Atomic Habits - the Best Book for Personal Growth? Learn to Create Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

About Atomic Habits Book

James Clear is one of the world's top experts on habit formation and the author of the New York Times bestselling book Atomic Habits. The system holds the key to forming lasting habits and breaking bad ones. By teaching readers basic behaviors derived from biology, psychology, and neuroscience, Clear makes positive behaviors repeatable and negative behaviors unpleasant in Atomic Habits. All of these behaviors can be readily applied to daily life and the workplace. 

How to Keep Your Habits on Track?

One easy way to figure out whether you completed a habit is to use a habit tracker. Getting a calendar and marking off each day you follow your routine is the simplest format. For instance, you receive an X on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday if you meditate on those days. The calendar starts to document your habit streak as time goes on.

Many people have tracked their habits, but Benjamin Franklin is perhaps the most well-known. Franklin started tracking thirteen personal virtues with a small booklet that he carried with him everywhere he went at the age of twenty. Among the targets on this list were "Lose no time." “Be always employed in something useful” and “Avoid trifling conversa­tion.” Franklin would open his booklet and record his progress at the end of each day. 

It's been said that Jerry Seinfeld also uses a habit tracker to maintain his joke writing streak. He stated that his objective is to "never break the chain" of writing jokes every day in the documentary - Comedian. In other words, he doesn't care how good or bad a joke is or how inspired he feels. All he wants to do is keep up his current streak and show up every day.

The Results of the Good Habit Strategy

The world used to make fun of the British Cycling team. British Cycling has had one setback after another since 1908. The list of achievements was surprisingly short, with just one Olympic gold medal and no Tour de France victories. That is all. As other nations achieved success and recognition, while the United Kingdom was left feeling humiliated.

When Dave Brailsford was appointed Performance Director for British Cycling in 2003, everything changed. Leading the team to the summit of the mountain and assisting them in overcoming previous setbacks was a nearly unachievable task that Brailsford faced. He developed a strategy that he called the "aggregation of marginal gains" to accomplish his objectives. He broke down every aspect of riding a bike and discovered ways to enhance things by 1% (diet, equipment, training routines, and more). According to him, the team's overall performance would be theoretically enhanced by all of these quick wins.

The results were incredible and fast. British Cycling won 60 percent of the gold medals at the 2008 Olympics, just five years after hiring Brailsford. They broke seven world records at the 2012 Summer Olympics. A British rider won the Tour de France five times between 2012 and 2017. Records and world titles piled up.

The strategy of making small daily changes to get a big overall impact is something author James Clear outlines in Atomic Habits.

What’s the Special Recipe? 

The following two portions from Atomic Habits' first chapter show how Clear places the framework of habit formation: 

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The same way that money multiplies through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them. They seem to make little difference on any given day and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous. 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.

Habits are like the atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that contributes to your overall improvement. At first, these tiny routines seem insignificant, but soon they build on each other and fuel bigger wins that multiply to a degree that far outweighs the cost of their initial investment. They are both small and mighty. This is the meaning of the phrase atomic habits—a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do, but also the source of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth.

James Clear supports systems, claiming that they are a far more efficient way of achieving desired outcomes than setting goals ("winners and losers have the same goals"). The majority of the book caters to four laws of habits, which he addresses in his framework for creating a "system of compound growth." The following laws apply:

• The 1st Law: Make It Obvious

e.g. Becoming aware of your current habits - design your environment to make good habits obvious and visible.

• The 2nd Law: Make It Attractive

e.g. Bundling habits so that you’re rewarded with a “temptation” habit whenever you do a good habit.

• The 3rd Law: Make It Easy

e.g. Downscaling habits so they can be done in two minutes or less, increasing the likelihood they’ll be done again.

• The 4th Law: Make It Satisfying

e.g. Create a habit tracker a start a streak that you won’t want to break.

The Power of Habit Stacking

Stacked habits are a great way to form good habits. The way this works is that you build a new habit on top of an existing good habit. It allows you to easily link one good behavior to another. The more you can fit it into your everyday schedule, the better.

In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear uses the example of habit stacking of pausing for a minute to meditate after making a cup of coffee in the morning. It creates a link between an existing behavior and a desired new habit. Other examples could be sending your spouse a text message as soon as you start the car and head home, or checking your work email as soon as you get to work. Your habits become interconnected as one action leads to another. Yes, this may seem like basic information, but the more you build upon it, the better off you'll be. Remember the impact just 1 percent can make.

Additionally, you should set up situations that improve your chances of habit success. For instance, prepare your gym clothes the night before if you're hoping to work out more. This is also a valid strategy for breaking unhealthy habits. Eliminate junk food from your home if you're attempting to lose weight to make it easier for you to stick to your plan. At the absolute least, keep the temptation hidden if you are unable to accomplish that. By doing it, you generate the friction necessary to break negative habits.

BONUS: Make Habits Rewarding

You can also make building new habits easier by linking them with rewards. As you form habits that reinforce your identity, you have something more specific to aim for. James Clear tells the story of a couple who decided to cook together more frequently rather than go out to eat. They saved $50 in an account they named "Trip to Europe" when they stopped from going out to dine. They were able to use the money they saved after a year to travel to Europe. The couple enjoyed their vacation, but more importantly, they had formed a new, healthier habit that will last much longer.

Finally, even though these lessons from Atomic Habits may highlight the necessity of making things easier on yourself, it's crucial to put them into practice rather than just reading this article or the book. By doing so, you'll soon start to form successful habits that will benefit you personally and professionally.