A new habit? Possible. But pack lightly.
#1 Atomic Habits by James Clear with my top takeaways, Readwise notes and more.
Factual overview
James Clear wrote Atomic Habits (Goodreads: 4.36, 280k+ ratings) in 2018. It is based on his writings/blog about habits and has been a bestseller with more than 5 million copies sold.
One of them is mine and it will make it to my library.
The essence of the book
Atomic Habits reads fast. This type of self-help books are loaded with anecdotes; almost as if readers demand social proof for each single point. Well, if Clear dropped half of them, it would still work. Each word does not tell.
How good is it? Depends. If you struggle with habits, it’s fantastic. If you don’t, spend your money on something else. You are probably already doing many things by the book.
In my case I used it to fine-tune my shit together and I liked the following ideas:
1) Building a system is much better than setting goals
"Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results." Goals are fine, but how many people stop running after their (half)marathon? I know at least three. So you should "fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves." This will make you play the game (=process/system) and "your commitment to the process will determine your progress."
2) 1% improvement goes far and it compounds
If you break down whatever you do and then try to improve each thing by a little, well guess what? It’s gonna be great. Improve a bit and then persist.
3) Change your habits based on identity
”The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader" strongly resonates. After you define yourself as someone it works because of intrinsic motivation; a runner, a photographer, a hobby this-or-that? Maybe "I am an occasional smoker" is a thing to look at.
4) Do an inventory of your existing habits
This one is obvious. You list down most of your habits and then rate them: bad, good, neutral. And voilà, you know which parts of your day/week you want to change. Maybe you could also improve the good ones?
5) Use habit stacking and cues
This useful mental model is based on BJ Fogg's Tiny Habits: "After I [Current Habit], I will [New Habit]." And then you add different cues in your environment "where doing the right thing is as easy as possible." Visual cues help; take obvious placement of things around your house for example (eg. putting the fruit basket in the middle of the table if you want to eat more fruit).
My actionable takeaways
Review my identities and change a couple.
Do an inventory of my habits before I start my new job; what is still doable and what needs to be forgotten.
I started to stack my habits. For example: after I finish my meal, I clean the dishes. Let's see what happens when I have guests. I journal before going to bed. Since yesterday.
I will think (or smartass?) about goals vs. systems and 1% improvements when it makes sense.
That is it, James. Thanks.
Readwise notes
Here are my Readwise notes in markdown.
Closing remarks
You should pack your "new habits" backpack lightly. It will be hard to radically reinvent yourself; start slow and maybe change a thing or two. See, 1% improvement, I am already smartassing!
There is no recipe. Do what you think makes sense, take these words as ideas or a conversation. Gurus suck. If you like reading, read. If you don’t, don’t. If you enjoy running, run. If you don’t, pick another sport. If you like to cook, cook. If you don’t, I can cook for you.
I rated it 3/5 on Goodreads. It is closer to 3.5 and it can be extremely useful if you struggle with habits.
Next book: The Scout Mindset by Julia Galef.
Did you read it as well? How did you like it? Let me know what you think in the comments or drop me an email. You can also follow me on Twitter or check out my collection of excellent recipes. 👌