Atomic Habits by James Clear

 

Atomic Habits is a book written by James Clear. This book is more about forming lasting habits for self-improvement than setting goals, but it completely changed the way I think about sitting and achieving goals.

 Goals vs. Systems/habits

I have always believed that setting goals are important, and you need a clearly defined plan to achieve them. As explained in the book, my thinking is just to meet that goal and then go on with other things.

The author says you get better results if you forget about setting goals and focus on your systems instead.

He is not saying forget about setting goals.  Goals are good for setting directions, but your focus should be on the systems/habits, not the goals.

The purpose of setting goals is to make you happy by achieving something you want or desire. The purpose of building systems is to be less goal driven and for continuous improvement.

He writes that to achieve our goals, we need to first build systems made of single processes and habits that will allow us to meet our goals, no matter how big or small they are.

The overall objective shouldn’t be to set and meet goals, but to make changes in our everyday life that allows us to live a better life. The real change comes from hundreds of small decisions or habits that we accumulate over time through trial and error.

In the book he stated that if you are having trouble meeting your goals, it’s because your systems are wrong, so change them.

Imagine your goal is to save $6,000 this year to use as a down payment on a car.  Each pay day you put some money in your savings account, but by Jul you have only saved $1,000.  What is happening? 

Your system needs to be changed. Make a habit of saving $500.00 every month.  You meet your goal and since you now are in the habit of saving $500.00 each month, you’re improving your future without having to set yearly goals on saving money.

The author asked: If you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system, would you still succeed?  He said he thinks so. I don’t disagree, but I also believe if you didn’t have goals, you wouldn’t start some of your systems/habits.

4 Laws of behavior change

He goes into detail to explain the 4 laws of behavior change that allow us to create good habits and break bad ones.

1.   Make it obvious

2.   Make it attractive

3.   Make it easy

4.   Make it immediately satisfying

 To form good habits, make them a part of your identity

1. The goal is not to read a book; the goal is to become a reader.

2. The goal is not to run a marathon; the goal is to become a runner.

3. The goal is not to learn an instrument; the goal is to become a musician.

Many people walk through life in a cognitive slumber, blindly following the norms attached to their identity.

1. “I’m terrible with directions.”

2. “I’m not a morning person.”

3. “I’m bad at remembering people’s names.”

"Ultimately, your habits matter because they help you become the type of person you wish to be. They are the channel through which you develop your deepest beliefs about yourself. Quite literally, you become your habits.” James Clear

Who should read this book?

You’ll enjoy this book if:

    ·       Care about achieving your goals

·       Discover how habits are formed and how to change yours

·       You want to find out how habits can help you reach your goals