Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

by James Clear

“At some point it comes down to who can handle the boredom of training every day, doing the same lifts over and over and over.”

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As a result, many of us get depressed when we lose focus or motivation because we think that successful people have some bottomless reserve of passion.

The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.

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Perhaps this is why many of the most habit-forming products are those that provide continuous forms of novelty.

variable reward.

But stepping up when it’s annoying or painful or draining to do so, that’s what makes the difference between a professional and an amateur.

When a habit is truly important to you, you have to be willing to stick to it in any mood.

The upside of habits is that we can do things without thinking. The downside of habits is that you get used to doing things a certain way and stop paying attention to little errors.

In fact, some research has shown that once a skill has been mastered there is usually a slight decline in performance over time.

Although habits are powerful, what you need is a way to remain conscious of your performance over

Establish a system for reflection and review.

Reflection and review enables the long-term improvement of all habits because it makes you aware of your mistakes and helps you consider possible paths for improvement. Without reflection, we can make excuses, create rationalizations, and lie to ourselves. We have no process for determining whether we are performing better or worse compared to yesterday.

Important

What went well this year? What didn’t go so well this year? What did I learn?

My Integrity Report helps me realize where I went wrong and motivates me to get back on course.

When working against you, your identity creates a kind of “pride” that encourages you to deny your weak spots and prevents you from truly growing.

Important

“keep your identity small.” The more you let a single belief define you, the less capable you are of adapting when life challenges you.

When you spend your whole life defining yourself in one way and that disappears, who are you now?

Important

Life is constantly changing, so you need to periodically check in to see if your old habits and beliefs are still serving you.

In the beginning, small improvements can often seem meaningless because they get washed away by the weight of the system. Just as one coin won’t make you rich, one positive change like meditating for one minute or reading one page each day is unlikely to deliver a noticeable difference.

Preach bitch

Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line to cross. It is a system to improve, an endless process to refine.

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The secret to getting results that last is to never stop making improvements.

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