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

by James Clear

Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?” Habits that reinforce your desired identity are usually good. Habits that conflict with your desired identity are usually bad.

The first step to changing bad habits is to be on the lookout for them.

If you feel like you need extra help, then you can try Pointing-and-Calling in your own life. Say out loud the action that you are thinking of taking and what the outcome will be.

Hearing your bad habits spoken aloud makes the consequences seem more real. It adds weight to the action rather than letting yourself mindlessly slip into an old routine.

The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.

Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.

The sentence they filled out is what researchers refer to as an implementation intention, which is a plan you make beforehand about when and where to act. That is, how you intend to implement a particular habit.

the two most common cues are time and location.

Broadly speaking, the format for creating an implementation intention is: “When situation X arises, I will perform response Y.”

Researchers have even found that voter turnout increases when people are forced to create implementation intentions by answering questions like: “What route are you taking to the polling station? At what time are you planning to go? What bus will get you there?”

The punch line is clear: people who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through.

Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. It is not always obvious when and where to take action.

The simple way to apply this strategy to your habits is to fill out this sentence: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].

When your dreams are vague, it’s easy to rationalize little exceptions all day long and never get around to the specific things you need to do to succeed.

Give your habits a time and a space to live in the world. The goal is to make the time and location so obvious that, with enough repetition, you get an urge to do the right thing at the right time, even if you can’t say why.

You often decide what to do next based on what you have just finished doing.

One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. This is called habit stacking.

Rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit.

The habit stacking formula is: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].”

Once you have mastered this basic structure, you can begin to create larger stacks by chaining small habits together.

Overall, habit stacking allows you to create a set of simple rules that guide your future behavior. It’s like you always have a game plan for which action should come next.

Finances. When I want to buy something over $100, I will wait twenty-four hours before purchasing.

Habit stacking works best when the cue is highly specific and immediately actionable.

The 1st Law of Behavior Change is to make it obvious. Strategies like implementation intentions and habit stacking are among the most practical ways to create obvious cues for your habits and design a clear plan for when and where to take action.

Motivation Is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More

People often choose products not because of what they are, but because of where they are.

Your habits change depending on the room you are in and the cues in front of you.

Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. Despite our unique personalities, certain behaviors tend to arise again and again under certain environmental conditions.

In this way, the most common form of change is not internal, but external: we are changed by the world around us. ...

In other words, customers will occasionally buy products not because they want them but because of how they are presented to them.

For example, items at eye level tend to be purchased more than those down near the floor. For this reason, you’ll find expensive brand names featured in easy-to-reach locations on store shelves because they drive the most profit, while cheaper alternatives are tucked away in harder-to-reach spots.

The more obviously available a product or service is, the more likely you are to try it.

The truth, however, is that many of the actions we take each day are shaped not by purposeful drive and choice but by the most obvious option.

visual cues are the greatest catalyst of our behavior. For this reason, a small change in what you see can lead to a big shift in what you do.

As a result, you can imagine how important it is to live and work in environments that are filled with productive cues and devoid of unproductive ones.

When the cues that spark a habit are subtle or hidden, they are easy to ignore. By comparison, creating obvious visual cues can draw your attention toward a desired habit.

If you want to make a habit a big part of your life, make the cue a big part of your environment.

The most persistent behaviors usually have multiple cues. Consider how many different ways a smoker could be prompted to pull out a cigarette: driving in the car, seeing a friend smoke, feeling stressed at work, and so on.

By sprinkling triggers throughout your surroundings, you increase the odds that you’ll think about y...

Making a better decision is easy and natural when the cues for good habits ar...

Most people live in a world others have created for them. But you can alter the spaces where you live and work to increase your exposure to positive cues and reduce your exposure to negative ones.

Environment design allows you to take back control and become the architect of your life. Be the designer of your world and not merely the consumer of it.

Our behavior is not defined by the objects in the environment but by our relationship to them. In fact, this is a useful way to think about the influence of the environment on your behavior. Stop thinking about your environment as filled with objects. Start thinking about it as filled with relationships.

The power of context also reveals an important strategy: habits can be easier to change in a new environment. It helps to escape the subtle triggers and cues that nudge you toward your current habits.

When you can’t manage to get to an entirely new environment, redefine or rearrange your current one. Create a separate space for work, study, exercise, entertainment, and cooking. The mantra I find useful is “One space, one use.”

Whenever possible, avoid mixing the context of one habit with another. When you start mixing contexts, you’ll start mixing habits—and the easier ones will usually win out. This is one reason why the versatility of modern technology is both a strength and a weakness. You can use your phone for all sorts of tasks, which makes it a powerful device. But when you can use your phone to do nearly anything, it becomes hard to associate it with one task.

Every habit is initiated by a cue. We are more likely to notice cues that stand out.

Make the cues of good habits obvious in your environment.

It is easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not fighting against old cues.

addictions could spontaneously dissolve if there was a radical change in the environment.