Book Summary - Atomic Habits
Habits are like fundamental atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that contributes to your overall improvement. At first, these tiny routines seem in-significant, but soon they build on each other and multiply. Each of your atomic actions when repeated over a thousand times compound into something larger.
Meaning of Atomic Habits
Atomic Habits are nothing but a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do, but also a source of incredible power & a component of the system of compound growth.
Three Layers of Behavior Change
- Outcome-Based Habits : Forming habits to achieve a result.
- Process-Based Habits : Forming habits to change a process or implement a new routine.
- Identity-Based Habits : Forming habits to form an identity.
The most effective way to change your habits is to focus on who you wish to become. Associating your habits with your identity is the most effective way of forming new habits and breaking the bad ones.
Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. Change is the only constant. To become the best version of yourself you need to continuously edit your beliefs and upgrade & expand your identity.
The science of how habits work
There are four simple steps in the process of building a new habit :
CUE > CRAVING > RESPONSE > REWARD
All habits proceed through four stages in the same order.
- Cue : Triggers our brain to initiate a behavior
- Craving : Motivational force behind every habit. Craving is nothing but thoughts, feelings and emotions that drive us to take action
- Response : Actual habit you perform.
- Reward : End goal of a habit. Rewards satisfy us. Rewards teach us to remember to do the action again in the future.
How to Create a Good Habit
Make it Obvious
- Fill out your habit scorecard. Write down your current habits to become aware about them.
- Use implementation intentions: “I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”
- Use habit stacking: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].”
- Design you environment. Make the cues of the good habit obvious and visible.
Make it Attractive
- Use temptation building. Pair an action you want to do with the action you need to do.
- Join a culture where your desired behavior is normal.
- Create a motivation ritual. Do something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.
Make it Easy
- Reduce friction. Decrease the number of steps between you and your good habits.
- Prime the environment. Prepare your environment to make future action easier.
- Master the decisive moment. Optimize the small choices that deliver outsized impact.
- Use the Two-Minute Rule. Downscale the habits until they can be done in two minutes or less.
- Automate your habits. Invest in tech and onetime purchases that lock in future behaviour.
Make it Satisfying
- Use reinforcement. Give yourself an immediate reward when you complete your habit.
- Make doing nothing enjoyable.
- Use a habit tracker. Keep a track of your habit streak and “don’t break the chain.”
- Never miss twice. When you forget to do a habit, make sure you get back on track immediately.
How to Break a Bad Habit
Make it Invisible
- Reduce exposure. Remove the cues of your bad habits from your environment.
Make it Unattractive
- Re-frame your mind-set. Highlight the benefits of avoiding your bad habits.
Make it Difficult
- Increase friction. Increase the number of steps between you and your bad habits.
- Use a commitment device. Restrict your future choices to the ones that benefit you.
Make it Unsatisfying
- Get an accountability partner. Ask someone to watch your behavior.
- Create a habit contract. Make the cost of your habits painful (& public if need be.)
Delaying Gratification
Human brain has a tendency to prioritize present moment over the future. It has a tendency to prioritize instant gratification and immediate rewards. We spend all day chasing quick hits of satisfaction.
However, if one is willing to wait for rewards, he/she will face less competition and often get a bigger payoff. People who are better at delaying gratification often perform well than others. At some point, sucess in nearly every field requires you to ignore an immediate reward in favour of a delayed reward.
It is possible to train your brain to delay gratification - but we also need to work with the grain of human nature. The best way to do this is to sprinkle a bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long run.
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 the progress is easy. Pick the wrong and life is a struggle. Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities. Play a game that favors your strengths. If you can’t find a game, create one. Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.
Goldilocks Rule
Humans experience peak motivation when the task that we are working on is right on the edge of our current abilities.
Truth about Continuing Habits Long Term
The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom. When habits become routine, they become less interesting and less satisfying. We get bored & lose interest, even though the habit that we have formed is actually working in our favor.
Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference. Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.
Reflection and Review is important
The upside of habits is that we can do things automatically without thinking. The downside is that we become complacent & stop paying attention to little errors.
Reflection & review is a process that allows you to remain conscious of your performance over time.
My Thoughts on the book
James Clear, the author of Atomic Habits, has certainly provided some practical ways of forming new habits and breaking the bad ones. This book also gave me an understanding of how human psychology and behavior works to a certain extend. It provided me clarity on why I was doing certain things again, and again, and again. The reason why I started reading this book was to first of all forming an habit of reading myself and secondly, understanding the human nature.
There are some great stories about celebrities, sports personalities, doctors, etc. given in this book to convey the information & the ideas effectively. The ideas and information given in this book was something that I could relate to myself & associate it with my current behavior and habits. Mostly, I agree with everything said in this book.
Some of the chapters which I found interesting and informative in this book were related to
- identity based change
- dopamine
- herd mentality
- delayed gratification
- all the ones in “Advanced Tactics”
The book is quite easy to read. Anyone, even if you are not a hardcore bookworm like me, can pick up this book and start reading it at any point in time. The stories, told by the author, keep you engaged & make the book interesting to read. These stories also keep the book away from being a traditional “text-book” or a “N step guide” on behavior change & habit formation. This book does not go too much into technical depth. So if you are looking for something that is technical, you may want to look somewhere else. It does have some science sprinkled here and there though. I would also recommend reading the introduction chapter of this book as the author’s story & his life journey which explains the importance of atomic habits is also quite fascinating & inspiring too. This book is practical in nature to put it simply.
Another thing which I liked about the book were the simplistic diagrams and tables when explaining the ideas, information and facts. The short summaries after each chapter helped me in remembering & recapping the previously read chapters. So, I was easily able to get quick context & move on to the next chapter for reading.
Overall, this is a good read if you want to understand a bit about yourself and why you do certain things on a regular basis.
Thanks for reading.
~ Aditya