Rating Qualities

8
Scientific
Applicable
Concrete Examples

Atomic Habits
An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
James Clear | Random House Business, 2018

Curious about Atomic Habits? Read our review below. While we’re awaiting the copyright
holder’s go-ahead to summarize this book in our usual summary format, we hope you’ll
find our review just as helpful.

Review
Habit expert James Clear believes small changes in human behavior have a more profound impact
on habits over time than singular, large shifts. He calls for coupling a desired new behavior with
a usual behavior. He warns against boredom and self-satisfaction, which, he asserts, impede the
formation of new habits built on frequent repetition of behavior. To change bad habits, Clear
maintains, you first must develop awareness of your daily routines. He urges taking continuous,
small steps toward forming new habits that will eventually replace old ones. Frequent repetition
automates behaviors and turn them into habits. Rewards and incentives, such as enjoyable
activities, nurture the effort of instilling good habits. Your individual identity aligns with your
habitual behavior. Clear cautions against complacency – a drawback to cultivating good habits
– and recommends refining your behavior continually to achieve lasting change. To that end, he
provides simple, actionable steps. Those seeking to switch bad habits for good ones will benefit
from his guidance.

Small Steps

Habit expert James Clear believes frequent repetition automates behaviors and turns them
into habits. Most people undervalue applying little changes to their routines but, over time, a
minuscule adjustment can create “atomic habits,” the foundation for extraordinary outcomes.

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 These atomic habits function, Clear maintains, as part of a methodical system that does a
better job of helping you achieve progress than setting a goal without outlining a process
for attaining it. Atomic habits interconnect like building blocks to provoke remarkable adaptations
to behavior. Clear is adamant that achieving long-lasting results requires establishing a path for
permanent change.

A person’s actions arise from a belief system based on a set of assumptions which form his or
her identity. Normally, individuals try to change their habits by listing “what” they want. This
produces an “outcome-based” goal. An alternative to this approach centers on “who” the person
wants to become through creating “identity-based habits.” For example, people who take pride in
their athletic skills will carry out the habits affiliated with maintaining their physical ability and
their identity as athletes.

Changing a Habit

To change a habit, first identify the underlying beliefs that created it. Since behavior reflects a
person’s identity, altering a behavior or a habit in a lasting way requires making sure the alteration
aligns with your identity. You can see the ancient roots of the relationship between identity and
habits in the Latin translation of “identity” as “repeated beingness.” Clear believes that daily
routines represent an individual’s identity precisely because he or she repeats them.

He reminds you that the quest to change revolves around who you wish to be. Self-improvement
requires deciding what type of person you want to become and making small changes to achieve
that identity. Define your desired identity, then begin the effort to achieve it. The process of
honing and improving your identity calls for continuous corrections and improvements to your
beliefs and, thus, to your habits.

Building Habits

When you encounter a specific situation, your brain determines how to react. Clear says that when
it decides to enact the same behavior repeatedly, the behavior becomes a habit: the standard
solution in that situation. Habits actually decrease your level of stress and “cognitive load” because
their automated performance derives from memories of your reactions to past situations. Habits
perform a twofold purpose: They solve life’s problems and they expend as little energy as possible
while doing so.

Habits follow a four-step process: “Cue, craving, response and reward.” Cues are the activators;
cravings are the motivators. Responses are the answers which yield a reward.

“The Four Laws of Behavior Change”

To construct desired habits, Clear teaches, follow the Four Laws of Behavior Change. They are
integral to the design function of good habits and to the process of eliminating bad habits.

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 The First Law: “Make It Obvious”

Clear describes how the brain operates by continually absorbing information and analyzing
it. Its operations run in a clerical manner, highlighting pertinent items and dismissing
irrelevant ones. The brain acknowledges repetitive experiences, cataloging them for future
use. Through practice, it recognizes the “cues” which initiate certain patterns. Consequently,
repeated experiences culminate in a habit, because the brain identifies a recurring situation and
reacts in a standardized way. For the brain to be able to alter an automatic action, it first needs to
raise its level of consciousness about that action.

Clear suggests “pointing-and-calling:” Before taking an action, verbalize its predicted outcome.
Hearing about the consequence of a good or a bad habit requires the brain to think about your
behavior and helps you change it.

“Habit stacking” is another effective tactic for behavioral adjustments. This strategy marries a new
habit with a current one. For a positive outcome, select a specific time to insert a fresh pattern into
an established routine. In effect, habit stacking creates a chain effect by linking small new habits
together one-by-one.

Your environment provides a context around your habits. Stable settings promote habit formation
and alteration. Each habit is initiated by a cue and promulgated under certain conditions. To
eliminate a bad habit, Clear instructs, remove the cues that trigger it. He explains, “It’s easier to
avoid temptation than resist it.” More numerous cues prompt predominant behaviors, and the
most blatant, visual cues trigger the greatest behavior change. This reaction is natural because
humans react most strongly to their most obvious option. The positive habit-forming cues in your
environment need to be large and clear to influence your patterns. While a single cue may be
sufficient to trigger a behavior initially, the entire context may eventually turn into a cue. Build
new habits in new environments to prevent known cues from interfering.

The Second Law: “Make It Attractive”

When you experience pleasure, the brain’s reward system releases dopamine. And, you
are likely to repeat a rewarding experience. But, Clear explains, when you simply plan to
repeat a specific behavior that you found pleasant, the release of dopamine occurs. That is, it
happens when you merely expect the reward. Thus, the expectation becomes rewarding in itself.
That’s why it’s easier to form a habit if an opportunity is attractive. Then, “habits turn into a
dopamine-driven feedback loop.” To increase the attractiveness of a habit, couple an activity “you
want to do” with an activity “you need to do” – this is called “temptation bundling.”

The culture you belong to determines the attractiveness of behaviors. Humans strive to fit in
with others in their “herd” to earn “approval, respect and praise.” They imitate social groups,
especially “the close,” like family and friends, “the many,” who provide the wisdom of the crowd,

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 and “the powerful,” who act as role models for becoming successful. One way to build a habit
is to identify a desired behavior and assimilate into the culture or social group that practices it.
By doing this, you embrace the concept that a “shared identity” bolsters a personal one. Being
embedded in a community guarantees that your new, community-supported behaviors will last.

Behaviors work on two operational levels: they satisfy “surface” or “superficial” cravings or they
address “underlying” or “deep” motives. Your habits are manifestations of an essential purpose
originating from ancient desires. Feelings and emotions can alter habit-triggering cues, so how
you feel about a given situation matters.

The Third Law: “Make It Easy”

Clear defines a habit as a repetitive behavior you perform so often it becomes automatic. And,
he notes, the more frequently you repeat an action, the more automatic that action becomes.
This process is mediated by strengthening the connections between neurons, that is, by physical
changes in the brain. Neuroscientists call the enduring strengthening of neuronal synapses due to
current patterns of activity “long-term potentiation” (LTP).

“Automaticity” means that an individual “performs a behavior without thinking” (exercising

cognition) about it. Because the brain seeks to conserve energy, it selects options which
require the least effort. To acquire a new behavior you should thus choose the path of least
resistance. One way to trick the brain into a new habit is to incorporate the desired activity into an
already established routine. Your learning is effective, when you practice (“take action”) instead of
just planning. To bring about change, Clear instructs, you need to “be in motion.”

You can improve a habit only after it is established. To establish a new habit, start small
by engaging in the relevant activity for only two minutes. This “showing up” helps to “ritualize the
beginning of a process.” Once you start, it’s easier to focus and perform a routine.

To break a bad habit, make it more difficult to perform; increase the “friction” you experience
carrying it out. Use helpmates or “commitment devices” to adjust your current choices in order
to affect your future behavior. Clear offers the example that paying for a yoga session in advance
means making a commitment to attend it. Such devices help you capitalize on and actualize
your good intentions. They make it harder for you to select a bad habit, and they pave the way for
good habits to develop. Technology can function as a helpmate. For example, to help you focus on
important tasks and not get distracted by social media-related activities, delete your social media
apps or reset their passwords to make it harder for you to use them again.

The Fourth Law: “Make It Satisfying”

Behavioral change works through repeating behavior that is “immediately rewarded” and by
avoiding behavior that is “immediately punished.” The brain craves quick success, even in small
increments. It evolved to value and prioritize “the present more than the future.” Habits change

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 when people find the alternatives “attractive, easy and obvious.” Given that understanding,
Clear says, choose a reward that fortifies the habit stacks that fit your identity. Such a selection
reinforces your personality, makes the activity enjoyable and leads to lasting results.

If you find a new habit difficult to stick to, remind yourself that one failure does not break a new
habit, especially if you notice the failure quickly and adjust your activities back to the path you
want to follow. Bad habits won’t form if they turn out to be unsatisfying or painful.

Clear suggests tracking your embrace of good habits. Use a log to gauge your progress
and maintain focus. This tracking process monitors your good efforts and helps you
adjust your behavior. Seeing that you are making progress is deeply satisfying.

To add an element of accountability in making good habits stick, you also can make a “habit
contract.” This tactic is based on the premise that if you build in and sustain a positive, direct
consequence, good habits will grow. Habit contracts are like attaching a painful penalty to laws
and regulations. You can make your habit contract public as a value-added incentive. An upfront
contract and an accountability partner can be mainstays to your habit-change success. Enlist
someone you trust who supports and shares your desire to improve your habits. Tell your partner
about your contract, and ask him or her to call you out when you fail to reinforce your new worthy
habit or slip back into bad habits.

The Right Balance

Your genes, Clear says, also sway your habits and shape your personality and behaviors. Your
assessment of your inherent abilities plays a crucial role.218, Selecting habits that complement
your personality also enhances your ability to achieve change. To help ensure your success,
engage in activities that match your innate abilities, inclinations or competency level.

Challenges motivate you only if they are attainable. Clear warns that the tasks you take on must
balance a degree of difficulty against your abilities by being neither too easy or too hard. This
principle applies to habits as well. Starting small and continually practicing a new habit assures
mastery. Boredom is a dangerous pitfall. People won’t practice activities that become too routine
because those activities no longer interest or delight them.

Good Habits

Every behavior requires a modicum of mastery exercised in small, continuous steps until the
activity blossoms into a good habit. This is the bedrock of Clear’s system. Over time, good habits
become mindless, everyday practices. Self-reflection and a sense of perspective are necessary to
detect unnoticed errors and to improve or change behavior. Continuously practiced good habits
incorporated in tiny, sustainable steps compound into powerful conduct.Developing good habits
builds your authentic identity.

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 The Little Things Count

James Clear provides practical guidance on how to change your habits or build new habits.
While perhaps not offering a lot of innovation, he succeeds in delivering a great pep talk. His
enthusiasm makes you want to start right away and put his recipes into practice. Although
Clear refers to some of the science underlying the nature of habits, his book focuses on practical
guidance and presents lots of useful examples to illustrate its key concepts. He links to further
resources available on his websites, offering templates and bonus chapters. Anyone who has the
intention to change something in his or her life – but who has struggled to get started – should
read Clear’s counsel. It’s good to hear that an investment of as little as two minutes can be the
starting point for achieving remarkable change in the long run. And even if you knew this already,
it’s reassuring to learn that the little, “atomic” things in life count.

About the Author

James Clear writes about habits and self-improvement at his popular website, jamesclear.com.
He speaks on habits and decision-making to Fortune 500 companies.

This document is restricted to the personal use of Zainab Khan (zainabkhanam001@gmail.com)

getAbstract maintains complete editorial responsibility for all parts of this review. All rights reserved. No part of this review may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, photocopying or otherwise – without prior written permission of getAbstract AG (Switzerland).

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