atomic habits summary | audiobook

Atomic Habits by James Clear. Summary: Atomic Habits is the definitive guide to breaking bad behaviors and adopting good ones in four steps, showing you how small incremental everyday routines compound into massive positive change over time. Lesson one, all habits are based on a four-step pattern which consists of Q, craving, response, and reward. In 1776, Adam Smith laid the foundation of modern economics in his magnumopus, The Wealth of Nations. One of his most famous observations is that in a free market system, all workers naturally maximize their own society's welfare, even if merely acting in their own best interest. He is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. When it comes to habits, James suggests that environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. That's why a prompt is always the first step in performing any habit. It may not always be external, but most of the time it will be. Then three more stages follow to complete the four-step pattern. Q. A piece of information that suggests there's a reward to be found, like the smell of a cookie or a dark room waiting to light up. Craving the motivation to change something to get the reward, like tasting the delicious cookie or being able to see. Response: Whatever thought or action you need to take to get to the reward. the satisfying feeling you get from the change along with the lesson whether to do it again or not. There are several popular methodologies that try to predict how and why we do what we do such as Charles Doohig's habit loop, Gretchen Rubin's four tendencies or BJ Fug's tiny habits behavior model. James offers a more refined version of what Doohig described in the power of habit. And while all of these approaches are different, none of them are mutually exclusive. Lesson two. To form habits, you must make them obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying from the four-step pattern he suggests. James then derives four laws of behavior change, which correspond to one part of the loop each. Here they are, along with some ideas for how you can use them to facilitate good behaviors and make bad ones harder. Make it obvious. Don't hide your fruits in your fridge. Put them on display front and center. Make it attractive. Start with the fruit you like the most. So, you'll actually want to eat one when you see it. Make it easy. Don't create needless friction by focusing on fruits that are hard to peel. Bananas and apples are super easy to eat, for example. Make it satisfying. If you like the fruit you picked, you'll love eating it and feel healthier as a result. You can apply these to all kinds of good habits like running, working on a side project, spending more time with family, and so on. Conversely, do the opposite for bad habits. Make them invisible, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying. For example, you could hide your cigarettes, add financial penalties, get rid of all lighters, and only allow yourself to smoke outside in the cold. Lesson three, a habit tracker is a fun and easy way to ensure you stick to your new behaviors. With a framework like this, making and breaking habits becomes fun. You'll likely want to tackle multiple things sooner rather than later, but it's important to not take on too much at once. An easy way of keeping yourself accountable without becoming overwhelmed is to track your habits with a habit tracker. The idea is simple. You keep a record of all the behaviors you want to establish or abandon. And at the end of each day, you mark which ones you succeeded with. This record can be a single piece of paper, a journal, a calendar, or a digital tool like an app. This strategy is based on what's sometimes called the Seinfeld productivity hack. [crying] Comedian Jerry Seinfeld apparently marked his calendar with a big X every day he came up with a joke. Soon his goal was to not break the chain. It's a simple but effective strategy to help you build good habits. And since habits are the compound interest of self-improvement, that's a process we should all start today. Thank you. Like, share, and subscribe.