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

by James Clear

If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, it is not because you have lost your ability to improve. It is often because you have not yet crossed the Plateau of Latent Potential.

Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

The cue triggers your brain to initiate a behavior. It is a bit of information that predicts a reward.

Cravings are the second step, and they are the motivational force behind every habit. Without some level of motivation or desire—without craving a change—we have no reason to act.

The thoughts, feelings, and emotions of the observer are what transform a cue into a craving.

The response is the actual habit you perform, which can take the form of a thought or an action.

Rewards are the end goal of every habit. The cue is about noticing the reward.

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.

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.

People with high self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations. It’s easier to avoid temptation than resist it.

It is the anticipation of a reward—not the fulfillment of it—that gets us to take action.

Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.

We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige).

Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings. Create a motivation ritual by doing something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.

Focus on taking action, not being in motion.

The Two-Minute Rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”

The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things. ■ Standardize before you optimize. You can’t improve a habit that doesn’t exist.

■ A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future.

The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change: What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided. ■ To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful—even if it’s in a small way.

Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.

We are less likely to repeat a bad habit if it is painful or unsatisfying.

■ Play a game that favors your strengths. If you can’t find a game that favors you, create one. ■ Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.

The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.

At some point, everyone faces the same challenge on the journey of self-improvement: you have to fall in love with boredom.

The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over.

The upside of habits is that we can do things without thinking. The downside is that we stop paying attention to little errors.

“Happiness is the space between one desire being fulfilled and a new desire forming.”

“Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more.”