BOOK REVIEW

This book is jam-packed with philosophy, psychology and practicality. I learned just as much about the brain, genes and identity as I did about habits. There are many things that you know at the back of your mind, but once you see it in writing, something inside you clicks and you have that very satisfying ‘Aha! It’s magical!’ moment.

I simply love how James Clear in his book Atomic Habits explains the workings of human behaviour, discussing ground-breaking topics on human behavioural psychology and neurology. He explains precisely how and why it is that we form certain habits and patterns in our lives. The book breaks down the process of habit-formation and provides an extremely practical framework to implement small improvements to your already existing routine, cultivating it for greater efficiency and growth.

A few things that really stuck with me while reading the book:

I used to tell myself, ‘I want to start reading books!’ I used to always try but stop mid-way. After struggling for almost eight years, I successfully finished reading the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. However, it was ironic that my first book taught me how not to make it my last and implement the reading habit with simple strategies.

The simple cues that the book teaches helped to shape my habits as a reader.

So if a non-reader like me could do this, after implementing some simple tricks which Clear has beautifully articulated in the book, it proves that it can be applied to many different facets of life to implement good habits and slowly phase out the bad ones.

Today, I would call myself a reader and this identity change helps me to continue reading other books.

2. The 1% rule
It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis – James Clear

The 1% improvement says that first, you need to understand everything about your work, break it down into small easily achievable tasks and improve it by just 1% every day. This can give significantly better results in the long run.

3. The 1st Law of Behavioural Change is to make it obvious, and the two most common Cues are Time and Location. The Implementation Intention is: I will (Behaviour) at (Time) in (Location) – James Clear

Clarity > Motivation: Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. It is not always obvious when and where to take action.

We often tend to procrastinate on some easy but important tasks. I am no different. My habit of procrastination even led to financial losses at times which further increased the baggage of tasks leading to the vicious cycle of further procrastination.

However, the implementation intention formula helps to realistically perform the behaviour. The difference is that the behaviour that was previously decided to be performed is now given the precision of when and where it is going to be performed.

4. Valley of disappointment
We often feel that progress should come quickly to us, that a task we begin should soon yield benefits for us. In reality, the results of our efforts are often delayed, not by a few days, but months, maybe even years, until we realise the true value of the previous work we have done.

In ‘Clear’ terms, the level of disappointment faced by us when we don’t get results is the ‘Valley of disappointment’.

5. Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behaviour
In this way, the most common form of change is not internal, but external: we are changed by the world around us. Every habit is context dependent – James Clear

We drink more water if we keep a bottle of water handy around us while we study / work, etc. This is because we create an environment around us that helps us to develop a habit of drinking water regularly.

6. Focus on systems
Clear says that instead of focusing on goals, focus on systems. Goals are your end results. For example, I want to be fit and healthy; whereas a system is a process of how to achieve the goal more systematically and smartly.

Systems > Goals: ‘My results had very little to do with the goals I set and nearly everything to do with the systems I followed.’

When you fall in love with the process rather than the result, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.

7. Focus on taking action, not being in motion. You don’t want to merely be planning. You want to be practising – James Clear

I used to plan to work out every day. Before 2020, I never acted much on my plans, it was only motion and didn’t include actions, the progress thus being very static.

I realised it was easy to be in motion and convince myself that I am making progress but in reality, I wasn’t. In 2020, I converted my motions into actions, starting with little cues like shopping for sportswear which tempted me to use them and eventually leading me to diligently work out which now has become part of my everyday life.

On reading this chapter of the book that says ‘Walk slowly, but never backwards’, it dawned on me to pick habits that I polished and acted on to make my plans of working out real.

8. If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition and not perfection – James Clear

Frequency > Time: There is nothing magical about time passing with regard to habit formation. It doesn’t matter if it’s been twenty-one days or thirty days or three hundred days. What matters is the rate at which you perform the behaviour.

I am currently learning to play a musical instrument. I often used to wonder how effortlessly people play an instrument, some learn it within months, while others take years of practice. This is where the key of repetition got stuck with me and made me realise that I need to practise to excel and learn the instrument. It’s not about the amount of time I have been performing a habit, but the number of times I have been performing it.

There are many further wisdom-filled one-liners, habit-formation formulae that Clear has mentioned in the book which clearly provide a lot of self-help tips that one can inculcate in one’s life.

The book is smooth and easy-flowing. The concepts of each chapter tie together beautifully and compound in such a way that the entire reading experience is seamless. The author is able to deduce seemingly complex, scientific and psychological jargon into easily understandable and relatable terminology for the layman.

The book teaches HOW TO
* Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy),
* Design your environment to make good habits easier and attractive to implement and bad habits unattractive to get rid of,
* Environments that affect habit formation and how to overcome frictions… and much more.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to change certain aspects of their current lifestyle, inculcating some new habits or getting rid of a few others. Reading it will effectively convey how a daily improvement of just 1% can yield extraordinary results in your life.