“If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.” ~ James Clear, Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
Thoughts
ET gave this to me as a farewell gift when I left PayPal. It is a book where hype matched the content. The book is an easy read. It has practical strategies and real-life examples to help us remember things. The book starts with his accident and recovery and that itself is a testament of heroism, grit and resilience.
Notes
- Improvements of just 1% can compound to significant changes over time. 1.01^365 = 37.78 (3800% better).
- Framework for Building good habits
- Make it obvious (cue)
- Make it attractive (craving)
- Make it easy (response)
- Make it satisfying (reward)
- Focus on who you want to become rather than what you want to achieve.
- Habit Stacking - Link a new habit to an existing one to make it easier to implement. This was probably the ‘aha’ learning from the book.
- Structure your environment to make good habits easier and bad habits harder.
- Monitor your progress and maintain motivation.
- Persist through the “valley of disappointment”.
The Fundamentals - Why Tiny Changes Make a Big Difference
1 The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits
2 How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)
3 How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps
The 1st Law - Make It Obvious
4 The Man Who Didn’t Look Right
5 The Best Way to Start a New Habit
6 Motivation Is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More
7 The Secret to Self-Control
The 2nd Law - Make It Attractive
8 How to Make a Habit Irresistible
9 The Role of Family and Friends in Shaping Your Habits
10 How to Find and Fix the Causes of Your Bad Habits
The 3rd Law - Make It Easy 11 Walk Slowly, but Never Backward
12 The Law of Least Effort
13 How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule
14 How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible
The 4th Law - Make It Satisfying
15 The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change
16 How to Stick with Good Habits Every Day
17 How an Accountability Partner Can Change Everything
Advanced Tactics - How to Go from Being Merely Good to Being Truly Great
18 The Truth About Talent (When Genes Matter and When They Don’t)
19 The Goldilocks Rule: How to Stay Motivated in Life and Work
20 The Downside of Creating Good Habits
Conclusion: The Secret to Results That Last
Quotes
“Problem #1: Winners and losers have the same goals.” “Be the designer of your world and not merely the consumer of it.” “Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.” “All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time.” “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement” “Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.” “You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.” “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”