Book Review: Atomic Habits by James Clear

Nicotine. Alcohol. Caffeine. 

Three habits I quit in that order. Alcohol was not much of a habit but a craving every weekend when I hung out with friends, or needed to drink socially. Nonetheless, I kicked all of the above to improve my lifestyle. To be honest I have not really struggled with either breaking a habit or forming one. However, there are times when I need that wee bit of push to accomplish things. I picked up Atomic Habits as part of our monthly book club. And got hooked onto it from the very start. I have read pieces by James Clear on and off on his blog, however I never followed his writing. I am glad that I got this opportunity to read his book through the book club. 

James Clear’s writing style is very fluid and simple. He backs up every concept with a human story and gives enough evidence points. This book is a smooth and rewarding read. Something he emphasizes on as part of his habit loop. He also goes on to describe the four laws of habit forming and habit breaking. The wonderful thing about this book is that it can aid you in both, forming good habits and breaking the bad ones. 

Major concepts you would learn in this book:

The Habit Loop

The Habit Loop – by James Clear

For any behaviour to occur, we have to experience the four stages in the habit loop. Clear also described this as the feedback loop. These stages are divided into two primary phases – The Problem Phase and The Solution Phase. The problem phase has two aspects – the cue and the craving. We first experience the cue which triggers a craving for any action / behaviour / habit that we form. The solution phase allows us to respond to this craving and garner a reward. Thus satisfying the craving, and completing the habit loop. This loop encapsulates nearly everything that we do on a daily basis. 

The Four Laws of Behaviour Change

Clear breaks down the four steps of the habit loop into four laws that provide you with a framework that you could apply to create or break a habit. The four laws, each corresponding to the stages of the habit loop, is like a roadmap to behaviour change that is very easy to follow. 

1. The First Law (Cue) – Make it obvious
2. The Second Law ( Craving) – Make it attractive
3. The Third Law (Response) – Make it easy
4. The Fourth Law (Reward) – Make it satisfying 

The more we repeat a behaviour, it becomes a natural habit. One thing that amazes me about this book is the same framework when reversed works perfectly for breaking a habit.

At the end of the book I would say ‘When there is a will, there is a way’, and clear even gives you a framework to follow for that. 

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to either build habits, break habits or read a motivating non-fiction book.

I leave you with some powerful quotes from the book that I completely agree with and/or have impacted me.

• Your outcomes is a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is the lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a magging 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. 
• …habits need to persist long enough to break through this plateau – what I call the Plateau of Latent Potential.
• If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead. 
• The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it
• The effect of one-off experiences tends to fade away while the effect of habits gets reinforced with time, which means your habit contributes most of the evidence that shapes your identity. In this way, the process of building habits is actually the process of becoming yourself. 
• Each habit not only gets results but also teaches you something far more important: to trust yourself. 
• One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behaviour is the normal behaviour and (2) you already have something in common with the group.
• When you cling too tightly to one identity, you become brittle. Lose that one thing and you lose yourself.

Working out 5 days a week. Weekly blogging. Daily meditation.

Three habits I want to develop. I keep falling off the fitness wagon, which I intend to get back on as soon as my doctor clears me. Blogging is something I have to restart, with a weekly cadence. Although meditating daily is my goal, I want to make it a habit. Like muscle memory. At least 5 minutes a day. 

Tell me which habit you would like to make or break? What are your methods and frameworks?