Atomic Habits
By James Clear
An instant classic read. James Clear brings us loads of research and information on habits, how to break bad habits, how to develop habits, and how it can revolutionize your life, leadership, and organization.
Below are my notes and key hi-lighted passages from Atomic Habits by James Clear. (Italics = quotes from the book. Bold = my personal notes)
“Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years.”
Big things start small, everything seems like it is not making a difference in the beginning.
“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 the,. They seem to make little difference on any given day and yet the impact they deliver over the months and years can be enormous.”
“If you save a little money now, you’re still not a millionaire. If you go to the gym three days in a row, you’re still out of shape. If you study Mandarin for an hour tonight, you still haven’t learned the language. We make a few changes, but the results never seem to come quickly and so we slide back into our previous routines.”
“Success is the product of daily habits - not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.”
“Your outcomes are the lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is the lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat.”
On Goals: “True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.”
“People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through. Too many people try to change their habits without these basic details figured out. We tell ourselves, “I’m going to eat healthier” or “I’m going to write more,” but we never say when and where these habits are going to happen. We leave it up to chance and hope that we will “just remember to do it” or feel motivated at the right time.”
Discipline = Freedom from Jocko Willink. The more we implement schedule and structure to our lives the more we feel controlled and restricted. However, the more we implement schedule and structure to our lives, the more we can plan for the changes we want instead of just hoping we’ll remember or feel like doing it.
“When your dreams are vague, it’s easy to rationalize little exceptions all day long and never get around to the specific things you need to do to succeed. Give your habits a time and a space to live in the world.”
“Habits like “read more” or “eat better” are worthy causes, but these goals do not provide instruction on how and when to act. Be specific and clear: After I close the door. After I brush my teeth. After I sit down at the table. The specificity is important.”
On Discipline: “Instead, “disciplined” people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self-control. In other words, they spend less time in tempting situations.”
“The people with the best self-control are typically ones who need to use it the least. It’s easier to practice self-restraint when you don’t have to use it very often. So, yes, perseverance, grit, and will-power are essential to success, but way the way to improve these qualities is not by wishing you were a more disciplined person, but by creating a more disciplined environment.”
“Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one. You may be able to resist temptation once or twice, but it’s unlikely you can muster the willpower to override your desires every time.”
“Researchers estimate that 40 to 50 percent of our actions on any given day are done out of habit. This is already a substantial percentage, but the true influence of your habits is even greater than these numbers suggest. Habits are automatic choices that influence the conscious decisions that follow.”
“When working in your favor, automation can make your good habits inevitable and your bad habits impossible. It is the ultimate way to lock in the future behavior rather than relying on willpower in the moment.”
Many wealthy people credit automizing their finances for their success. Automatically taking a percentage of their paycheck to deposit into a saving account. Automatically investing a percentage of their income. There is tremendous power in automizing portions of our lives so as to reduce the friction of having to make the decision every time.
“The costs of your good habits are in the present. The cost of your bad habits are in the future.”
“When you make a plan - to lose weight, write a book, or learn a language - you are actually making plans for your future self. And when you envision what you want your life to be like, it is easy to see the value in taking actions with long-term benefits. We all want better lives for our future selves. However, when the moment of decision arrives, instant gratification usually wins. You are no longer making a choice for Future You. You are choosing for Present You, who wants to be full, pampered, and entertained. As a general rule, the more immediate pleasure you get from an action, the more strongly you should question whether it aligns with your long-term goals.”
“When you’re starting a new habit, it’s important to keep the behavior as easy as possible so you can stick with it even when conditions aren’t perfect.”
“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 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 left 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 secret to getting results that last is to never stop making improvements. It’s remarkable what you can build if you just don’t stop. It’s remarkable the business you can build if you don’t stop working. It’s remarkable the body you can build if you don’t stop training. It’s remarkable the knowledge you can build if you don’t stop learning. It’s remarkable the fortune you can build if you don’t stop saving. It’s remarkable the friendships you can build if you don’t stop caring. Small habits don’t add up. They compound.”