Book Review: Atomic Habits by James Clear
As a Life Coach and self-development junkie, I’m constantly looking for great non-fiction books that give new perspectives, tangible strategies, and proven methods for improving your life. I recently struck gold when I discovered Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Clear takes a deep-dive into actionable ways to create good habits and break bad ones. Best of all, he breaks it down into tiny steps that make it seem ridiculously easy. Throughout the book, Clear emphasizes the impact that small steps can have on creating remarkable results. I would argue that Atomic Habits is one of the most practical self-improvement books I’ve ever read.
Throughout the book, Clear explains his 4 Laws of Behavior Change, which are somewhat of an instruction manual for how to create a good habit.
Make it obvious: First off, you must take notice of your daily habits by writing them down or bringing awareness to them. Then, you use what Clear calls an “implementation intention.” This means, you clearly articulate (out loud or written down), “I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].” By stating your specific intention to start a habit, it makes it much more likely that you will follow through. For example, if you say, “I will go for a 3-mile run at 5:00 through my neighborhood, immediately after I close my laptop for the workday,” it is much more effective than saying, “I’ll go running tomorrow,” or than not stating your intention at all. Make your habit obvious by saying it out loud to a friend or writing it down. Clear also mentions that creating an environment that will make your good habits obvious and visible is extremely important. If you want to start a new medicine or supplement, put it right next to the faucet where it’s impossible to miss. If you want to improve your guitar skills, put your guitar out in the living room, not in your closet. Design your environment to set you up for success.
Make it attractive: By pairing an action you want to do with an action you need to do, Clear states that you can trick your mind into being tempted to adopt the habit. For example, if you want to start meditating (something you need to do), commit to yourself that you will meditate for 10 minutes immediately before drinking your morning coffee (something you want to do). Additionally, the people around you and the community you spend time with deeply impact your habits. For this reason, Clear suggests that you join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior. If you want to start exercising regularly, spend time around people who value fitness and workout frequently. If you want to start reading more often, join a Book Club, visit a library, or start spending more time with readers. Make the good habit you are trying to adopt an attractive behavior to those around you.
Make it easy: Clear suggests reducing any friction that could get in the way of you and good habits. If you want to start going to the gym regularly, pick a gym that is conveniently located on your way to work. By reducing the friction, you are more likely to stick with the habit. He once again suggests that your environment contributes greatly to creating a good habit, and you should prime your environment to make it easy to start a habit. For example, if you want to build a habit to start reading before bed each night, leave a book on your pillow so it is nearly impossible to miss. Clear also mentions automating as many habits as possible and making one time purchased that lock in future behavior. With the technology available to us today, it becomes possible to do this. If you’re looking to save money for your retirement, you can usually work with your employer to create an automatic wage deduction to contribute to your retirement account. Automating as many good habits as possible makes it so the effort is on technology and machines, not on you, making creating a good habit easier on you.
Make it satisfying. Lastly, Clear writes that we are much more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying, particularly immediately satisfying. Our brains will repeat what is immediately rewarded. Therefore, he suggests giving yourself an immediate reward when you complete a habit in order to train your brain. Clear writes about a couple who wanted to stop eating out and start making home-cooked meals more often. They created a savings account called “Trip to Europe” and each time they decided to cook at home rather than eating out, they put $50 in the account. At the end of the year they put that money towards a vacation to Europe! Clear writes that you can also make a habit satisfying by tracking it. You can keep track of your habits in your planner, calendar, or any other method of your choice. When you can visibly see your habits being tracked, it makes you want to keep the streak alive.
If you’re a woman looking to integrate productive and healthy habits into your daily life, I couldn’t recommend this book enough. Clear makes each step so tangible and so practical that you will have a clear plan of action towards developing your good habits. At Shattered Glass Coaching, we’re all about taking bold action and developing confidence as women, so what better place to start than with wonderful daily habits?
