The book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear piqued my interest since I want to build more good habits and shun some of my bad ones. So I jump the bandwagon and bought it for a couple of bucks. And let me tell you, my money is well spent on this book!
Why should anyone buy a book on habits when you can just keep doing something until it sticks right? That’s how habits are formed right? Sort of. That’s what I thought before buying the book but I wanted to find out if there was something more to it so I bought it. And let me tell you, it was worth my time reading the book.
I’ve read somewhere that our habits are what drive our success and that habits push us to automate stuff we should do instead of thinking about it. I’m a fan of Ray Dalio’s book “Principles” and so I love to find ways of automating stuff in order to be more efficient at what I do.
What Else Did I Learn from Atomic Habits?
Atomic Habits states that we can change bad habits with good ones slow incremental changes that will compound big results in the long run. It’s enough that we remove bad habits, we should also replace them with good ones.
Habits are things we unconsciously do right? But what triggers these habits? There is a four-step approach to every habit:
1. Cue
A cue is something that triggers our brains for a reward. For example, the smell of hot chocolate makes us crave a drink. It’s the same cue we get whenever we enter Starbucks, that faint coffee smell we all love sniffing. For smokers, it’s usually boredom or worse, a transition time in between things you have to do, like eating. Smokers would smoke before and after eating. They would smoke before entering a building and then smoke again after leaving.
2. Craving
Once the cue triggers our senses, we are able to imagine the good feeling from it. Thus, wanting to get a sip of coffee or anything that makes you want it. Same cue can trigger an addiction.
3. Response
The response is the action. Buying the coffee, going out for a smoke, entering a casino, etc.
4. Reward
Lastly, that satisfying feeling comes while doing the habit.
So in order to break a habit, we first destroy the “cue” first in order to stop the old habit from triggering. To start a new habit, James Clear says that we should make the new habit obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying.
So if you want to form a new habit, follow these 4 your priority to change your bad one. For example, instead of smoking in between actions, do something else that will make you feel good. It depends from person to person. For example, I would like to develop the habit of exercising so when I’m about to go to work (transition cue from smoking), I will get on all four (craving for fitness), I will do 10 push-ups(response), and then flex (reward).
James Clear also gave tips to make habits stick and not necessarily want to replace an old habit. Let’s say you just want to develop the habit of drinking more water. Here are his tips.
1. Make it obvious.
Display the water where you always see it. Put a pitcher in front of your desk and every place you frequent. Don’t just leave water inside the fridge. Put it everywhere you always see.
2. Make it attractive.
Most people who don’t really like to drink water don’t want it coz it lacks flavor. You can incentivize drinking water by adding healthy flavoring like adding sliced lemons to make it lemon water instead of just water. You can put a label on your glass or water bottle with a motivational quote like “Water for my health, health for my family.” Use your health or family as motivation and reward.
3. Make it easy.
Don’t put a large glass of water. Instead, start with a small one to make the drinking a bit easier to perform when you’re not really into it.
4. Make it satisfying.
Everyone’s different. For me, drinking more water makes me feel healthier. But for others, the reward would be different. Maybe hyping yourself that you did good will make it satisfying. Maybe you can make a quota every day of the number of glasses you should finish. It’s always satisfying crossing boxes out.
Bonus Productivity Habit Hack from Atomic Habits:
Track your habits. Benjamin Franklin is known to have noted 13 virtues he wanted to abide with. He kept a diary with notes every time he practiced each virtue within the day. Keeping daily track of your habits will motivate you to keep the daily streak going.
Who is this book for?
This book is for the person who wants to develop a new habit. Atomic Habits is especially recommended to those who’d like to break a bad habit. James Clear’s book is for anyone who wants to change for good.
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