Atomic habits is a book that demystifies habits!
First of all lets define what is a habit, a habit is a routine or behavior that is performed regularly and, in many cases, automatically just like waking up and having a coffee, or going to have a drink every Saturday.
This book really helped me see how our life consists of small habits, hence the book name atomic habits.
1. So the first insight I want to share is "Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long-run."
Atomic Habits explains why the little things you do every day matters. Your little habits matter. It may not seem like a big deal to skip a workout or to not read a few pages of a book, but it is a big deal.
Imagine if you improved your habits by only 1% every day. You'd be a totally different person in a year. Then imagine if you let your habits decline by 1% every day. You'd be in a much worse situation in life overall a year from now.
Your little habits - atomic habits - count for a lot in the long run. What little habits are you improving upon (or neglecting...) today?
I really love this concept because I know that in business you mostly don’t get instant results, this is why I am committed to improving at least 1 percent as for myself and on my business because I am sure that a year from now, the results are going to be great.
2. The second insight is "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems."
This is such an important point in the book. Oftentimes we focus on goals in our life, while neglecting to focus on the systems that help us achieve goals.
As an example, my room was always messy, it was like a Hiroshima bomb exploded in it, so each few month I would arrange it and clean it, but a week later it comes back to the same messiness it was in, why? Because i put a goal to fix my room, I fix it than I go back to my old habits, so what I did recently is that I created a simple system to keep my room clean.
Goal achievement can actually set us back if we don't set up a sustainable system. Get the systems right and then we'll indeed also achieve our goals. So determine what goal you want to achieve and then create a system that aligns with those goal. Systems > Goals.
3. Change Your Identity To Change Your Habits, a simple identity shift from “I want to” to “I am” makes all the difference in the world.
James proposes 3 layers of behavior change; (1) outcomes, (2) process, and (3) identity.
In order to have six pack abs (outcome), you need to workout consistently and eat well (process), to become a man who has a six pack (identity).
He flips this model on its head. He says “The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but who you want to become.”
He believes you first establish the identity, and then the process and outcomes will follow much easier.
So lets take an example , you choose an identity, lets say “I am a book reader “, so now the process is to read books, then the outcomes are amazing, you are going become a better person and more knowledgeable one, and you might help people with the knowledge that you have.
4. The 4 Laws Of Behavior Change.
The author offers a step-by-step framework for not only understanding human behavior, but also how to change it. Here are the 4 steps, which he refers to as laws:
-Cue
-Craving
-Response
-Reward
Here’s an example of a coffee drinking habit using this model:
Cue – you wake up.
Craving – you want to feel alert.
Response – you drink a cup of coffee.
Reward – you satisfy your craving to feel alert. Drinking coffee becomes associated with waking up.
This completes a “habit loop” so that you continue this habit over and over again. In the book, he has a section dedicated to each law.
Without going too deep, there are many possible cues and cravings. Maybe the cue is seeing your coffee machine, or passing a coffee shop on your way to work. The craving could be the taste of coffee, or the smell.
The cue and the craving are the “problem” and the response and reward are the “solution”.
5. Reduce friction for good habits and increase friction for bad habits.
Don’t keep a pack of cigarettes in your bag if you want to quit smoking and carry a gym bag to office if you want to work out in the evenings.
As for bad habits, lets say its coffee and smoking, in order to increase the friction and make those habits harder, simply when coming back home throw you pack of cigarette and don’t bring coffee to the house.
And to create a good habit or substitute a bad one, lets say smoking and coffee,you should bring home some delicious tea bags, and small healthy snacks , because remember only a habit can takeover another, we don’t eliminate habit, we replace habits with other ones.
So what was your favorite insight?