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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
James Clear
Read between
August 7 - August 16, 2022
A habit is a routine or behavior that is performed regularly—and, in many cases, automatically.
We all face challenges in life.
With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible.
The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do.
Your goal is simply to win the majority of the time.
habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic.
Every craving is linked to a desire to change your internal state.
Cues are meaningless until they are interpreted.
The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a simple set of rules we can use to build better habits. They are (1) make it obvious, (2) make it attractive, (3) make it easy, and (4) make it satisfying.
It’s easier to avoid temptation than resist it.
Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one.
I find that I often imitate the behavior of those around me without realizing it.
We soak up the qualities and practices of those around us.
Most days, we’d rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by ourselves.
The human mind knows how to get along with others. It wants to get along with others.
Once we fit in, we start looking for ways to stand out.
This is one reason we care so much about the habits of highly effective people. We try to copy the behavior of successful people because we desire success ourselves.
When you binge-eat or light up or browse social media, what you really want is not a potato chip or a cigarette or a bunch of likes. What you really want is to feel different.
Now, imagine changing just one word: You don’t “have” to. You “get” to. You get to wake up early for work. You get to make another sales call for your business. You get to cook dinner for your family. By simply changing one word, you shift the way you view each event. You transition from seeing these behaviors as burdens and turn them into opportunities.
Reframing your habits to highlight their benefits rather than their drawbacks is a fast and lightweight way to reprogram your mind and make a habit seem more attractive.
You can reframe “I am nervous” to “I am excited and I’m getting an adrenaline rush to help me concentrate.”
You can adapt this strategy for nearly any purpose. Say you want to feel happier in general. Find something that makes you truly happy—like petting your dog or taking a bubble bath—and then create a short routine that you perform every time before you do the thing you love. Maybe you take three deep breaths and smile. Three deep breaths. Smile. Pet the dog. Repeat. Eventually, you’ll begin to associate this breathe-and-smile routine with being in a good mood. It becomes a cue that means feeling happy. Once established, you can break it out anytime you need to change your emotional state.
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It’s the frequency that makes the difference.
once you’ve started doing the right thing, it is much easier to continue doing it.
* The secret is to always stay below the point where it feels like work.
The Two-Minute Rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”
You are walking around with the same hardware as your Paleolithic ancestors.
the consequences of bad habits are delayed while the rewards are immediate.
What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided.
The problem is not slipping up; the problem is thinking that if you can’t do something perfectly, then you shouldn’t do it at all.
it’s crucial to show up when you don’t feel like it—even if you do less than you hope.
Habits are easier to perform, and more satisfying to stick with, when they align with your natural inclinations and abilities.
Competence is highly dependent on context.
If you want to read more, don’t be embarrassed if you prefer steamy romance novels over nonfiction. Read whatever fascinates you.* You don’t have to build the habits everyone tells you to build. Choose the habit that best suits you, not the one that is most popular.
A good player works hard to win the game everyone else is playing. A great player creates a new game that favors their strengths and avoids their weaknesses.
You have to fall in love with boredom.
Everything is impermanent.
The tighter we cling to an identity, the harder it becomes to grow beyond it.
