The focus should always be on becoming that type of person, not getting a particular outcome. The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: cue, craving, response, and reward.The cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue. Together, these four steps form a neurological feedback loop that ultimately allows you to create atomic habits. This cycle is known as the habit loop. BooksConcepts Book Summary Atomic Habits by James Clear 14 minutes read Atomic Habits INTRODUCTION Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years. We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible. THE FUNDAMENTALS Improving by 1 percent isn’t particularly notable — sometimes it isn’t even noticeable — but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. The difference a tiny improvement can make over time is astounding. Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more. Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations. In order to make a meaningful difference, habits need to persist long enough to break through this plateau — what I call the Plateau of Latent Potential. Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. A handful of problems arise when you spend too much time thinking about your goals and not enough time designing you systems: winners and losers have the same goal; achieving a goal is only a momentary change; goals restrict your happiness; goals are at odds with long term progress. Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) we try to change the wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way. Three layers of behavior change: Many people begin process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become. 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. True behavior change is identity change. You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you’ll stick with one is that it becomes part of your identity. Good habits can make rational sense, but if they conflict with your identity, you will fail to put them into action. New identities require new evidence. If you keep casting the same votes you’ve always cast, you’re going to get the same results you’ve always had. If nothing changes, nothing is going to change. It is a simple two-step process: Decide the type of person you want to be. Prove it to yourself with small wins. The focus should always be on becoming that type of person, not getting a particular outcome. The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: cue, craving, response, and reward. The cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue. Together, these four steps form a neurological feedback loo