“Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
James Clear
Atomic habits is a guide to breaking bad habits and adopting good ones in four steps, showing you how small, incremental, everyday routines compound into massive, positive change over time.
This is one of the books on my ‘to read’ list as I am repeatedly coming across very pertinent quotes when writing my blog posts.
“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.”
Cue. A piece of information that suggests there’s a reward to be found, like the smell of a cookie or a dark room waiting to light up.
Craving. The motivation to change something to get the reward, like tasting the delicious cookie or being able to see.
Response. Whatever thought or action you need to take to get to the reward.
Reward. The satisfying feeling you get from the change, along with the lesson whether to do it again or not.
For a more in depth look at the book I refer you to this summary
Three key points
An atomic habit is a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do but is also the source of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth.
Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years.
The Five Big Ideas
1) Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.
2) If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.
3) 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.
4) The Four Laws of Behaviour Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are:
(1) make it obvious e.g. don’t hide your fruits in your fridge, put them on display
(2) make it attractive, Start with the fruit you like the most, so you’ll actually want to eat one when you see it.
(3) make it easy - don’t create needless friction by focusing on fruits that are hard to peel. Bananas and apples are super easy to eat, for example and
(4) make it satisfying. If you like the fruit you picked, you’ll love eating it and feel healthier as a result!
(5) "Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behaviour.”
“Habits are a double-edged sword. They can work for you or against you, which is why understanding the details is essential.” James Clear
To learn a little more about the Science of Habits , cognitive neuroscientist Marco Badwal talks about the building and implementation of habits and their benefit to help us ‘get a bit better every day.
