Book Review: Atomic Habits

Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results

James Clear

Tags: Transitions, Tools for Transitions

Book Cover Summary: No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving--every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results.

If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights.

Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field.

Learn how to:

• make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy);

• overcome a lack of motivation and willpower;

• design your environment to make success easier;

• get back on track when you fall off course;

...and much more.

Atomic Habits will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits--whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other goal.

Reinventurer's Book Review: I used to think I had very limited willpower because I would set a goal or make a new year’s resolution and after a month, a week, or maybe even two days I was unable to commit to my goal any longer. But just recently, after providing Tarot readings for two different people, I began to realize the problem might not be a flaw in my character.

After explaining one of the cards she had drawn, my client shared with me her dislike of my using the word “willpower” in her reading. She explained to me there was new research to debunk the meaning we give to the word. Willpower, it appears, is not an emotion, not genetic, nor is it a characteristic that can be nurtured. What we observe as willpower is instead the employment of numerous tools that assist in the creation of a new habit or the avoidance of an old one.

Not long after that conversation another client told me she was reading a book about building good habits and breaking bad ones. It was Atomic Habits. I checked the book out from the library and low and behold it provided a system and tools to use that to an outside observer end up looking as though you have a lot of willpower!

Some of the strategies I have intuitively used before but did not know the reasons behind their success. Other strategies were new to me and have helped me in the process of transitioning out of negative habits that no longer (or never did) serve me as well as reinventing more positive habits that support my intentions.

If you’ve been wondering where your willpower went, read the book and you just might find its assistants in between the pages.

Questions to Ponder and Discuss

How has reading the book helped you to shape your identity to become the kind of person you want to be?

Which part of the “habit loop” usually catches you up?

What cues best help you to make your new habit obvious?

What strategies worked for you when making your habit attractive?

How do you make your new habits easy?

In what ways do you get satisfaction from a new habit?

Once you have mastered a new habit, where do you go from there?