Atomic Habits delves into the unconscious, often auto-piloted world of habits. Attempting(in my opinion, successfully) to make known why “undesired” actions inescapably cling as we try to shake them, and how we can turn positive changes into regular occurrences rather than isolated incidents.
3 Reasons that might make this book more suited for you:
- Wanting simple, specific steps to implement a new positive habit with stickability.
- If you wonder why we continue falling back into undesirable actions.
- Feeling like life is on autopilot and choices seem to be already made out of your hands.
Thanks for being here, let’s dive in…
Contrary to the building blocks of matter referenced in the title, Atomic Habits has had no small impact, floating around the bestsellers list for a substantial amount of time now even after being released in 2018, with over 25 million copies sold and translated into 60 languages.
We all struggle at times with our habitual lives, the things we do without thinking, or auto piloted actions that we revert to doing even when claiming we want something different. In desiring to change there is struggle, and being a flawed human, I myself frequently fall back to poor habits I claim I don’t wish to be part of my life.
So how can I stop these, and perhaps more importantly for the positive side of the same coin, how do I turn the positive actions into habits shaping my life?
I find “Self Improvement” writings at times, filled with a large amount of stories in specific situations where it all works out, seemingly confirming the author’s view, which I enjoy, but have the feeling of leaning towards un-actionable entertainment. Or dishing up scientific fact after indisputable fact which is wonderful, but forgetting the fact humans are emotional beings.
So, much like telling someone “you should stop smoking because it’s unhealthy” those materials miss or ignore that if knowledge and facts were all it took to change then people would be ditching habits they didn’t like with ease.
This wasn’t the case with author James Clear’s work here, the layout treads an enjoyable balance of story illustrating the techniques/concepts behind habit change, exploring why we struggle at times, and a laid back style explaining psychology behind the curtain of our conscious.
A concept that touches a nerve:
Most people in various areas of life desire significance and success in some form or another. In seeking a field you have a natural affinity for, in order to create a spot for yourself to thrive and feel fulfilled, you may combine many parts of your experiences/identity.
In terms of habits, to make it easier for a good habit to stick, follow your curiosity, if you find romance novels intriguing and want to build the habit of reading more, pursue that which you find easy to be interested in. Sounds simple, but don’t be fooled, many are forcing an artificial interest in subjects in order to appear smarter, fit in easier with those around them.
Instead of trying to fit into the box best to be declared the best at a pre-defined structure, you make a “game” you can win at and be the best of yourself. This idea in the book really felt pertinent, being similar in ways to the core concept of the Ethnosphere, appreciating and utilising our unique stories and all we are as part of a bigger being.
A variety of angles dissect habit-making throughout the book such as raising awareness of our habits, our routines adding to identity, reasoning for change being deeper than simply forcing yourself to stop because “you should”, as well as the intriguing power of small increments i.e can a coin make you rich.
After looking at the “why” habits happen, the author furthers the “how”, in pursuit of explaining each step to habit-making, revealing 4 simple “laws” of Creating and Losing habits: Making it Obvious, Attractive, Easy, Satisfying, and the opposite for ditching the unhelpful habits.
The chapters go into depth around reasoning and actions for each law which connects “why” and “how” hand in hand. Being filled with material that has re-read power and for future reference, I recommend highlighting, note-taking etc, whatever works for you for ease of returning to a refresher of the system.
If you want to try a little easy sample from the book, try the 2 Minute-Rule, (adapted originally from David Allen) being if a task takes less than 2 minutes, do it immediately.
The Atomic Habits iteration is more based around making a habit easy to start, small steps breaking a big task down(Lose 10kgs, becomes put on shoes and walk for 2 minutes a day).
Choose something you’ve wanted to turn into a habit, Example: workout more, and begin with doing 2 minutes at a time. The beauty of this is that it gets you used to starting and removes excuses, 2 minutes won’t give you cheese-grating abs of course, but it gets you showing up.
Many a time have I skipped workouts and told myself I can’t get through an hour long training session so I will start tomorrow(Which doesn’t happen).
Conversely, almost every time I’ve felt I would rather eat delicious salty, fatty, sugary food and rewatch tv but bargained to just do 10 minutes of the 1 hour gym session first, my attitude changes to: well I’m here and survived so far, might as well do more which results in me achieving the action I wish to instill.
So there you have it for now, an overview for Atomic Habits, a book well worth the read in my opinion, that holds some great tools or insights that could be utilised to change the day to day habits of your life.
In turn making more of the existence you want to live, adding what you truly want to the world/Ethnosphere by not getting swept into autopilot, stuck in the unhelpful.
Thanks for reading this far, if you’ve got thoughts about this article/Atomic Habits, or something in general struck you while reading this, I’d love to hear it via comment or social media if that’s your preference.
All the best with your pursuit of a life made by conscious choices, good habits.
The Ethnosphere 
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