Atomic Habits

Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones
James Clear

We often dismiss small changes because they don’t seem to matter very much in the moment.

in order to make a meaningful difference, habits need to persist long enough to break through this plateau—what I call the Plateau of Latent Potential.

Goals are about the results you want to achieve.

Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.

Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.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.

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long-run.
*  Habits are a double-edged sword. They can work for you or against you, which is why understanding the details is essential.
*  Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient.
*  An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results.
*  If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.
*  You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.

You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity.

“What would a healthy person do?”

There are three levels of change: outcome change, process change, and identity change.
*  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.
*  Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
*  Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.
*  The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results (although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about yourself.

“behaviors followed by satisfying consequences tend to be repeated and those that produce unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated.”

Habits reduce cognitive load and free up mental capacity, so you can allocate your attention to other tasks.

They make you think that you have to choose between building habits and attaining freedom. In reality, the two complement each other.

The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: cue, craving, response, and reward.

How can I make it obvious? How can I make it attractive? How can I make it easy? How can I make it satisfying?


*  A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic.
*  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.
*  The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.

As the psychologist Carl Jung said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”9

the Habits Scorecard, which is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behavior.

Scoring your habits

The first step to changing bad habits is to be on the lookout for them.

you can try Pointing-and-Calling in your own life.

With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it.
*  Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing.
*  The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.
*  Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.
*  The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behavior.

implementation intention, which is a plan you make beforehand about when and where to act.

Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.

The habit stacking formula is: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].”

The 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it obvious.
*  The two most common cues are time and location.
*  Creating an implementation intention is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a specific time and location.
*  The implementation intention formula is: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].
*  Habit stacking is a strategy you can use to pair a new habit with a current habit.
*  The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].

You don’t have to be the victim of your environment. You can also be the architect of it.

Small changes in context can lead to large changes in behavior over time.
*  Every habit is initiated by a cue. We are more likely to notice cues that stand out.
*  Make the cues of good habits obvious in your environment.
*  Gradually, your habits become associated not with a single trigger but with the entire context surrounding the behavior. The context becomes the cue.
*  It is easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not fighting against old cues.

When scientists analyze people who appear to have tremendous self-control, it turns out those individuals aren’t all that different from those who are struggling. Instead, “disciplined” people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self-control.

To put it bluntly, I have never seen someone consistently stick to positive habits in a negative environment.

Instead of summoning a new dose of willpower whenever you want to do the right thing, your energy would be better spent optimizing your environment.

The inversion of the 1st Law of Behavior Change is make it invisible.
*  Once a habit is formed, it is unlikely to be forgotten.
*  People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It’s easier to avoid temptation than resist it.
*  One of the most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it.
*  Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one.

You can download a printable version of this habits cheat sheet at: atomichabits.com/cheatsheet

exaggerated cues as supernormal stimuli.

dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it.

strategy known as temptation bundling comes into play.

Temptation bundling is one way to apply a psychology theory known as Premack’s Principle. Named after the work of professor David Premack, the principle states that “more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors.”

The 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it attractive.
*  The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming.
*  Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. When dopamine rises, so does our motivation to act.
*  It is the anticipation of a reward—not the fulfillment of it—that gets us to take action. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike.
*  Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.

one of the deepest human desires is to belong.

“a person’s chances of becoming obese increased by 57 percent if he or she had a friend who became obese.”

Nothing sustains motivation better than belonging to the tribe.

The culture we live in determines which behaviors are attractive to us.
*  We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.
*  We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige).
*  One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group.
*  The normal behavior of the tribe often overpowers the desired behavior of the individual. Most days, we’d rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by ourselves.
*  If a behavior can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it attractive.

Your current habits are not necessarily the best way to solve the problems you face; they are just the methods you learned to use.

The inversion of the 2nd Law of Behavior Change is make it unattractive.
*  Every behavior has a surface level craving and a deeper underlying motive.
*  Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.
*  The cause of your habits is actually the prediction that precedes them. The prediction leads to a feeling.
*  Highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit to make it seem unattractive.
*  Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings. Create a motivation ritual by doing something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.

Action, on the other hand, is the type of behavior that will deliver an outcome.

There is nothing magical about time passing with regard to habit formation.

It’s the frequency that makes the difference.

The 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it easy.
*  The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.
*  Focus on taking action, not being in motion.
*  Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition.
*  The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.

The central idea is to create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.

Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort. We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.
*  Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.
*  Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low, habits are easy.
*  Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high, habits are difficult.
*  Prime your environment to make future actions easier.

Every day, there are a handful of moments that deliver an outsized impact. I refer to these little choices as decisive moments.

“When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”

The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things.

Nearly any larger life goal can be transformed into a two-minute behavior.

Habits can be completed in a few seconds but continue to impact your behavior for minutes or hours afterward.
*  Many habits occur at decisive moments—choices that are like a fork in the road—and either send you in the direction of a productive day or an unproductive one.
*  The Two-Minute Rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”
*  The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things.
*  Standardize before you optimize. You can’t improve a habit that doesn’t exist.

The average person spends over two hours per day on social media.

The inversion of the 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it difficult.
*  A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future.
*  The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits.
*  Onetime choices—like buying a better mattress or enrolling in an automatic savings plan—are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver increasing returns over time.
*  Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and effective way to guarantee the right behavior.

What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.

The best way to do this is to add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run and a little bit of immediate pain to ones that don’t.

The 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it satisfying.
*  We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying.
*  The human brain evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards.
*  The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.
*  To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful—even if it’s in a small way.
*  The first three laws of behavior change—make it obvious, make it attractive, and make it easy—increase the odds that a behavior will be performed this time. The fourth law of behavior change—make it satisfying—increases the odds that a behavior will be repeated next time.

Named after the economist Charles Goodhart, the principle states, “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.”

One of the most satisfying feelings is the feeling of making progress.
*  A habit tracker is a simple way to measure whether you did a habit—like marking an X on a calendar.
*  Habit trackers and other visual forms of measurement can make your habits satisfying by providing clear evidence of your progress.
*  Don’t break the chain. Try to keep your habit streak alive.
*  Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.
*  Just because you can measure something doesn’t mean it’s the most important thing.

Behavior only shifts if the punishment is painful enough and reliably enforced.

The inversion of the 4th Law of Behavior Change is make it unsatisfying.
*  We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.
*  An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction. We care deeply about what others think of us, and we do not want others to have a lesser opinion of us.
*  A habit contract can be used to add a social cost to any behavior. It makes the costs of violating your promises public and painful.
*  Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator.

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.

People get so caught up in the fact that they have limits that they rarely exert the effort required to get close to them.

The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition.
*  Pick the right habit and progress is easy. Pick the wrong habit and life is a struggle.
*  Genes cannot be easily changed, which means they provide a powerful advantage in favorable circumstances and a serious disadvantage in unfavorable circumstances.
*  Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities. Choose the habits that best suit you.
*  Play a game that favors your strengths. If you can’t find a game that favors you, create one.
*  Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.

one of the most consistent findings is that the way to maintain motivation and achieve peak levels of desire is to work on tasks of “just manageable difficulty.

The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.

sweet spot of desire occurs at a 50/50 split between success and failure.

You have to fall in love with boredom.

The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities.
*  The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.
*  As habits become routine, they become less interesting and less satisfying. We get bored.
*  Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference.
*  Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.

Habits are necessary, but not sufficient for mastery. What you need is a combination of automatic habits and deliberate practice. Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery

He asked each player to “improve their output by at least 1 percent over the course of the season. If they succeeded, it would be a CBE, or Career Best Effort.”

The CBE program is a prime example of the power of reflection and review.

Periodic reflection and review is like viewing yourself in the mirror from a conversational

The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it.

When chosen effectively, an identity can be flexible rather than brittle.

The upside of habits is that we can do things without thinking. The downside is that we stop paying attention to little errors.
*  Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery
*  Reflection and review is a process that allows you to remain conscious of your performance over time.
*  The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it.