📚 Atomic Habits
Book Title
Atomic Habits
(non-fiction | self-help)
Author
James Clear
Review
This book was recommended by an acquaintance of mine from highschool (indirectly, as I saw it shared on their social media account).
Honestly, this was one of the better self-help books that I’ve encountered, as it is full of actionable advice on improving habits.
The author, James Clear, gives a personal account of how he leveraged ‘small steps’ from habits to stack them into larger results. James also goes in-depth
as to the ‘why’ we should critically analyze our own habits and try to incorporate better habits into our personal lives.
The importance of building a system is discussed, as it make habits more consistent and achievable. Building a system allows the individual to focus on the process/journey, and get less hung up on a future goal (as motivation would decline after some time). James describes the ‘direction’ of habit change through the use of methapor, as one should change their identity (core of the apple) which would get them to act a certain way (flesh of the apple) and ultimately achieve their desired results as a by-product of their consistent effort (skin of the apple). Most people begin their habit change from the ‘skin of the apple’, which is the wrong direction as the majority lose immediate interest when the results don’t show quickly.
“Decide the type of person you want to be. Prove it to yourself with small wins.”
This book mentions how “every craving is linked to a desire to change your internal state”…
What if I can replace my bad habits such as binging shows or eating chocolate (which is a dopamine craving to make me relaxed) with journaling instead? What I really want is to feel different, and dumping my thoughts onto paper helps me relax while objectively looking at my internal state. Through writing, I am hoping it would allow me to look into my deeper underlying feelings associated with my current negative habits. Can I replace any with something positive that brings me the same relaxing results?
The 4 laws of building better habits (applicable to the cue-craving-response-reward phase):
- make it obvious
- make it attractive
- make it easy
- make it satisfying
I highlighted the third law as I found it to be the most effective from my personal experience. Habits are ‘obstacles’ to the desired outcome. I make my habits very easy that it is hard not to stick with it consistently.
For example, telling myself I would at least write one sentence today turned into this entire blog.
Finally, making progress is satisfying, which is why I track the habits that I want to keep - this ultimately allows me to focus on the process and get results as a bonus.
“The primary mode of the brain is to feel; the secondary mode is to think.”
So if I feel down, I write.
and then I think.
“Happiness is simply the absence of desire.”
-수완-