When we hear the word "atomic", different images come to mind.
On the one hand, atoms are very, very small. You can't even see individual atoms without a powerful electron microscope - but they are very important, because they are the building blocks of everything around us, including ourselves. Splitting atoms apart releases an enormous amount of energy, leading to the other image people have - the explosion of an atomic bomb. Herein lies the example of how changes to something extremely small can create an extremely powerful outcome - a clever way to visualize the main idea of the book Atomic Habits by James Clear.
When we set out to accomplish a goal, we tend to put forth some form of strategy to do this. Strategies are important, because they provide the big-picture view of where we are and where we want to be, and they help us to determine what path we want to take to get there. But strategies alone are not enough, and when people fall short of their goals, it is often because they have neglected the much more specific steps along that path. These are tactics, and they are the pieces that form the systems we put in place as we build new habits. James Clear writes, "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." Think back to a situation in which you failed to reach a desired goal, and there is a good chance you will find a flaw in the system you had in place at the time.
The good news is that we can create enormous change by making tiny changes to these components. These tiny changes might add up to only a very small improvement and almost immeasurable progress at first, but the gains multiply and provide the foundation for the larger gains ahead. James Clear lays out four general principles to help identify and make small tweaks to our existing habits in ways that build better habits. The principles are: 1) Make it Obvious, 2) Make it Attractive, 3) Make it Easy, and 4) Make it Satisfying.
Making it Obvious means being very specific. "I will run at least 1 mile every day" is a worthy goal, but it turns out "I will run on the treadmill as soon as I get home from work, and before I eat anything" is better because it is specific about exactly where and when the running will occur, and it promises a reward (eating) to follow the run. Pairing a new habit with an existing habit is another way to make something obvious. One example would be adding a quick floss after brushing your teeth. Tweaking your environment with cues (flossers in a cup next to your toothbrush) is still another way to help make a new habit obvious and specific.
Making it Attractive is about making your new habit something you look forward to doing. Pairing something you need to do with something you want to do is a great way to do this. Only watching your favorite show during your 40 minutes on the treadmill, or listening to music or an audiobook while doing a physical chore are other simple tweaks to make habit changes more pleasant. Finally, joining a group of people who value this new behavior or lifestyle as well can be a very powerful way to make things like studying or fitness a lot more fun, because it feeds our innate need to belong and connect with others.
The third principle is Make it Easy. If you want to learn to play the guitar, having your guitar in a stand next to your favorite chair makes it easier to pick it up and play than if it is normally put away in a case under your bed. If you want to start going to a 6 a.m. Jiu-Jitsu class, putting your gi, mouth-guard, and water bottle by the door the night before will make it easier to hop out of bed and go than the prospect of finding and gathering all of these things at 5:30 in the morning. It is also important not to set the bar too high for yourself when you're starting a new habit. If meditating for 15 minutes per day is challenging enough that you find yourself skipping it altogether, then start with 2 minutes and build up from there. It is important to get a habit established first; after that, you can begin improving upon it.
Finally, Make it Satisfying. Our brains are wired for instant gratification, and many of the habits we want to change in our lives are difficult in the short-term, while their rewards are felt farther down the road. When we are starting a new habit, it is important to treat ourselves with something fun or pleasurable until the long-term rewards start to appear. Something as simple as checking a box or using a habit-tracking app does the trick for many people, while others may need something more tangible. (Just be careful not to reward your new good habit with a bad habit that undermines it!) While incentives are often needed to get the momentum of a new habit started, the change to your identity is what eventually sustains it. This is the point at which you begin to see yourself as "a writer" or "a runner" or whatever it is you want to become. Each time you engage in the behavior - even if it takes a lot of these tweaks to get there - you are casting a vote for that new identity. Eventually, the identity alone is what you find rewarding about the behavior you've worked to establish.
These four principles provide an effective framework in which to view what is working and not working in our current systems and in the habits we are looking to build. It is important to note that you can reverse these four principles in order to break a bad habit as well. By making a behavior less obvious, less attractive, less easy and less satisfying, you can decrease your desire to engage in that activity. Putting your phone away in your bag while you study or the bottle of soda in the back of the fridge where you have to dig to find it are examples of Make it Invisible, the flip side of the Make it Obvious coin.
Of the many books and videos that promote growth and positive change, this one stands out as one of the best. It is practical, easy to read, and it guides the reader to define the tiny, atom-sized changes that can be made in order to build momentum toward the much more powerful lifestyle changes they desire. It is a book I have recommended numerous times, and one I tend to re-read (or listen to) every year or so, because there's always some new insight, or an idea I've forgotten and need to hear again as I struggle with new goals and challenges. This is definitely one worth purchasing and keeping or sharing with others.
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