Atomic Habits

by James Clear

1. What are Atomic Habits:

The 1st meaning of the word atomic is tiny or small. So, atomic habits mean small habits. The 2ndmeaning is that Atoms are the fundamentals units that enlarge any system. Just like atoms improving tiny habits can give us a huge reward. The 3rdmeaning is that an atom is the source of great energy and power so are the atomic habits. If we add all the meanings, we can understand the basic philosophy of the book.

2. Why Tiny Changes Make a Big Difference:

As James Clear said in his book:

“Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations. Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.”

Just as the money goes up through compound interest, the effects your habits multiply as you repeat them. James clear says, if you keep improving 1% each day, at the end of the year you will be 37 times better. Conversely, if you are doing 1% worse each day, you will end with almost 0% improvement.

1% better every day for one year (1.01365) = 37.78

1% worse every day for one year (0.99365) = 00.03

3. The Plateau of Latent Potential:

Habits do not seem to make a difference until we cross a critical threshold. We expect progress to be quick, but the key aspect of any compounding process is that the effects are delayed until we cross a threshold what James calls as The Plateau of Latent Potential.

4. Forget About Goals, Focus on System Instead:

So, what is the difference between Goals and Systems? According to James Clear’s words:

“Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.”

5. The Three Layers of Behavior Change:

According to James:

“Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) We try to change the wrong thing. (2) We try to change our habit in the wrong way.”

6. How to Build a Habit in 4 Simple Steps:

James divided the habit building process into 4 stages:

· Cue:

The cue triggers the brain to start the action. Because it reflects the reward we will get.

· Craving:

Craving provides the driving force to adopt a habit.

· Response:

Response is the actual habit or process we adopt to achieve our reward.

· Reward:

In the end, the reward, for which we adopted a habit.

These four steps are called Habit Loop.