Atomic Habits by James Clear

To be more productive you want to create an environment that makes it easier to start good habits and harder to start bad habits.

Two Key Take Away

1. The power of compound improvements is like compound interest, they add up over time.
2. It is not about a habit, it’s about creating a system of behaviours to achieve your goals.

Introduction

Summary

My Story – During a high school baseball game, getting hit in the face with a baseball causing multiple broken bones and seizures. Getting airlifted to a bigger hospital in Cincinnati. Getting put into a medically induced coma and needing a respiratory to breathe.

My Recovery – They couldn’t see straight, they had to learn to walk in a straight line. They got cut from the varsity baseball team and had to play junior varsity.

How I learned about habits – Attending Denison University, he started with small habits that built up over time to being named NCCA all-academic team, winning other baseball and academic prizes. How and why I wrote this book – He started to write about his experiments and trials in habits and productivity. The website gained thousands of subscribers and he went on to form a business habitsacademy.com and write this book.

How this book will benefit you – Creating an operating manual to form better habits to create a better life. The four step models of habit – cue, craving, response, reward.

Chapter 1

Main Point

Small changes create big results over time. You need to set up a system rather than focusing on goals. You are either getting better or you are getting worse. Understand your goals, but don’t focus on them, focus on creating the best systems.

Summary

The Surprising power of atomic habits – The British cycling team was considered a joke in their sport. They hired Dave Brailsford whose strategy was “the aggregation of marginal gains.” Where can you get 1% gains and all those tiny gains added up can result in a large gain overall. They went on to dominate the Beijing and London Olympics. (there are allegations they they used PED’s)

Why small habits make a big difference – Our position is a reflection of our decisions over time. Getting 1% better or worse is nothing in the moment but magnified against time can create huge differences.

Your habits can compound for or against you – Positive compounding (Productivity, Knowledge, Relationships) . Negative Compounding (Stress, Negative Thoughts, Outrage).

What progress is really like – Progress is not linear, it doesn’t work in a perfect straight line. Progress is slow, very slow or even practically non-existent at first. It is years of very slow progress that leads to the overnight success.

Forget about goals, focus on systems instead – Many people focus on goals. A goal is an outcome you want to happen. You want to win the game. A system is the processes you put in place to achieve those results. “Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress (pg 27).

A system of atomic habits – Focus on a system that fits together that not only achieves your goals but will work long term. All of the small gains grow large over time.

Key Quotes

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement (pg 16)

You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than your current results (pg18)

Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions (pg 20) The score takes care of itself – Bill Walsh (pg 24)

A systems-first mentality provides the antidote. When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy (pg 26)

You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fail to the level of your systems (pg 27)

Chapter 2

Main Point

It is more important to figure out who you want to be and then build habits that align with that. You will become your habits so make sure you know where they are leading you.

Summary

How habits shape your identity (and vice versa) – Why is it so easy to form bad habits and so hard to form good ones? We are usually trying to change the wrong thing.

Three layers of behaviour change – First layer is changing your outcomes (focused on results). Second is changing your process (Focused on habits and systems.) Third and deepest layer is changing your identity (focused on your beliefs around who you are.)

Identity based habits – Focus on what you want to become. Are you a non-smoker or someone trying to quit? Are you a voter or someone who votes? Are you someone who wants something, or someone who is something? This is a double edged sword. If you think you are bad at maths etc. “Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs and expand your identity” – pg 36

The two-step process to changing your identity – “The more you repeat a behaviour, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behaviour” – pg 37. Your identity emerges out of your habits. You write everyday you become a writer. We continually change, bit by bit, habit by habit, day by day. “If nothing changes, nothing is going to change – pg 39”.

1. Decide the person you want to be
2. Prove it to yourself with small wins

The real reason habits matter – You need to know who you want to be? Not what or how, but who? Habits help you become the best version of you.

Key Quotes

Outcomes are about what you get. Processes are about what you do. Identity is about what you believe – pg 30/31

Your behaviour is a reflection of your identity – pg 34

Chapter 3

Main Point

Habits are constantly forming and your brain uses them to lower the cognitive load it has. It wasn’t to focus on one thing at a time and it uses habits to autopilot the other things. Habits form by the cue, crazing, response, reward process.

Summary

How to build better habits in 4 simple steps – In 1898, psychologist Edward Thorndike conducted experiments with cats. He was testing to see how quickly they would learn to activate a way out of a maze. When they got out they got some food. He stated that “behaviours followed by satisfying consequences tend to be repeated and those that produce unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated.” -pg 44.

Why the brain builds habits – A habit is a just a behaviour that has been repeated enough to become automatic. Habits form when over time useless movements fade away and useful actions get reinforced. Habits are mental shortcuts learned from experience – pg 46. A habit is nonconscious. Your brain can only think of one thing at a time and is always trying to offload jobs to the nonconscious mind.

The science of how habits work – Cue, Crazing, Response, Reward. Cue triggers the brain to initiate a behaviour. Crazing is a desire to change your internal state. Response is the actual habit, performing a thought or an action. A response depends on the friction, how hard or how capable you are to perform the action. Rewards are the end goal of a habit, the cue notices the reward, the crazing1st motivates us towards the reward, the response is the action taken to get the reward. The first point of the reward is to satisfy our crazing, the second part is to teach us actions work remembering.

The habit loop – The brain is constantly scanning for information and habits are constantly. They sit into two areas, Problem Phase (Cue, Crazing) and Solution Phase (Response, Result).

The four laws of behaviour change – To create a good habit.

• 1st Law (Cue) – Make it obvious
• 2nd Law (Craze) – Make it attractive
• 3rd Law (Response) – Make it easy
• 4th Law (Result) – Make it satisfying

To break a bad habit

• 1st Law (Cue) – Make it invisible
• 2nd Law (Craze) – Make it unattractive
• 3rd Law (Response) – Make it difficult
• 4th Law (Result) – Make it unsatisfying

Chapter 4

Main Point

We function automatically and nonconsciously. A way to overcome and change your habits is to raise your awareness of the automatic programming your brain has developed.

Summary

The man who didn’t look right – Our brain is a predictive machine. It is always trying to work out patterns. We form automatic habits that we don’t even think about. To break the cycle of a bad habit. As Carl Jung said “Until you to make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” – pg 62.

The Habits Scorecard – The Japanese subway systems use a system called Pointing and Calling. It is a way for them to verbalise what they are thinking, seeing, and doing. So that they are aware of what is happening. You can use this system to create a score card of what you do in the day. Make a list of your actions and score them as +, -, =. Not good or bad, but effective or not-effective to reaching your desired identity.

Key Quotes

Many of our failures in performance are largely attributed to to a lack of self-awareness – pg 64

The process of behaviour change starts with awareness – pg 66

Chapter 5

Main Point

Leverage your existing habits to make the first habit a cue for the next one. Be specific and what, where, when.

Summary

The best way to start a new habit – Create an Implementation Intent. I will do (bevahiour) at (time) in (location). Research has found that people that make specific plans about what they will do and when and where are more likely to create new habits. You want to be very clear on the what, where, when, this helps avoid traps that might derail your progress.

Habit stacking: A simple plan to overhaul your habits – The Diderot Effect is when you buy one thing the next purchase is likely to follow. You can use this with habits to form Habit Stacking on top of your current habits. Instead of time and place as with Implementation Intent you use a current habit. After I do (current habit) I will do (new habit). Again, specificity and clarity are important. Using the 1st law of behaviour change – Make it obvious.

Key Quotes

Many people think they lack motivation but what they really lack is clarity – pg 71

Chapter 6

Main Point

You can design your environment to create habit cues to enhance your ability to form habits. Create different spaces for different habits.

Summary

Motivation is overrated; Environment often matters more – Anne Thorndike ran a 6-month experiment about drink choices at Massachusetts General Hospital. They found that the placement of water options reduced soda consumption by 11% and increased waster purchases by 26%. People choose products not by what it was, but where it was. in 1952, Economist Hawkins Stern coined the phrase Suggestion Impulse Buying. Of the 11 million sensory receptors, 10 million are devoted to sight. You don’t have to victim of your environment, you can shape and design it.

How to design your environment for success – Every habit is initiated by a cue. Design your world so that there are multiple cues for your good habits.

The context is the cue – Your environment is full of relationships rather than objects. How you relate to something will be different than someone else. Different habits will be associated with different objects and different places. It is easier to associate a new habit with a new context than creating a new habit with an old context. Create separate spaces for each task, work, sleep, relaxation, creativity. Avoid mixing context of one habit with another one. It is easier to learn new habits in a stable environment where everything has a purpose and a place.

Key Quotes

Many of the actions we take each day are shaped not by purposeful drive and choice but by the most obvious option – pg 83.

Making a better decision is easy and natural when the cues for good habits are right in front of you – pg 86

Chapter 7

Main Point

To reduce a bad habit, remove the exposure to the bad habits cues. Make the cues for your good habit more obvious and the cues for your bad habits invisible.

Summary

The secret to self-control – In 1971, there was a study done that showed that 15% of the US soliders in Vietnam were addicted to heroin. The common belief was that an addiction was impossible to overcome. When they got back to the US only 5% stayed addicted. This revealed that behaviour could change if there was radical environmental change. Change the cues, you stop getting the desires. It is not a question of will power, it is about structuring your life so that you don’t need will power.

Chapter 8

Main Point

Use large stiumli to make actions more attractive. Combine something you want to do with something you need to do.

Summary

How to Make a Habit Irresistible – Niko Tinbergen would win a Nobel prize looking at the motivation of herring gull chicks to peck at fake beaks. They found the bigger the red spot the more they would peak and putting multiple red spots would make them peck faster.

This happens across most animal species. It is called Supernormal Stimuli. The food industry use it to get us to eat more. Processed foods have combinations that aren’t found in nature and prey on our drive for sugar, salt, and fat, even though we get more than enough in our modern diets.

The Dopamine-Driven Feedback Loop – Neuroscientists James Olds and Peter Milner ran experiments with rats looking at how dopamine played a role on their decisions. Take away dopamine and they wouldn’t do anything, they would just sit their till they died. Take away dopamine but give them sugar, they still enjoyed it but didn’t want it. We get a bigger hit of dopamine when we anticipate a reward than when we get the reward. Our brain has more areas involved with wanting something than liking something.

How to Use Temptation Building to make your Habits More Attractive – You can combine something you want to do with something you need to do. Ronan Byrne, an Irish engineer created a program so that his Netflix only played when he was cycling on his stationary bike at a certain speed. He combined wanting to watch Netflix with his need to work out.

Chapter 9

Main Point

We would rather be wrong and fit in that right and be outside the tribe. We use other people and groups actions to guide what we do.

Summary

The Role of Friends and Family in Shaping Habits – Laszlo and Klara Polgar thought that anyone could become a genius in their field with enough hard work and study. They tested this out on their children. They homeschooled them and taught them to play chess. All three girls became experts with the youngest Judit, becoming the youngest ever Grandmaster. What ever habits in your culture are normal become the most attractive behaviours.

The Seductive Pull of Social Norms – Human beings have done better when we are in tribes. Being kicked out of the tribe was a death sentence. Societal norms are invisible rules that guide your behaviour. To fit in with imitate three groups

1 – Imitating the Close – We pick up habits from those around us. Good or bad, if your friends are obese you are 57% more likely to be obese. You want to (1) join a culture where your desired behaviour is the normal behaviour and (2) have something in common with the tribe. Shared identity reinforces your personal identity.

2 – Imitating the Many – When we are unsure how to act we look to the group for clues. Psychologist Solomon Asch conducted a survey with one test subject and the rest actors. They would look at a card and confirm the correct length on the first card with 3 options on the second. After a few goes the actors would all say an obviously incorrect answer was the correct answer. 75% of people would go with the group. The more actors, the more likely people would go with the wrong answer. There is a tremendous pressure to confirm to the group. Changing habits to fit into the group is very attractive.

3 – Imitating the Powerful – More power means more resources, mates, and a better chance at survival. Once we fit in we want to stand out. Powerful people receive approval, respect, and praise, we find that attractive and want to copy their behaviour in an attempt to get that some power.

Chapter 10

Main Point

Every behaviour comes from a primal urge or motivation, these are expressed by cravings which are solved depending on you current solutions. Your brain predicts if you do the behaviour you will solve your craving and shift your state.

Summary

How to Find and Fix the Causes of Bad Habits – The book Allen Carr’s Easy way to Stop Smoking uses the 2nd law, make it unattractive. Framing all the behevaiours of smoking as unattractive. It sounds very over simplified to say just change your mind and you can change your habit. But it might be that simple.

Where Cravings Come From – We all have deep fundamental motives, to eat, sleep, be loved etc. Cravings are just a manifestation of those motives. The cravings are because we want to change how we are feeling. We predict if we do a behaviour we will feel different. Over time we learn the behaviours that make us change our state. We can create powerful habits if we associate them with positive feelings and state changes.

How to Reprogram Your Brain to Enjoy Hard Habits – Changing from ‘i have to’ to ‘I get to’ is a simple and powerful mind shift. Reframing a habit to look at its benefits rather than its drawbacks is an easy way to reprogram your brain. It is a way to retrain your brain to predict a positive outcome from the hard habit.

Chapter 11

Main Point

Potentially the most important steps to encoding a new habit is putting in the reps.

Summary

Walk Slowly, but Never Backwards – Professor Jerry Uelsmann broke his class into two groups, Quantity and Quality. The Quantity group would be graded on the amount of work they produced and the Quality group would be only allowed to put in one photo and it would be graded on its quality. All of the best photos came from the quantity group. They tried things, learned things, failed, tried other things, their experimentation created results. It is the different between motion and action. Motion feels like you are doing something but you are just preparing to do something. Motion is reading the book on coding, action is doing the coding.

How Long Does it Actually Take to Form a New Habit – It is not about length of time to form a new habit but about frequency. You need to get your reps up. The more often you repeat an action the better your brain is at wiring for that behaviour.

Key Quotes

If you want to master a habit, the key is start with repetition, not perfection pg 143

Chapter 12

Main Point

Make sure your environment adds or subtracts friction for the habits you want to form and for the habits you don’t.

Summary

The Law of Least Effort – We are wired to conserve energy where possible. We are lazy. When we have two options, we tend to take the one that requires less energy. In physics its called the Principle of Lesser Action. The 3rd Law saying make it easy isn’t to choose easy things to do but to make the act as easy as possible. Reduce friction between you and the habit to give yourself the best chance to do when you are not feeling up to it.

How to Achieve More with Less Effort – We want to reduce friction for good habits and increase friction for bad ones. Addition by Subtraction is where you remove all the wasteful, unwanted, unnecessary friction and get rid of it. Optimize your environment to be frictionless for the habits you want.

Prime the Environment for Future Use – How do we design the world to make it easy to do the right thing? Set up your environment to work for you. Want to write more, have your notebook and pen on your desk. Want to watch less tv, unplug it from the wall when you finish. When you are finished with one area get it ready for it’s next use.

Chapter 13

Main Point

Start the habit by doing a very easy version of the greater outcome. Want to run a marathon, start by running for 2 minutes.

Summary

How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule – Every day we have a number of Decisive Moments. These are small choices which lead to large outcomes. The moment isn’t going to the gym and working out. The moment is putting on your gym clothes and walking out the door to the gym.

The Two-Minute Rule – Figure out what your ‘gateway’ habit is. Simply attempt to do just two minutes of what ever your habit is. Even more than that, what is the smallest step you can take. You want to read more, just read one page a day. Once you have started you will probably do more. It’s not about being amazing, it is about showing up. Make the start of your habit a ritual.

Key Quotes

We are limited by where our habits lead us – pg 162

The truth is, a habit must be established before it can be improved – pg163

You have to standardize before you can optimize – pg 164

Chapter 14

Main Point

To create the future you want, you need to set up as many automated habits as possible.

Summary

How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible – You want to make it hard to not do your good habit. You can create a Commitment Device. This is something you do ahead of time when you are feeling good to insure you don’t do the bad thing when you will feel tempted. Paying ahead of time for gym classes means you will lose money if you don’t turn up.

How to Automate a Habit and Never Think About it Again – What is the single action you can set up that can lock in a habit? Technology can automate many actions so that you never have to think of them again. The flip side to that is technology can be very distracting. You can set up automatic payments, adding to your investments, website blockers so you can’t look at social media. Technology helps with tasks that are consistent but not frequent.

Chapter 15

Main Point

A habit is more likely to be repeated when it is enjoyable. Create some short-term reward path that aligns with the habit and the identity you are aiming for.

Summary

The Cardinal Rule of Behaviour Change – Make what you do immediately satisfying. We learn what we should do in the future but what we are rewarding for doing in the present, or we learn what we shouldn’t do by what we are punished for. Positive responses create habits, negative feedback destroys habits.

The Mismatch Between Immediate and Delayed Rewards – We evolved to favour short term rewards to long term rewards, our brains have not adapted to the new environment we live in. Usually the short term reward causes long term problems, eating junk food tastes great but you get fat over time. Short term pain creates long term rewards, going for a run will help keep the weight off. You need to add some immediate pleasure to the short term pain habits to get them to stick, and add immediate pain to the ones you don’t want to to form.

How to Turn Instant Gratification to your Advantage – To create the habit you want to feel successful in some way after doing it. This helps create a positive experience. The Cue makes you start the habit, and then a win at the end Reinforces the habit. The habit needs to be enjoyable for it to last.

Chapter 16

Main Point

Tracking your habits is a good way to visually represent your progress and help you see your improvement over time.

Summary

How to Stick with Good Habits Everyday – Stockbroker Trent Dyrsmid used the Paper Clip Method to achieve his sales target. Every morning he would start the day with 2 jars on his desk, one empty the other with 120 paper clips. After every sales call he would move one paper clip into the empty jar. Visually seeing your progress helps feel like you are making progress and reinforces the positive behaviour.

How to Keep Your Habits on Track – The simple way is with a habit tracker. Jerry Seinfeld had the “don’t break the chain” mantra. It was to write one joke a day, not about quality but just writing at least one joke per day.

• Tracking makes it obvious – It’s a visual cue that keeps you honest. We think we act better than we do and this helps keep you accountable.
• Tracking makes it attractive – The best form of motivation is progress. With tracking you can see what you have done. The small wins add up.
• Tracking makes it satisfying – It is a visual tool to show you that you are doing actions to turn you into the type of person you want to become.

If you can, make the tracking automatic. For those things that you can automate, only track the things that are very meaningful. It’s better to track that one thing diligently than 10 things sporadically.

How to Recover Quickly when Your Habits Break Down – You will break your habit for what ever reason. This is not terrible. What is terrible is not starting the habit back up. Don’t break the habit twice. Don’t fall into an all or nothing cycle where if you can’t do it amazingly you won’t do it. Get back on the horse.

Knowing When (and When Not) to Track a Habit – With tracking we can become number driven rather than the purpose behind the number You are trying to get healthy so you track your weight but this doesn’t tell the whole story. Goodhart’s Law states “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”

Chapter 17

Main Point

Making yourself accountable to someone else and adding a pain (cost) element can be a powerful motivating tool.

Summary

How an Accountability Partner Can Change Everything – Roger Fisher, WW2 pilot then Harvard Law grad studied crisis management and negotiation. He suggested that if the President wanted to fire a nuclear weapon, he would have to kill the person holding the codes to think about the death of innocent people before launching it. He wanted to make the action unsatisfying. The more unsatisfying the less likely you will to do it or repeat it. The pain needs to immediate, general, specific, and tangible to make the habit unsatisfying.

The Habit Contract – Creating a contract with others which details what you need to do and the punishment for not doing it can be a powerful tool. Having other people know and how you accountable adds a social cost to your behaviours. Knowing that someone else is watching you is a powerful motivator.

Key Quotes

Pain is an effective teacher – pg 206

Chapter 18

Main Point

Pick habits that take work for your personality and skills and find an environment where they have an advantage.

Summary

The Truth About Talent (When Genes Matter and When they Don’t) – Olympic champions Michale Phelps (6’4″) and Hicham el Guerrouj (5’9″) have the same length inseam. This makes Phelps a great swimmer and Guerrouj a great middle distance runner but they would be terrible at each others sports. Your genes can’t be changed but they can be advantageous when you put them into the right context and situation. You improve your chances of success when you work with your genes.

How Your Personality Influences Your Habits – Your genes are responsible for your personality. If you are more or less

• Open to experiences
• Conscientious
• Extroverted
• Agreeable
• Neurotic

Find the habit that works best for your personality. There are many habits you can choose so find what works for you, not what is popular.

How to Find a Game Where the Odds are in your Favour – It is easier to spend time doing things you enjoy than things you don’t. Picking the right habit and you find sticking to it easy, pick the wrong habit and it’s a nigthtmare. Use the strategy Explore/Exploit to figure out what to do. If you have time, explore. Try things, see what works. If things are working, spend most of your time exploiting that position. Tips for exploring

• What feels like fun to me, but work to others?
• What makes me lose track of time? (Flow state)
• Where do I get greater returns than the average person?
• What comes naturally to me?

You are looking for a favourable environment where your genes and personality have an advantage.

How to get the Most Out of Your Genes – Genes won’t make you successful. You will still have to work hard to get the most out of them. Genes tell you where you should be spending your time and effort. Focus on achieving your potential than worrying about what others are doing.

Key Quotes

The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition – pg 218

Genes do not determine your destiny. They determine your areas of opportunity – pg 219 Physician Gabor Mates

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 – pg 226

Chapter 19

Main Point

Try to get into the flow state, doing actions that are just to hard for you. To easy and you wont find them satisfying, way to hard and you will give up because they are too difficult.

Summary

The Goldilocks Rule – How to stay motivated in Life and Work – Steve Martin took years slowly improving his craft until he become a success. You want to find the flow state. Not to hard so that you will quit, not so easy that you will get bored. It is meant to be 4% above your current skill level.

How to Stay Focused When you get Bored Working on your Goals – It is about putting in the reps regardless of how you feel. There are Variable Rewards where you get rewarded but not consistently, think a slot machine. This is where that 4% too hard flow state works. You won’t get it right every time. You have to fall in love with the boredom – pg 236. Professionals turn up.

Key Quotes

10 years spent learning, 4 years spent refining, 4 years as a wild success – pg 230 Steve Martin

Boredom, is perhaps the greatest villain on the quest for self-improvement – pg 233

The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom – pg 234

The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over. – pg 236

Chapter 20

Main Point

We need to review our habits periodically to see if they are serving the identity we are creating for ourselves, and reflect if its the right identity.

Summary

The Downside of Creating Good Habits – When it becomes a habit it becomes automatic. This means that you stop thinking about it and this is when mistakes can creep in. To elevate habits to mastery you need deliberate practice.

How to Review your Habits and Make Adjustments – Coach Pat Riley created Career Best Effort (CBE) for this under-performing Lakers. He used is as a gauge to try to get his players to improve their output 1% over their last season. The secret is the right amount of feedback. Assessing everything all the time is bad. Not assessing ever is also bad. Improvement isn’t just about habits but looking at what you can do with your current ones. Are they fit for purpose ?

How to Break the Beliefs that Hold you Back – You align your habits with the identity you want to become. The problem is when that idea is too rigid and you don’t want to change because you are so focused on being ‘that’ person. A good identity should be flexible rather than fixed. I am not a basketballer, I am someone with discipline and problem solving.

Key Quotes

Habits are the backbone of any pursuit of excellence – pg 239

Chapter 21 – Conclusion

Main Point

One action won’t change your life but many actions repeated will eventually tip the scale.

Summary

The Secret to Results that Last – It is not about a destination, it is about constant improvement. Tiny changes that compound over time to turn you into the person you want to become.

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