Book: Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
Genre: Self-help
Publisher: Avery
Publication date: 2018

Source: Hardback borrowed from the library

Summary: Atomic Habits by James Clear provides a four-step framework for breaking bad habits and establishing good ones. His Four Laws of Behavior Change are:

1. Make it obvious
2. Make it attractive
3. Make it easy
4. Make it satisfying

Each section contains multiple tips and tricks for doing those things. Plus, he has at least one tip for doing the opposite. If you want to break a habit, make it less obvious, unattractive, more difficult, and unsatisfying.

Thoughts: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” James Clear says more succinctly something that I’ve known about myself for years — it takes a lot of structure to get myself to do the things that I claim I want to do.

None of the material in Atomic Habits was really new to me. James Clear acknowledges his debt to The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg that I read a decade ago. Also, I’ve read a lot of writing and weight loss books. Many of them acknowledge that daily habits are what lead to success in these arenas, and they tend to be aware of the latest research on how to make those habits work.

I appreciated the framework, though. It led me to a bunch of experiments about how I can make my days flow better and in the direction of the actions that get me closer to who I want to be and what I want to do.

This book is very popular. If you read it in the last five years, did it help you make permanent changes for the better? I have a tendency to start gung-ho with books like this but my long-time follow through doesn’t always materialize. If this worked for you, I’d love to know about it!

Appeal: This is a great book to start the New Year!