After hearing about this book over the past few years, I finally decided to purchase it. It seems to be really popular because there was a 6 week wait on the digital copies at my local library. Nonetheless, I am really glad I purchased my own copy because I can highlight and take notes in it. I am not one to really like writing in books but I think it’s necessary for this book. There’s a lot of great information about how the little habits you do everyday snowball into your results/way of living years down the road. In this current world where how fast things can be done are valued, it’s hard to accept the reality of how things really work. “Good things take time.” I am guilty of this myself. I, too, fall into the 20-somethings that feel like they are behind the curve. There’s this pressure to have it all figured out. Even if you know what you want to do, it’s hard knowing how to do it. Moreover, the hardest part is sticking to it over the long haul.
I honestly think that every single person should read this book at least twice. As I was reading the book I found the positives of actively reading and integrating this book into my life. This isn’t the type of book you just rip through one time and finish. If you want the principles from the book to make lasting change in your life, you have to treat Atomic Habits like a workbook – journal alongside it and put it into action.
For me, there’s a lot that I want to do and I have a tendency of overwhelming myself with trying to do it all at once. I have been told you can’t do it all. I kind of disagree with that to some extent. No, you can’t do it all at once. Nonetheless, I am a firm believer you can achieve most if not all that you set your mind to so long as you can learn to be patient with yourself.
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Some key things that I have learned from Atomic Habits by James Clear:
- We need to realize that BOTH external stimuli and internal emotions greatly influence our habits. This speaks to my interest in extrinsic and intrinsic motivation; And my quest to strengthen my intrinsic motivation when extrinsic motivation was no longer working for me a few years back.
- “The aggregation of marginal gains” If you have ever watched a youtube video by a productivity geek (nothing but love to them, haha) on this book, then you have probably already heard about this concept. It is “the philosophy of searching for a tiny margin of improvement in everything you do.” Essentially, improving just 1% each day is far more easy and sustainable than trying to vastly improve in your first go at something/or the first few tries. Conversely, this also goes to say that if you get 1% worse each day that this would tally up and poorly impact you in the long run. Atomic habits speak to the small habits we do each day that move the scale in one way or the other over time. Atomic habits have a compounding effect. Or better put by James Clear, “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”
- I have heard of Bamboo Growth before, but here is what Clear states, “Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root systems underground before exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks.” I need to hang this on my wall! A great reminder when you feel like your efforts aren’t paying off.
- Clear talks about the 4 problems with setting goals over setting systems or habits. Here is one in particular that stands out to me the most: “Goals restrict your happiness” Most people wait to accomplish a goal in order to be happy. I’ll be happy when I make an extra 30,000 dollars per year. I’ll be happy when I am fluent in Spanish. I’ll be happy when I move to the city. I’ll be happy when…
- Your environment matters far more than motivation. If you are trying to eat healthier, don’t have twinkies in the cabinet. Don’t have them in the house. If you want to drink more water or remember to take your vitamins daily, make them more accessible. Leave the vitamins on the counter. Get a big enough water bottle so you don’t have to keep filling it up-fill it up once and keep it nearby.
- Set a plan ahead of time; get clear where and when you plan to do that new thing you want to incorporate into your life.
- We are human and so we will make mistakes and with life there will be distractions that pull you off course. The key here is to not let it pull you off course for too long. The 2 day rule is that you can miss a day of the habit you are building but never miss two days in a row as it will send you into this spiral of days missed and ruin any progress you’ve made.
There are plenty more great points from this book. I think the key thing I want to reiterate above all else is that this book only works if you are willing to put in the work. I like to treat it more like a textbook/workbook than reading a novel. I think that is how a lot of people treat personal development books; they passively read them as they would with a novel. For this book to truly work, you have to work with it. On the plus-side, I think James Clear wrote this book with the right amount of examples, anecdotes, and the actual information that you came to the book for in the first place. Most books that I have read on personal development give WAY too many examples and backstory instead of telling me actually how to improve myself.
If you want to make good habits stick in your life, I highly suggest reading this book.