ATOMIC

HABITS BY
JAMES CLEAR
I knew, if things are going to improve, I was the one
responsible for making it happen.

The improvements were minor, but they gave me a

sense of control over my life.

Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will

compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to
stick with them for years. We all deal with setbacks but
in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on
the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you’ll
end up with the same results. But with better habits,
anything is possible.

What made him different from previous coaches was his

relentless commitment to a strategy that he referred to
as ‘the aggregation of marginal gains’, which was the
philosophy of searching for a tiny margin of
improvement in anything you do.

… and these and hundreds of other small improvements

accumulated, the results came faster than anyone could
have imagined.

It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one

defining moment and underestimate the value of
making small improvements on a daily basis.

Habits are the compound interest of self-

improvement.

It is only when looking back two, five or perhaps ten

years later that the value of good habits and the cost of
bad ones becomes strikingly apparent.

What matters is whether your habits are putting you

on the path towards success. You should be far more
concerned with your currents trajectory than with
your current results.
Your outcome are a lagging measure of your habits. You
get what you repeat.

Time magnifies the margin between success and failure.

Learning one new idea won’t make you a geneus, but a

commitment to lifelong learning can be transformative.

People reflect your behaviour back to you. Being a little

bit nicer in each interaction can result in a network of
broad and strong connections over time.

Breakthrough moments are often the result of many

previous actions, which built up the potential required to
unleash a major change. Habits often appear to make
no difference until you cross a critical threshold and
unlock a new level of performance.

The most powerful outcomes are delayed.

Mastery requires patience.

Forget about goals, focus on systems instead.

Goals are about the results you want to achieve.

Systems are about the process that lead to those
results.

Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are

best for making progress.

Winners and losers have the same goals.

We think that we need to change our results, but the

results are not the problem. What we really need to
change are the systems that cause those results. In
order to improve for good, you need to solve the
problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the
outputs will fix themselves.

It is unlikely that your actual path through life will match

the exact journey you had in mind when you set out.
You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the
level of your systems.

Focus on the overall system, rather than a single goal.

It is likely that this time next year you’ll be doing the

same thing rather than something better.

There are three layers of behaviour change — a change

in your outcomes, a change in your process, or a
change in your identity. The third and the deepest level
is changing your identity. This level is concerned with
changing your believes — your worldview, your self-
image, your judgement about yourself and others.

Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about

what you do. Identity is what you believe.

Many people begin the process of changing their habits

by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us
to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build
identity-based habits. With this approach we start by
focusing on who we wish to become.

Your old identity can sabotage your new plans for

change. Behind every system of actions are a system of
beliefs.

Behavior that is incongruent with the self will not last.

You may want more money, but if your identity is
someone who consumes rather than creates, then you’ll
continue to be pulled towards spending rather than
earning.

The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit

becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m
the type of person who wants this. It’s something very
different to say I’m the type of person who is this.

The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your

identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the
habits associated with it.
Your behaviours are usually a reflection of your identity.

Every action you take is a vote for the type of person

you wish to become.

Habits are the path to changing your identity. The most

practical way to change who you are is to change what
you do.

The real reason habbits matter is not because they

can get you better results (although they can do that),
but because they can change your beliefs about
yourself.

This is the feedback look behind all human behaviour

— try, fail, learn, try differently. With practice, the
useless movements fade away and the useful actions
get reinforced. That’s a habit forming.

Habit formation is incredibly useful because the

conscious mind is a bottleneck of the brain.

How to Create a Good Habit

#1 make it obvious #3 make it easy

#2 make it attractive #4 make it satisfying

MAKE IT OBVIOUS
we underestimate how much our brains and bodies can
do without thinking.

Carl Jung said, ‘Until you make the unconscious

conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it a fate’.

There are no good habits or bad habits. There are only

effective habits.
Implementation intention is a plan you make beforehand
about when and where to act. This is, how you intend to
implement a particular habit. The two most common
rules are time and location.

Broadly speaking, the format for creating an

implementational intention is — ‘When situation X
arises, I will perform response Y’.

Who make a specific plan for when and where they

will perform a new habit are more likely to follow
through.

Many people think they lack of motivation when what

they really lack is clarity.

When the moment of action occurs, there is no need to

make a decision. Simply follow your predetermined plan.

We often say yes to little requests because we are not

clear enough about what we need to be doing instead.

The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new

possession often creates a spiral of consumption that
leads to additional purchases.

You often decide what to do next based on what you

have just finished doing. No behaviour happens in
isolation. Each action becomes a cue that triggers the
next behaviour.

It is important because of the best ways to build a new

habit is to identify a current habit you already do each
day and then stack your new behavior on top.

The habit stacking formula is — ‘After CURRENT

HABIT , I will NEW HABIT ’.
The key is to tie your desired behaviour into something
you already do each day.

Habits like ‘read more’ or ‘eat better’ are worthy causes,

but these goals do not provide instructions on how and
when to act.
Motivation is overrated. Environment often matters
more.

People often choose products not because of what

they are, but because of where they are.

The most common form of change is not internal, but

external — we are changed by the world around us.
Every habit is context dependent.

Customers will occasionally buy products not because

they want them, but because of how they are
presented to them.

The most powerful of all human sensory abilities is

vision. Visual cues are the greatest catalyst of our
behaviour. A small change in what we see can lead to a
big shift in what we do.

You don’t have to be a victim of your environment. You

can also be the Architect of it.

Every habit is initiated by a cue, and we are more likely

to notice cues that stand out. When the cues that spark
a habit are subtle or hidden, they are easy to ignore.
Creating obvious visual cues can draw your attention
towards a desired habit.

If you want to make a habit a big part of your life, make

the cue a big part of your environment. The most
persistent behaviours usually have multiple cues.

By sprinkling triggers throughout your surroundings, you

increase the odds that you’ll think about your habit
throughout the day. Make sure the best choice is the
most obvious one. Making a better decision is easy and
natural when the cues for good habits are right in front
of you.

Most people live in a world others have created for

them. Be the designer of your world and not merely the
consumer of it.
Make the cues of good habits obvious in your
environment.

When scientists analyse people who appear to have

tremendous self-control, it turns out those individuals
aren’t all that different from those who are struggling.
Instead, ‘disciplined’ people are better at structuring
their lives in a way that does not require heroic
willpower and self-control. In other words, they spend
less time in tempting situations.
The people with the best self-control are typically the
ones who need to use it in the least.

Simply resisting temptation is an ineffective Strategy. In

the short-run, you can choose to overpower temptation.
In the long-run, we become a product of the
environment we live it.

Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term

one.

MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE
It is the anticipation of a reward — not the fulfilment of it
— that gets us to take action.

Desire is the engine that drives behaviour. Every action

is taken because of the anticipation that precedes it. It is
the craving that leads to the response.
We need to make our habits attractive because it is the
exaltation of a rewarding experience that motivates us
to act in the first place.

Temptation bundling works by linking an action you

want to do with an action you need to do.

The habit stacking + temptation bundling formula is

— After CURRENT — After HABIT I

HABIT , I will HABIT NEED , I will HABIT I
I NEED WANT
FAMILY AND FRIENDS
Behaviours are attractive if they help us fit it. We imitate
the habits of 3 groups in particular

— the close
— the many
— the powerful

The closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to

imitate some of their habits.

Our friends and family provide a sort of invisible peer

pressure that pulls us in their direction.

One of the most effective things you can do to build

better habits is to join a culture where your desired
behaviour is the normal behaviour. New habits seem
achievable when you see others doing them every day.

Your culture sets your expectations for what is ‘normal’.

Surround yourself with people who have the habits you
want to have yourself. You’ll rise together.

When changing your habits means challenging the tribe,

change is unattractive. When changing your habits
means fitting in with the tribe, change is very attractive.

Humans everywhere pursue power, prestige and status.

Once we fit in, we start looking for ways to stand out.
Many of our daily habits are imitations of people we
admire.

We imitate people we envy. High-status people enjoy

the approval, respect and praise of others. And that
means if behaviour can get us approval, respect and
praise we find it attractive.

Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient

desires. There are many different ways to address the
same underlying motive. Your current habits are not
necessary the best way to solve the problems you face.
They are just the methods you learned to use.
 MAKE IT EASY
Work slowly, but never backwards

We are so focused on figuring out the best approach

that we never get around to taking action.

When preparation becomes a form of procrastination,

you need to change something. You don’t want to
merely be planning. You want to be practicing. If you
want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition,
not perfection.

Habits form based of frequency, not time.

We are motivated to do what is easy. The less energy a

habit requires, the more likely it is to occur.

Habits are easier to build when they fit into the flow of
your life.

Prime your environment to make future actions easier.

RITUALS
Decisive moments set the options available to your
future self.

The difference between a good day and a bad day is

often a few productive and healthy choices made at
decisive moments. Each one is like a fork in the road,
and these choices stack up throughout the day and can
ultimately lead to very different outcomes.

Your options are constrained by what’s available. They

are shaped by the first choice.

We are limited by where our habits lead us. This is why

mastering the decisive moments throughout your day is
so important.
TWO-MINUTE RULE
Even when you know you should start small, it’s easy to
start too big. When you dream about making a change,
excitement inevitably takes over and you end up trying
to do too much too soon.

The truth is, the habit must be established before it can

be improved.

Instead of trying to engineer a perfect habit from the

start, do the easy thing on a more consistent basis. You
have to standardise before you can optimise.

Make it easy to start and the rest will follow.

It is better to do less than you hoped than to do nothing

at all.

MAKE IT SATISFYING
We are more likely to repeat a behaviour when the
experience is satisfying.

What is rewarded is repeated. What is punished is

avoided. You learn what to do in the future based on
what you were rewarded for doing (or punished for
doing) in the past. Positive emotions cultivate habits.
Negative emotions destroy them.

The first 3 laws of behaviour change — make it obvious,

make it attractive, make it easy — increase the odds
that a behaviour will be performed this time. The fourth
law of behaviour change — make it satisfying —
increases the odds that a behaviour will be repeated
next time. It completes the habit loop.
But there is a trick. We are not looking for just any type
of satisfaction. We are looking for immediate
satisfaction.

The consequences of bad habits are delayed while

the rewards are immediate.
Every habit produces multiple outcomes across time.

The costs of good habits are in the present.

The costs of bad habits are in the future.

The brain’s tendency to prioritize the present moment

means you can’t rely on good intentions.

Success in nearly every field requires you to ignore an

immediate reward in favour of a delayed reward.

It takes time for the evidence to accumulate and a new

identity to emerge. Immediate reinforcement helps
maintain motivation in the short term while you’re
waiting for the long-term rewards to arrive.

Perhaps the best way to measure your progress is

with a habit tracker.

‘Don’t break the chain’ is a powerful mantra.

The mere act of tracking a behaviour can spark the urge

to change it.
Habit tracking also keeps you honest. Most of us have a
distorted view of our own betaviour. We thing we act
better than we do.

Habit tracking also helps to keep your eye on the ball —

you’re focused on the process rather than the result.

Never miss twice. Missing one is an accident. Missing

twice is a start of a new habit.

We optimise for what we measure. When we choose

the wrong measurement, we get the wrong behaviour.

One of the most satisfying feelings is the feeling of

making progress.

When the consequences are severe, people learn

quickly.

Knowing someone is watching can be a powerful

motivator. We care about the opinions of those around
us because it helps if others like us.