Atomic Habits

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🎯 The Book in 3 Sentences

💡 Key Takeaways

Focus on the system > Setting goals.
Current trajectory and beliefs about yourself > results.
Make it obvious: time, environment, and habit stacking.
Make it attractive: temptation bundling, join a culture that embraces the habit, motivation ritual.
Make it easy: reduce friction, prime the environment, two-minute rule, automate, one-time choices to easy habits.
Make it satisfying: immediate reward, use habit tracker, never miss twice.

✏ Top Quotes

The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.

The best is the enemy of the good.

1% better every day = 37 times better the year.

📝 Summary + Notes

The Fundamentals: Why tiny changes make a big difference

You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.
Habits often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold and unlock a new level of performance.
If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.
The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.
The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results (although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about yourself.

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The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps:

Cue: It triggers your brain to initiate a behavior. It is a bit of information that predicts a reward.
Craving: The motivational force behind every habit.
Response: The actual habit you perform, which can take the form of a thought or an action.
Reward: The end goal of every habit.

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The cue is about noticing the reward. The craving is about wanting the reward. The response is about obtaining the reward.

The 1st Law: Make it obvious

The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.
The two most common cues are time and location.
The format for creating an implementation intention is: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].
One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top.
The habit stacking formula is: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]”.
If you want to make a habit a big part of your life, make the cue a big part of your environment.
It is easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not fighting against old cues.

The 2nd Law: Make it attractive

The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming.
Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.
We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.
We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige).
One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group.
Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings. Create a motivation ritual by doing something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.

The 3rd Law: Make it easy

The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.
The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.
Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.
Prime your environment to make future actions easier.
The Two-Minute Rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”
The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits.
One-time choices—like buying a better mattress or enrolling in an automatic savings plan—are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver increasing returns over time.

The 4th Law: Make it satisfying

We are more likely to repeat a behavior when the experience is satisfying.
To get a habit to stick you need to feel immediately successful—even if it’s in a small way.
Habit trackers and other visual forms of measurement can make your habits satisfying by providing clear evidence of your progress.
Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.

Advanced Tactics: How to go from being merely good to being truly great

Habits are easier when they align with your natural abilities. Choose the habits that best suit you.
The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom.
Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.
Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery.

Cheatsheet

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