How to become 377.78 times better at anything
(Atomic Habits)
How do you break free from bad habits and make the habits you desire easier and automatic?
Atomic habits by James clear have the answers.
Tinny change our habits can change the trajectory of our lives in ways that we can’t even notice until many
years into the future looking back. In both good ways and bad.
YOU ARE YOUR HABITS
The Power of Atomic Habits
“A SLIGHT CHANGE IN YOUR DAILY HABITS CAN GUIDE YOUR LIFE TO A VERY DIFFERENT
DESTINATION.” - James Clear
1. Massive Action VS 1% improvements
For too often, we convince ourselves that massive success is only possible through massive action in any
goal we are pursuing. We expect ourselves to make some quantum leap or momentous improvement that
will gain others attention.
However it is the tiny improvements, that aren’t even noticeable at first, that create incredible change.
Let’s look deeper into the Math.
1% better every day for a year will compound to nearly 38 times better.
1% worse every day for over a year will bring you close to zero!
Your habits can compound against you in the form of things like stress or negative self-talk. Or they can
compound for you in the form of things like knowledge, productivity, skills and relationships.
“SUCCESS IS THE PRODUCT OF DAILY HABITS – NOT ONCE – IN ALIFETIME TRANSFORMATIONS”
– James Clear
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2. The Truth About Progress
When you start any endeavor in your life, here is what we think should happen. Linear progress,
But here is what actually happens. Notice this section here. In the beginning, small changes in our progress
are not even noticeable. James Clear refers to this part of the graph as “the valley of disappointment”
You’ve done so much! Put in so much effort and you can barely see any results! This is where most people
fail and slip back into their old routines.
The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed so Patience is required.
3. Goals VS Systems
“FORGET ABOUT GOALS, FOCUS ON SYSTEMS INSTEAD” – James Clear
A goal is the result you want to accomplish.
Systems deal with the processes that lead to results.
The conventional wisdom suggests that the best way to achieve anything we want is life-getting into better
shape, building a successful business, spending more time with family is to set specific, realistic goals.
But if you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system, would you still succeed?
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The Author argues that you would. Here are some problems with only having goals. Successful and
unsuccessful people share the same goals, so therefore the goal cannot be what differentiates winners
from losers.
Achieving a goal only changes your life for a moment in time.
Goals can create an either or conflict. Either you achieve the goal and succeed, or you don’t and you are a
failure. Even if you were making progress in the right direction.
When you achieve a goal, what do you do after? If your goal was running the local marathon, chances are
after completing it, your motivation will quickly fade and you will just slip back into your old routines.
“GOALS ARE GOOD FOR SETTING A DIREACTION, BUT SYSTEMS ARE BEST FOR MAKING
PROGRESS” –James Clear
4. A System of Atomic Habits
The problem with changing your habits is not you. The reason why you repeat the same bad habit for so
long isn’t because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
Atomic habits are small routines and behaviors that accumulate to produce incremental positive
outcomes over time. Big breakthroughs tend to get more attention than small improvements.
But what really matters are the little daily decisions and actions we take.
“JUST AS ATOMS ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MOLECULES, ATOMIC HABITS ARE THE
BUILDING BLOCKS OF REMARKABLE RESULTS” – James Clear
There are 3 layers to behavior change.
The first layer is changing outcomes. The result. Losing that weight, writing that book, or winning the
season. The outcomes are what you get.
The second layer is changing your process. What you do. The workout routine, developing a daily reading
habit.
And the third layer is changing your identity. What you believe. Your worldviews and how you think about
yourself and others.
Most people focus on the outcomes but the best way to change you habits is by focusing on the person you
want to become instead of the results you want.
The goals isn’t to learn an instrument, it is to become a musician.
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The goals isn’t to run a marathon, it is to become a runner.
When something you want in your life becomes part of your identity. That is when your behaviors will
naturally change.
When you tell yourself and others “I’m a runner”. You want to live up to that identity.
Remind yourself, Every time you do a workout, you are an athlete.
Every time you write a line of code, you are a coder. Each time you instruct your team, you are a leader.
5. The Habit Loop
A habits is when something has been repeated enough times that it becomes automatic.
Ultimately, we want our habits to solve problems in our lives with the least amount of effort.
A habit is formed and reinforced by means of a continuous feedback loop:
Cue + Craving + Response + Reward
The key to creating habits that stick is to create feedback loops that are continuously being improved.
Cue: Phone buzz
Craving: want to know who messaged
Response: Pick up phone
Reward: Solve the problem of who messaged
Over time, a reward becomes associated with cues.
So, in this example, checking phone becomes tied to your mind going blank at work. And checking
Facebook may be the cue to check Instagram, which becomes the cue to check YouTube. And before you
know it, your mind going blank cue had led to 20 minutes of wasted time.
And you more you repeat these habit loops, the stronger and more automatic they become.
Cues can really be anything. A smell, a sound a sight, a person, a location etc. Try to think of any cues in
your daily life that are initiating your good or bad habit loops.
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So how can we influence the habit loop to work for us?
This book shows us the 4 laws that will guide us to do just that.
Law 1: Make it obvious
Most of your current habits are so automatic that you don’t even realize them. You must first become aware
of your habits before you can change them.
You can achieve that with your Habits Scorecard.
Write down all your behaviors on a habits scorecard, form moment you wake up until the moment you go to
bed.
Your scorecard may look something like this.
Based on whether it helps you become the person you aspire to be, categorize each habit as positive(+),
negative(-), or neutral (=).
At this stage we aren’t trying to change anything, just observe what is actually going on in our daily lives.
“UNTIL YOU MAKE THE UNCONSCIOUS CONSCIOUS, IT WILL DIRECT YOUR LIFE AND YOU WILL
CALL IT FATE” – Carl Yung
The reason people fail to stick to a habit is not because of a lack of motivation, but because of a lack of
clarity, “one day, I will get into shape” is easy to say to yourself but too vague to get any momentum.
What you need is a Time and a Place.
The most common cues – time and location – will help you achieve your goals.
Clearly state your intention to act using the following formula:
“I will [behavior] at [time] in [this location]”
Here is a bad example, “I will read more this month”
Here is a good example, “I will read a book for 15 minutes daily at 6am in the spare bedroom”
Another good way to get a habit started is by Habit stacking.
To stack habits, tie a desired habits to an existing habit according to the following formula:
“After [Current Habit], I Will [New Habits]”
For example: “After I brush my teeth, I will stretch for 5 minutes”
You can stack habits together, for example after you finish brushing your teeth, you will meditate for 10
minutes, then plan the rest of your day, before checking social media.
A “chain of habits” more likely to be sustained if you practice this consistently.
Choosing the correct trigger is essential. YOU NEED A TRIGGER CUE
Your trigger should be; something that you do automatically without fail during your day, such as waking
up, turning off your alarm or brushing your teeth.
James Clear tells us in the book that motivation is highly overrated.
You can better shape your behavior by designing your environment.
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We are more influenced by our environment than our willpower or motivation.
It’s hard to stick to positive habits in a negative environment.
“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior”
Creating a habits requires you to redesign the space around you (home/work) to
1- make it easier to see the cues for the desired habits and
2- avert bad habits by making them invisible
If you want to drink more water, want the cues visible and obvious. Place water bottle around the house in
places you are likely to see them.
Want to read more? Place the book somewhere you will see it.
If you want to get better on the guitar, don’t leave it out of sight in a closet.
CONTEXT IS THE CUE
Object in the environment do not determine our behavior: rather, it is our relationship to them that does.
Stop seeing your environment as a place simply filled with objects.
Imagine it as a place filled with relationships. The couch in the living room is the place where one person
reads an hour a night.
For another, the couch is where they watch Netflix and eat pizza and relax after work. If your relationship
with the couch is a place to relax, then trying to get a work related task done in that environment may be
difficult.
Try to make separated zones in your house for different activities.
The author likes to use the mantra “One space, One use”
If you are trying to eliminate a bad habit, you can only rely on self-control in the short- term.
Cutting off bad habits at the source is a more reliable solution and one of the most practical ways to
eliminate a bad habits is to make it invisible. Eliminate it from your environment.
For example: Put your phone in another room for a few hours if you have trouble getting work done. Put
junk food out of sight or remove it from your house if you are trying to lose weight.
Law 2: Make it attractive
When we expected to be reworded, we take action. The more rewarding an action is, the more likely we are
to repeat it until it becomes a habit.
Hence, the first step to forming good habits is to make them more attractive.
Understanding how dopamine affects your body will help you.
DOPAMINE & FEEDBACK LOOP
Our motivation levels are affected by dopamine, a hormone and neurotransmitter. We are more motivated
to act when our dopamine levels rise. By measuring dopamine, scientists can pinpoint the exact moment at
which a craving occurs. It was once assumed that dopamine was just about pleasure, but now we know it’s
vital to many neurological functions, including motivation, memory, learning, punishment as well as
voluntary movement.
The Hormone dopamine relished not only when we experience pleasure but when also we anticipate it.
“Gambling addicts have a dopamine spike right before they place a bet, not after they win”
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Let’s dive deeper into dopamine spikes,
Using social media, eating junk food and taking drugs are all associated with high levels of dopamine and
are highly habits forming. The Hormone dopamine relished not only when we experience pleasure but
when also we anticipate it.
Think about before going on a vacation. Sometimes the thinking and anticipation of the vacation is better
than the actual vacation.
Seeing the junk food you desire surges dopamine, not after eating it. Drug addicts increase dopamine when
they see the drugs, not after taking them.
The craving is what causes us to take action in the first place. Making our habits attractive is vital because
it is the expectation of a rewarding experience that drive us to act.
Here, you can use a strategy known as Temptation bundling: The temptation bundling process makes a
habits more attractive by combining an action we need to do with one we want to do.
For example: you could bundle watching Netfix (something you want to do) with working out (something
you need to do).
Temptation bundling applies a psychology principle known as Premack’s Principle. Developed by professor
David Premack, the Premack principle states, “More probable behaviors will reinforce less probable
behaviors”
In other words, even of you’re not looking forward to doing some exercise, you’ll become conditioned to do
it because you get to do something else you really enjoy.
Group Influence
WE ARE CONTINUALLY WONDERING ”WHAT WILL OTHERS THINK OR ME?” AND ALTERING OUR
BEHAVIOR BASED ON THE ANSWER – James Clear
We are influenced by the people closest to us. And the groups we belong to. If you trying to build a new
habits, one of the best ways to reinforce the habits is to find and become part of a culture where that habits
is the norm.
If you want to get into better shape, surround yourself with fit people. If you want to read more, join a book
club.
Primal motivators: the source of cravings.
In your normal everyday life you wouldn’t say something to yourself like, “I want to eat pizza because I
need to consume this food to survive”
Surface level craving are merely manifestations of our deeper underlying motives. And these underlying
motives guide or behavior.
Here are some example of underlying motives: Conserving energy, Obtaining food and water, Finding love
and reproducing. Connecting and bonding with others. Winning social acceptance and approval, reducing
uncertainty, Achieving status and prestige.
Your brain did not evolve with a desire to smoke cigarettes, check Instagram every 5 minutes or to play
video games. Online platforms and products do not invent new motivations, but rather appeal to the
underlying motives of human nature that we already have to gain our attention.
“YOUR HABITS ARE MODERN-DAY SOLUTIONS TO ANCIENT DESIRES.NEW VERSIONS OF OLD
VICES. THE UNDERLYING MOTIVES BEHIND HUMAN NATURE REMAIN THE SAME” –James Clear
People who have the underlying motive of connecting with others may jump onto Facebook, Others
seeking the underlying motive of finding love and reproducing may sign up for Tinder. Reducing
uncertainty, there’s Google for that. Seeking social acceptance, there is Instagram.
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Reprogramming your brain to enjoy hard habits
“YOU CAN MAKE HARD HABITS MORE ATTRACTIVE IF YOU CAN LEARN TO ASSOCIATE THEM
WITH A POSTIVE EXPERICENCE” – James Clear
By highlighting the benefits of a habits rather than its downsides, you can quickly reprogram your mind and
make it seem more appealing.
For example, Fitness = health and wellbeing and not fatigue.
Cleaning the house = an environment conducive to peace of mind and not wanted time.
Saving money = future financial freedom and not sacrifice.
Make it Unattractive
To break a bad habit, do the same but highlight the benefits of NOT doing that Habit, to make it as
unattractive to keep doing as possible.
Law 3: Make it Easy
How long does it actually take to form a new habit?
During habit formation, a behavior becomes increasingly automatic as it is repeated. As you repeat an
activity, your brain changes in order to become more efficient at it. Long before neuroscientists dug into the
process of forming habits, repetition was known as a powerful tool for establishing habits.
You activate particular neural circuits associated with habits every time you repeat them, So framing habit
formation in terms of time is flawed. It should be framed in terms of the numbers of repetitions.
Reducing Friction: The Law of Least Effect
The more energy required, the less likely it is to happen. It takes almost no energy to get into the habits of
reading one page of a book each day. Habits are more likely to occur when they require less energy. The
bigger the obstacle, the more friction there is between you and the require less energy. The bigger the
obstacle, the more friction there is between you and the desired outcome. If you need to travel 20 minutes
out of your way to go to the gym, chances are you will not. If your gym is located on your commute to work,
you will greatly decrease the friction. By making your good habits more convenient, you’re more likely to
stick to them.
Your life will be easier if you find ways to reduce friction rather than trying to solve it. In order to build better
habits, we have to find ways to reduce frictions associated with our good habits and increase friction
associated with our bad habits.
Prime the environment for use
By automating or setting up your environment, you can reduce the friction for future action, e.g. ”I will lay
out my workout clothes at night So I can get up and get moving in the morning.” Or to prepare a healthier
breakfast, place the pan on the stove, cooking spry on the counter and gather the ingredients the night
before. Again to reduce any friction. Using the 2-min rules to stop procrastinating.
Using the “2-min rule” can help you establish small habits that will lead to habit momentum and success in
bigger goals. Find a simple, 2-minute version of your desired habits.
To make something more difficult
Think about ways you can create barriers of friction between yourself and the bad habit.
Make it as impractical as possible, If you want to watch less TV, unplug the TV after each use and put the
remote in an inconvenient location.
When you go shopping, leave your credit card under the seat of your car. If you have the a bad habits of
spontaneous spending. Do anything you can to make your Bad habits less likely to occur.
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Law 4: Make it satisfying
The most important rule of behavior change.
A feeling of pleasure is a message to the brain. “This feels good. Let’s repeat this next time. When you
experience pleasure, your brain learns that a behavior is worth remembering and repeating”
“WHAT IS IMMEDIATELY REWARDED IS REPEATED. WHAT IS IMMEDIATELY PUNISHED IS
AVOIDED” – James Clear
The first three laws increase your chances of doing the habit this time.
The last law increases your chances of repeating the habits next time.
The Mismatch between immediate and delayed returns.
It is common for us to feel good about our immediate results, but bad about our long-team outcomes when
we practice bad habits. It is the opposite with good habits: the immediate result is unpleasant, but the
ultimate outcome is satisfying.
A certain amount of success in just about every field involves ignoring an immediate reward for a long-time
one.
It is best to add a little immediate pleasure to the habits that will pay off in the long run and a little pain to
those that won’t.
Rewarding yourself and feeling successful
“The vital things in getting a habit to stick is to feel successful.” - Even if it’s in small way. “The feeling of
success is a signal that your habits paid off and that the work was worth the effort.” It is satisfying to make
progress, and you can monitor your progress using visual measures, such as moving paper clips, hairpins,
or marbles. There “Little wins” can go a long ways.
For example, for each sales call you make today, move a marble from one jar to complete jar. For each 25
minute of writing, move a paperclip.
Visual measurements can take many forms: diet journals, workout logs, download progress bars, or even
page numbers in a book.
Keeping a habit tracker may be the best method to monitor your progress.
Habit Tracking
Using the habits tracker is a simple way to determine whether you did a particular habit. Tracking becomes
reward in an itself.
Crossing a task of to-do list. Compeleting an entry in an exercise logs or writing an X on calendar is
satisfying.
When life gets in the way (Bad days)
In spite of your best efforts, It is inevitable that life will interrupt you at some point. A bad day at work, a bad
performance, or a bad workout can happen to anyone. When you’re having a bad day, you don’t realize
how valuable it is to just show up.
“LOST DAYS HURTS YOU MORE THAN SUCCESSFUL DAYS HELP YOU.”
The Chain of Continuity
Don’t beak the chain of continuity. Every time you cross the day of your calendar for given habit, you are
creating a chain. Showing up is so important, missing two days or links in a row is the start of bad habit,
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Missing twice is the start of a bad habit; never do it. On a bad day, it’s better to do 10 sit ups (instead of
your normal 50) than not do them at all.
Breaking the bad habits: Make it Unsatisfying
Accountability Partners
How an accountability partners can change everything.
A behavior is less likely to occur when pain is immediate. Being held accountable by a partner is a good
way to keep your desired habits in check.
We all want to be liked and respected, so we would rather just avoid the punishment that we will be held
accountable too. For example- I own you $10 every time I miss a workout. Plus the respect I lose for failing
to do what I said I would!
Behavior is more likely to be influenced by concrete, and immediate consequences.
Habit Contracts
You can create a habit contract to hold yourself accountable, just as governments use laws to hold citizens
accountable.
You can create a habit contract either verbally or in writing, which makes it clear that you will honor a
particular habit and that there will be punishments if you do not.
You can then use your accountability partners to enforce that contract.
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DAILY HABITS
POSITIVE (+), NEGATIVE (-), OR NEUTRAL (=)
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