them.
Building Better Habits in 4 Steps
A habit is simply a behaviour repeated enough times to become automatic.
The ultimate purpose of habits is to solve the problems of life with as little energy and effort as possible.
Habits are so important in present-day as they help us become the kind of person we want to be. They are a system that allows you to develop your most significant beliefs about yourself.
“YOU BECOME YOUR HABITS”
The 4 Steps to Build Effective Habits
A habit consists of 4 steps — Cue, Craving, Response, Reward
The cue triggers the craving, which initiates a response, which is associated with a reward.
These 4 steps — cue, craving, response, reward — create an automatic habit. This cycle is known as The Habit Loop.
How to develop a good habit
- The 1st law (Cue): Make it obvious.
- The 2nd law (Craving): Make it attractive.
- The 3rd law (Response): Make it easy.
- The 4th law (Reward): Make it satisfying.
These laws can be inverted to learn how to break a bad habit:
How to break a bad habit
- Inversion of the 1st law (Cue): Make it invisible.
- Inversion of the 2nd law (Craving): Make it unattractive.
- Inversion of the 3rd law (Response): Make it difficult.
- Inversion of the 4th law (Reward): Make it unsatisfying.
Whenever you want to change your behaviour, simply ask yourself:
- How can I make it obvious?
- How can I make it attractive?
- How can I make it easy?
- How can I make it satisfying?
1. Cue — Make it Obvious
One of the most interesting parts of habits and why they are so useful is because we don’t necessarily need to be aware of the cue for the habit to be conducted. However, what many don’t understand is that you could be repeating a good or bad habit without even knowing that you are doing it, making habits dangerous.
As time passes, cues that are the root cause of our habits become so ordinary that they become invisible. Our response to these type of cues are so deeply rooted that they urge us to act out of nowhere. Therefore, we must begin to develop a higher level of awareness.
Habit Scorecard
Most of the time, the reason why we fail to do a certain action is due to our lack of awareness.
In order to increase our level of awareness when it comes to identifying habits that we must keep and those to eliminate, James Clear introduces us to a simple exercise.
For this exercise, you begin by taking a sheet and making two columns. In the first column, put down all your daily habits and the second one should measure the impact these habits on your daily life. Hence, you simply categorize your habits according to whether or not they benefit you in the long run. You can do this by either marking a “+” / “-” / “=”.
Habit Scorecard Template — https://s3.amazonaws.com/jamesclear/Atomic+Habits/The+Habits+Scorecard.pdf
When completing my habit scorecard, I was able to effectively identify some of the negative and positive habits in my life. After acknowledging some of my negative and positive habits, I was able to either promote, eliminate, or limit them depending on their impact in my daily life. In my opinion, this exercise was definitely important as the first step to behaviour change is awareness. Without it, we would never be able to effectively change our habits as we wouldn't know we had them in the first place. One thing that I discovered when completing my scorecard was that I had a horrible habit of scrolling through social media for 30 minutes every morning. It was extremely strange to find out that I did this as I had not brought much attention to it before. In order to make sure I did not do this ever again, I began putting my phone in a completely different room.
Effective Way to Start a New Habit
In Atomic Habits, James Clear swears by the “Implementation Intention” method when it comes to starting a new habit. Implementation Intention is basically a plan to know where and where to take serious action.
One of the most common cues is time and location.
In order to declare your intentions, you basically must complete the sentence:
“When situation X occurs, I will execute response Y”
Those who make a specific plan to know where and when they will execute a habit will most likely end up doing it.
Implementation intention helps avoid statements that are extremely vague such as “I am going to exercise more often” and turn them into a “concrete action plan.”
In order to be more clear, complete the sentence:
“I will do [ACTION] at [TIME] at / in [LOCATION]”
Implementation Intentions Template — https://s3.amazonaws.com/jamesclear/Atomic+Habits/Implementation+Intentions.pdf
Habit Stacking
Most of our actions usually occur right after another action. Hence, each action can become a cue that triggers the next one. Another great way to build a new habit is to identify a habit you do every single day and then bind it with a new habit.
The formula for this is;
“Having performed [DAILY HABIT], I will do [NEW HABIT]”
Unlike the implementation intention, the stacking habit already has the time and place integrated into it.
Now, as we already know, the first law of behaviour change is to make the habit as obvious as possible. Strategies like Implementation Intention and Habit Stacking are some of the most effective methods to create obvious cues for a clear plan.
Habit Stacking Template — https://s3.amazonaws.com/jamesclear/Atomic+Habits/Habit+Stack.pdf
For me, both the Implementation Intention method and the Habit Stacking method have been extremely helpful when it came to making effective habits. Some of the ways I have put these methods into action include;
For Habit Stacking
- After I get dressed, I will meditate.
- After I sit down to dinner, I will say one thing I’m grateful for.
- After I get into bed at night, I will read for thirty minutes etc.
For Implementation Intention
- If I feel like sleeping in, then I will immediately jump out of bed
- If I finish meditating, I will immediately put on my running shoes and run a 5k
- If I don’t feel like doing what needs to get done, then I WILL do it anyway
- If I’m working, then I will eliminate any distractions in my way etc.
2. Craving — Make it Attractive
Dopamine — Making Habits Irresistible
When habits are concerned, the main point is that:
Dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it
For instance, gambling addicts have a dopamine spike right before they place a bet, not after they win. Drug addicts get a dopamine spike when they see the drugs, not after they take it. Whenever you predict that something will be rewarding, your levels of dopamine will in fact spike. And, when dopamine levels increase, so does your motivation to act.
We need to make our habits attractive because it is the expectation of a rewarding experience that motivates us to act in the first place
Being able to make a habit attractive can be a hard task. However, with a special method called the temptation method, the process can be much simpler.
So, you might be wondering what exactly the temptation bundling method is. Well, basically, it works by linking an action you want to do with an action you need to do. An example of this would be working out for longer periods of time. However, what you really want to do is watch an episode of your favourite tv show. By using the temptation building method, you could watch an episode of your favourite tv show, only at the gym.
The temptation method is a great way to make your habits extremely attractive or unattractive One example of how I used the temptation bundling method was when using my phone (want). I decided that every single time I used my phone for entertainment purposes, I would have to do ten pushups along with it. This simple method allowed me to limit my phone use and be more productive.
Having People to Help You When Shaping Your Habits
Most of the time, we tend to take on the habits that we are praised and approved of by the people around us. This is due to the fact that we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to our culture/group.
One way to sustain attractiveness for a habit you want to start is to surround yourself with people who have already made it a part of their life and their identity (or want to with you). It will turn a personal quest into a shared one.
When you join a group, your identity becomes linked to those around you. Growth and change are no longer an individual pursuit. The shared identity begins to reinforce your personal identity. This is why the remaining part of a group after achieving a goal is crucial to maintaining your habits. It’s friendship and community that embeds a new identity and help behaviours last over the long run.
On the other hand, if you do not choose to surround yourself with people who do not want/have the same habits as you, it will take a lot of effort and work to execute your effective habits.
Atomic Habits helped me realize just how important surrounding yourself with people is when shaping your habits. I was able to use this method when it came to running. Since I wanted to begin going for a run every single day, I surrounded myself with people who already do. That way, I was motivated to start and keep the habit going.
Why Bad Habits are Hard to Break
Oftentimes, a craving for something is basically a manifestation of a deeper motive.
For instance, your brain did not begin with a craving to check Facebook. Instead, your underlying motive of getting social acceptance could be the reason that you are drawn to Facebook.
New apps, things, or video games don’t create a new motivation, they are just one solution of many available to meet that underlying motive.
Your current habits are not necessarily the best way to solve the problem you face, they are just the methods you learned to use. Once you associate a solution with the problem you need to solve, you keep coming back to it — an explanation for why habits are hard to break.
Now, thinking back to your bad habits, can you tell what your underlying motive is? If you are able to, you could be able to find a better habit that allows you to fulfill that motive.
Reprogram Your Brain to Like Difficult Habits
When changing your habits and routines, it can be extremely difficult. One method that James Clear recommends is to make habits less difficult by rephrasing them. Instead of saying “I have to go to the gym”, say something like “I get to go to the gym.” This simple change can turn “burdens into opportunities.”
If you were to associate going to the gym with an opportunity to be your best self and look better, is that not better than associating it with exercise and hard work? James proposes that:
Reframing your habits to highlight their benefits rather than their drawbacks is a fast and lightweight way to reprogram your mind to make a habit more attractive.
3. Response — Make it Easy
In Atomic Habits, James Clear stresses upon the overall concept of “being in motion.” When being in motion, you are constantly planning. Although planning is good, it does not produce an outcome. On the other hand, action is in fact a behaviour that produces some kind of outcome.
Example:
Reading a Book on Dieting — In Motion
Eating a Healthy Meal — In Action
Hence, if you want to master a habit, the best way to do so is to begin by repetition without worrying whether or not you are doing it perfectly.
How Long Does it Take to Form a Habit?
A habit allows you to exercise a type of behaviour without thinking about each and every step. Habits are formed according to how often you perform them, not how long.
In order to create a habit, you NEED to repeat it. And, the most effective and efficient way to dot that is to MAKE IT EASIER.
How to Achieve More with the Least Amount of Effort
As humans, our real motivation is to be lazy and do what is most convenient for you. We value our energy and are wired to conserve as much as possible.
Each and every action conducted requires a certain amount of energy. The more energy it takes up, the less likely it will happen. In a way, every habit is just another obstacle getting in the way of your end goal really is. To be completely honest, you don’t really want the habit itself. Instead, you want the outcome obtained by doing the habit.
One of the easiest ways to reduce problems when it comes to your habits is to optimize the environment around you.
For example, if you wanted to go to the gym every day right before work, it might be a good idea to go to a gym on the way to work as stopping along the way is not such a burden.
The key is to ask yourself:
How can I design a world where it is easy to do what is right and difficult to do what is not?
Ultimately, the goal is to create an environment where it is simple to make the RIGHT DECISIONS.
Remove friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low, habits are easy. Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high, bad habits are difficult.
The 2 Minute Rule
One of the easiest ways to make a habit easy is the ability to rise to the challenge. The idea of this is to establish a habit before improving it. You can do this by applying the 2 Minute Rule. This method makes sure that when starting a habit, it is simplified enough to get used to (by shortening it down to two minutes). James Clear explains how almost every single habit can be reduced to a 2-minute version.
For instance:
- Reading every morning can be turned into reading a page
- 30 minutes of yoga can simply be turned into getting out your yoga mat
When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.
Example: Putting the concept into action
End Goal: Go Vegan (Stop eating all animal products)
- Phase 1: Start eating a portion of vegetables at each meal.
- Phase 2: Stop eating animals with four legs
- Phase 3: Stop eating animals with two legs
- Phase 4: Stop eating animals with no legs
- Phase 5: Stop eating all animal products
As stated before, I was able to use the two-minute method with meditation. As much as I tried to achieve this goal in the last year, I could never find the time to do so. Nevertheless, after learning about the two-minute rule, I realized that I didn’t have to start off with 30 minutes of meditation. Instead, I decided that I would start my day with just a minute of meditation and then, every single day, add 30 seconds to that time (until I got to 30 minutes). Now, I have been able to successfully and effectively adopt this process in my daily life.
4. Reward — Make it Satisfying
The Cardinal Rule of Behavioural Change
The cardinal rule of behavioural change is basically:
What is rewarded is repeated. What is punished is avoided.
The first three laws will definitely increase the chances that a behaviour will be performed at that time. The fourth law, on the other hand, increases the chances that a behaviour will be repeated next time.
The problem is that when expecting a reward, we expect it immediately. This is a huge problem as we live in a “delayed-gratification environment.” This means that we can work for years and years before our actions actually produce an actual result.
We often ask ourselves why people eat unhealthy when they know that it increases the risk of obesity or why people take drugs when they know the negative impact it has on their brains. Well, the reason as to why this occurs is simple. The consequences of bad habits are delayed while rewards are immediate. As humans, we value the present way more than the future. Eating unhealthy food is harmful in the long run but tempting at that very moment.
Each habit produces multiple outcomes over time. With our bad habits, the immediate result is usually good, but the end result is bad. With good habits, it’s the opposite.
Luckily, there is are ways to add immediate pleasure to our long-term habits. The best way to do this is by using an immediate reward to increase the value of the behaviour.
For example, if you are a compulsive buyer, open a savings account and call it “Vacation”. Whenever you do not compulsively shop, put the money you would use in the savings account. This is a great example as the immediate reward of saving money for a vacation is a great way of stopping the habit of compulsive buying in its track.
Habit Tracking
A habit tracker is one of the best ways to measure whether or not you have done the habits you set out to do so. They allow you to create visual cues that can easily remind you to take action. It is extremely motivating as you are able to actually see the progress you are making.
Habit Tracker Template — https://s3.amazonaws.com/jamesclear/Atomic+Habits/Habit+Tracker.pdf
Personally, I have been using the overall concept of habit tracking for many years. For me, just a simple tick is a great way to receive some kind of instant reward and definitely motivates you to repeat the habit. Some of the habits on my habit tracker include;
- Awake by 4:45 (exception of weekends)
- Make my bed
- 10,000 Steps
- 8 glasses of water
- 30 minutes of reading
- Run (5 kilometres minimum)
Conclusion
Overall, I really enjoyed Atomic Habits!! I honestly could not keep it down and finished it TWICE in a matter of two days. It is one of the best books I have ever read and has truly changed my life in a huge way. James Clear proposes many great ideas and directions on how to shape yourself into a successful individual. The book is structured in a way that provides an overview of every single step of habit creation. It is definitely a must-read for anyone who wants to make a positive change in their lives.
Also, I just want to thank Harrison Nolan at The Knowledge Society for the book recommendation.
