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

by James Clear

Every craving is linked to a desire to change your internal state.

Behavior is a function of the Person in their Environment, or B = f (P,E).3

Lewin’s Equation

Given that we are more dependent on vision than on any other sense, it should come as no surprise that 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.

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.

Every habit should have a home.

If you want behaviors that are stable and predictable, you need an environment that is stable and predictable. A stable environment where everything has a place and a purpose is an environment where habits can easily form.

One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior. New habits seem achievable when you see others doing them every day.

Nothing sustains motivation better than belonging to the tribe. It transforms a personal quest into a shared one.

When changing your habits means challenging the tribe, change is unattractive. When changing your habits means fitting in with the tribe, change is very attractive.

If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. You don’t need to map out every feature of a new habit. You just need to practice it. This is the first takeaway of the 3rd Law: you just need to get your reps in.

Automaticity is the ability to perform a behavior without thinking about each step, which occurs when the nonconscious mind takes over.

To build a habit, you need to practice it. And the most effective way to make practice happen is to adhere to the 3rd Law of Behavior Change: make it easy.

The idea behind make it easy is not to only do easy things. The idea is to make it as easy as possible in the moment to do things that payoff in the long run.