Atomic Habits by James Clear

Rating: 8/10

There have been very few books that have changed my life. Atomic Habits is one such book that has truly affected me in a good way. So here is my attempt to summarise “Atomic Habits” a book beautifully written by James Clear. I’d recommend this book to anyone who wants to build good habits and let go of the bad ones.

Chapter 1 Summary:

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long-run.

“1% BETTER EVERY DAY”
“1% worse every day for one year. 0.99365 = 00.031% better every day for one year. 1.01365 = 37.78”

Idea: HABITS CAN COMPOUND FOR YOU OR AGAINST YOU

• Habits are a double-edged sword. They can work for you or against you, which is why understanding the details is essential.

Positive Compounding:

Productivity compounds:  Accomplishing one extra task is a small feat on any given day, but it counts for a lot over an entire career. The effect of automating an old task or mastering a new skill can be even greater.”The more tasks you can handle without thinking, the more your brain is free to focus on other areas.

Knowledge compounds: Learning one new idea won’t make you a genius, but a commitment to lifelong learning can be transformative. Furthermore, each book you read not only teaches you something new but also opens up different ways of thinking about old ideas. As Warren Buffett says, “That’s how knowledge works. It builds up, like compound interest.”

Relationships compound: People reflect your behavior back to you. The more you help others, the more others want to help you. Being a little bit nicer in each interaction can result in a network of broad and strong connections over time.

Negative Compounding:

Stress compounds: The frustration of a traffic jam. The weight of parenting responsibilities. The worry of making ends meet. The strain of slightly high blood pressure. By themselves, these common causes of stress are manageable. But when they persist for years, little stresses compound into serious health issues.

Negative thoughts compound: The more you think of yourself as worthless, stupid, or ugly, the more you condition yourself  to interpret life that way. You get trapped in a thought loop. The same is true for how you think about others. Once you fall into the habit of seeing people as angry, unjust, or selfish, you see those kind of people everywhere.”

Outrage compounds: Riots, protests, and mass movements are rarely the result of a single event. Instead, a long series of microaggressions and daily aggravations slowly multiply until one event tips the scales and outrage spreads like wildfire.”

Idea: THE PLATEAU OF LATENT POTENTIAL

• Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient.

• An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results.”

• “If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.

• You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

Chapter 2 Summary

• There are three levels of change: outcome change, process change, and identity change.

• The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.

• Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.

• Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.

• The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results (although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about yourself.

Chapter 3 Summary:

• A habit is a behavior that has been 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.

• Any habit can be broken down into a feedback loop that involves four steps: cue, craving, response, and reward.

• Eliminate the cue and your habit will never start. Reduce the craving and you won’t experience enough motivation to act. Make the behavior difficult and you won’t be able to do it. And if the reward fails to satisfy your desire, then you’ll have no reason to do it again in the future. Without the first three steps, a behavior will not occur. Without all four, a behavior will not be repeated.

• The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.

How to Create 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.

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.

1st Law Make it Obvious(cue)

Chapter 4 Summary : –

• With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it.
  
• Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing.
  
• The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.
  
• Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a non-conscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.
  
• The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behavior.”
  

Chapter 5 Summary :

• The 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it obvious.
  
• The two most common cues are time and location.
  
• Creating an implementation intention is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a specific time and location.
  
• The simple way to apply this strategy to your habits is to fill out this sentence:
  

I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].

• Meditation. I will meditate for 10 minutes at 9.30 a.m. in my study.
  
• Studying. I will study IOS for sixty minutes at 11 a.m. in my study.
  
• Exercise. I will exercise for one hour at 8 a.m. in my Living room.
  
• Marriage. I will make my partner a cup of coffee at 9 a.m. in the kitchen.
  
• “The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].” Below is my Morning routine inspired by This book’s habit stacking :

1. After I finish my Exercise, I will bath and clean up for 15 mins !
   
2. After I clean up , I will meditate for 10 mins.
   
3. After I meditate 10 mins, I will write my highlights and To-Do list.
   
4. After I finish my To-do list for the day, I will immediately begin my first task.
   

Similarly , I have my work and evening routines and habit stacking has helped me greatly to stick with many smaller habits.

2nd Law , Make it attractive (Craving)

Chapter 8 Summary–

• If you want to check Facebook, but you need to exercise more:
  • After I pull out my phone, I will do ten burpees (need).
  • After I do ten burpees, I will check Facebook (want).

• The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming.
• Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. When dopamine rises, so does our motivation to act.
• It is the anticipation of a reward—not the fulfillment of it—that gets us to take action. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike.
• Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.

Chapter 9 Summary-

• The culture we live in determines which behaviors are attractive to us.
• We imitate the habits of three groups in particular:
  • The close. – We pick up habits from the people around us. We copy the way our parents handle arguments, the way our peers flirt with one another, the way our coworkers get results. 
  • The many – 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.
  • The powerful – We are drawn to behaviors that earn us respect, approval, admiration, and status.
• We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.
• We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige).
• One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group.
• The normal behavior of the tribe often overpowers the desired behavior of the individual. Most days, we’d rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by ourselves.
• If a behavior can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it attractive.”

Chapter 10 Summary-

• The inversion of the 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it unattractive.

“WHERE CRAVINGS COME FROM”
Some of our underlying motives include:*Conserve energyObtain food and waterFind love and reproduceConnect and bond with othersWin social acceptance and approvalReduce uncertaintyAchieve status and prestige

• Every behavior has a surface level craving and a deeper underlying motive.
• Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.
• The cause of your habits is actually the prediction that precedes them. The prediction leads to a feeling.
• Highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit to make it seem unattractive.
• Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings. Create a motivation ritual by doing something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.

3rd Law Make it easy (Response)

Chapter 11 Summary-

• The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.
• Focus on taking action, not being in motion.
• Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition.
• The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.”

Chapter 12 Summary-

• Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort. We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.
• Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.
• Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low, habits are easy.
• Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high, habits are difficult.
• Prime your environment to make future actions easier.
  • Want to draw more? Put your pencils, pens, notebooks, and drawing tools on top of your desk, within easy reach.
  • Want to exercise? Set out your workout clothes, shoes, gym bag, and water bottle ahead of time.
  • Want to improve your diet? Chop up a ton of fruits and vegetables on weekends and pack them in containers, so you have easy access to healthy, ready-to-eat options during the week.

Chapter 13 Summary-

• Habits can be completed in a few seconds but continue to impact your behavior for minutes or hours afterward.
• THE TWO-MINUTE RULE : When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.
  • “Read before bed each night” becomes “Read one page.”
  • “Do thirty minutes of yoga” becomes “Take out my yoga mat.”
  • “Study for class” becomes “Open my notes.”
  • “Fold the laundry” becomes “Fold one pair of socks.”
  • “Run three miles” becomes “Tie my running shoes.”

• Many habits occur at decisive moments—choices that are like a fork in the road—and either send you in the direction of a productive day or an unproductive one.
• The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things.
• Standardize before you optimize. You can’t improve a habit that doesn’t exist.

Chapter 14 Summary-

• The inversion of the 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it difficult.
• A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future.
• The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits.

• Onetime choices—like buying a better mattress or enrolling in an automatic savings plan—are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver increasing returns over time.
• Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and effective way to guarantee the right behavior.

4th Law – Make it Satisfying. (Reward)

Chapter 15 Summary-

• The 4th Law of Behavior Change is to make it 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.
• We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying.
• The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards.
• The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.
• To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful—even if it’s in a small way.
• The first three laws of behavior change—make it obvious, make it attractive, and make it easy—increase the odds that a behavior will be performed this time. The fourth law of behavior change—make it satisfying—increases the odds that a behavior will be repeated next time.

Chapter 16 Summary-

• One of the most satisfying feelings is the feeling of making progress.
• A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit—like marking an X on a calendar.
• Habit trackers and other visual forms of measurement can make your habits satisfying by providing clear evidence of your progress.
  • “Benefit #1: Habit tracking is obvious.”
  • “Benefit #2: Habit tracking is attractive.”
  • “Benefit #3: Habit tracking is satisfying.”

• The habit stacking + habit tracking formula is:

After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [TRACK MY HABIT].
After I hang up the phone from a sales call, I will move one paper clip over.After I finish each set at the gym, I will record it in my workout journal.After I put my plate in the dishwasher, I will write down what I ate.”

• Don’t break the chain. Try to keep your habit streak alive.
• Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.
• Just because you can measure something doesn’t mean it’s the most important thing.

Chapter 17 Summary-

• The inversion of the 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it unsatisfying.
• We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.
• An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction. We care deeply about what others think of us, and we do not want others to have a lesser opinion of us.
• A habit contract can be used to add a social cost to any behavior. It makes the costs of violating your promises public and painful.
• Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator.

Chapter 18 Summary-

• When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different. By combining your skills, you reduce the level of competition, which makes it easier to stand out. You can shortcut the need for a genetic advantage (or for years of practice) by rewriting the rules. A good player works hard to win the game everyone else is playing. A great player creates a new game that favors their strengths and avoids their weaknesses.
• The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition.
• Pick the right habit and progress is easy. Pick the wrong habit and life is a struggle.
• Genes cannot be easily changed, which means they provide a powerful advantage in favorable circumstances and a serious disadvantage in unfavorable circumstances.
• Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities. Choose the habits that best suit you.
• Play a game that favors your strengths. If you can’t find a game that favors you, create one.
• Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.

Chapter 19 Summary-

• The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities.
• Once a habit has been established, however, it’s important to continue to advance in small ways. These little improvements and new challenges keep you engaged. And if you hit the Goldilocks Zone just right, you can achieve a flow state.”A flow state is the experience of being “in the zone” and fully immersed in an activity. Scientists have tried to quantify this feeling. They found that to achieve a state of flow, a task must be roughly 4 percent beyond your current ability. In real life it’s typically not feasible to quantify the difficulty of an action in this way, but the core idea of the Goldilocks Rule remains: working on challenges of just manageable difficulty—something on the perimeter of your ability—seems crucial for maintaining motivation.”

• I can guarantee that if you manage to start a habit and keep sticking to it, there will be days when you feel like quitting. When you start a business, there will be days when you don’t feel like showing up. When you’re at the gym, there will be sets that you don’t feel like finishing. When it’s time to write, there will be days that you don’t feel like typing. But stepping up when it’s annoying or painful or draining to do so, that’s what makes the difference between a professional and an amateur.”
• Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way. Professionals know what is important to them and work toward it with purpose; amateurs get pulled off course by the urgencies of life”
• The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.
• As habits become routine, they become less interesting and less satisfying. We get bored.
• Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference.

Chapter 20 Summary-

• Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery

• “Habits deliver numerous benefits, but the downside is that they can lock us into our previous patterns of thinking and acting—even when the world is shifting around us. Everything is impermanent. Life is constantly changing, so you need to periodically check in to see if your old habits and beliefs are still serving you.A lack of self-awareness is poison. Reflection and review is the antidote.
• The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it.

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