Overview
Atomic Habits was written by James Clear, who boasts this book is “An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones”. I am generally not one to read “self-help” books. However, I am trying to create a better reading plan, including integrating new book types into my book rotation. I plan to read one to help me build my faith, one to help me improve myself (either in motherhood, finances, homeschooling, or general self), and one for fun (which is usually still non-fiction). Atomic Habits ranked high on the self-help reading list, and honestly, I have some habits that need adjusting.
As someone who likes to read and enjoys non-fiction, I found this book informative and enjoyable! The general idea of this book is that small habits will build and eventually have a significant impact. Mr. Clear breaks the book into six sections: The Fundamentals: Why Tiny Changes Make a Big Difference, The 1stLaw: Make It obvious, The 2nd Law: Make it attractive, The 3rdLaw: Make it Easy, The 4th Law: Make it Satisfying, and Advanced Tactics: How to go from being merely good to being truly great.
I like that in each of these sections, Mr. Clear explains how to build good habits AND break bad habits. Mr. Clear also backs his statements with scientific research, psychological, and neuroscience studies. He outlines how to start new habits from scratch, stack habits, the importance of environment over motivation, and how to make bad habits harder to do. Mr. James also gives honest, practical advice on executing his strategies, making them more useful for everyday life. Furthermore, Mr. Clear provides short stories to help explain his approaches and keep you engaged. It is a well-organized and thought-out book that makes you want to take notes and reference back to them.
My Takeaway
Since reading this book, I have implemented some of these strategies in my own life with positive results. For example, I am now habit stacking much more frequently. This means I add a desired habit to something I already do every day. For example, I already have an established habit of drinking coffee everyday. So now, as soon as I wake up, I walk into the kitchen, open the cabinet, and take my vitamins before making coffee. Attaching taking vitamins to my already-established coffee habit has increased my vitamin intake consistency by 100%.
Habit tracking is another practical idea I have implemented. I bought a cheap habit tracker off of Amazon, and it is not only lovely to see my progress, but it serves as a reminder to perform my habit so I can color the box in for the day. It provides a weird sense of gratification that I am completing a task and improving myself or my life in some way. Some habits I track are waking up early (6am or prior), reading the Bible, Journaling, and exercising. While my success rate with habit tracking has not been as high as habit stacking, I still feel habit tracking has improved my overall inclination to turn healthy habits into a healthy lifestyle.
My last example is for breaking a bad habit by making it harder to obtain. I was creating a bad habit of mindless scrolling on my phone and not being present with my family. Every alert on my cell phone would lead me to open Facebook or Instagram. So, to make this bad habit harder to achieve, I deleted Facebook and Instagram from my phone (I still have it on my iPad). Keeping social media limited to my iPad ensures I only access social media when I need to look something up intentionally or when I have spare time. This has been a game-changer for me. I no longer feel addicted to my phone. I can be more present when I am with my family and more productive at work.
Overall, I enjoyed reading this book and implementing some of the author’s ideas into my own life. Great read!
Book rating 10/10