What’s In It For Me?
Millions of people set goals for themselves at the new year, typically involving changing a bad habit or acquiring a good habit, but when a year has come and gone, most of those goals have not been accomplished. In Atomic Habits, James Clear argues that instead of focusing on goals, focus on systems. Bad habits repeat themselves not because you don’t want to change but because you have the wrong system for change. Drawing on ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience, Clear shares a guide that anyone can implement to make good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible.
The Big Idea
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Atomic Habits
From social media to pop culture, our society focuses on accomplishments and results. What we don’t see, however, is the behind the scenes framework that led to those results. James Clear is one of the world’s leading experts on habit formation and the core theme throughout the book is the idea that focusing on getting just 1% better every day is the key to long-term success. In fact, this concept inspired the title for the book, with the idea that atoms are extremely small, but together as part of a larger system, are powerful. Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. If you have the habit of going to the gym 5 days a week, you may not notice much of a difference in your body for the first few months. But keep that habit up over the course of several years, and the commitment will surely pay off. This idea can apply to all areas of life, where your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. The author argues that although having grit and discipline can be important, what successful people have is really just a better system for building good habits. As a simple example, you may think someone who doesn’t each junk food has a lot of self control, but in reality they have the same amount of self control as everybody else, they just changed their environment by not keeping any junk food in the house.
Key Concept #1
Focus on Habits Not Goals
It is easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. Similar to how money multiples through compound interest, the effects of your habits multiply as you repeat them. Unfortunately, small daily improvements often go unnoticed and it is only after looking back over many years that the value of good habits and the cost of bad ones becomes strikingly apparent. This is why focusing on the process (i.e. habits) and not the goal is important. Clear gives several examples of why focusing on goals is a problem:
#1 Winners and losers have the same goals
Every NFL team has the same goal of winning the super bowl, so presumably it wasn’t the goal that causes the New England Patriots to be so dominate. It is only through the implementation of a system of continuous small improvements that achieved the outcome.
#2 Achieving a goal is only a momentary change
Imagine you are not much of a runner, but a friend dares you to sign up for a half marathon. You agree to the challenge, and over the next few months start running 3-4 days a week. The hard work pays off, and you successfully complete the half marathon, but quickly fall back into your sedentary lifestyle. Achieving a goal only changes your life for a moment, but focusing on the system (i.e. running 3-4 days a week) creates the long-term results.
#3 Goals restrict your happiness
When you set a goal, you automatically assume that once you accomplish your goal, you will be happy. The issue with this approach is you are constantly delaying happiness until the next accomplishment, so when will you ever be truly happy? Additionally, goals create an all or nothing mentality where either you accomplish your goal and are successful or you don’t and you fail. It is nonsensical to restrict your satisfaction to one scenario when there are often so many paths to success, as it is often unlikely that your path through life will match the exact journey you had in mind when you set out.
#4 Goals are at odds with long-term progress
The purpose of setting goals is to accomplish them or “win”, while the purpose of building systems (i.e. habits) is to continue playing the game. “Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.” Atomic Habits p. 27
Now that the case has been made for focusing on habits, it is important to understand there are both outcome-based habits and identity-based habits. The difference between the two can best be illustrated by a simple example. Imagine two people resisting a cigarette. When offered a smoke, the first person responds, “No thanks. I’m trying to quit.” The second person declines by saying, “No thanks, I’m not a smoker.” The differences in responses may seem subtle, but the second person is far more likely to succeed long term in not smoking again because their statement signals a shift in identity. Smoking was part of their former life, not their current one.
Many people don’t even consider identity change when they set goals. Instead, they just determine the actions they should take to achieve those goals without considering the beliefs that drive their actions.
Key Concept #2
The Four Laws of Behavior Change
The process of building a habit can be divided into four steps, which in the book are referred to as the Four Laws of Behavior Change: cue, craving, response, and reward. This four step pattern is the framework of every habit.
- Cue: The cue triggers your brain to initiate a behavior. We spend most of out time learning cues that predict secondary rewards like money and fame, praise and approval, power and status, etc.
- Craving: Cravings are the second step, and they are the motivational force behind every habit. What you crave is not the habit itself but the change in state it delivers (i.e. you are not motivated by brushing your teeth, but by the feeling of a clean mouth).
- Response: The third step is response, which is the actual habit you perform, and can take the form of a thought or an action. Your response depends both on the amount of effort you are willing to expend and your ability (i.e. if you want to dunk a basketball but can’t touch the rim, you’re out of luck). Lastly, the response delivers a reward, which is the end goal of every habit.
- Reward: Rewards not only satisfy your craving to eat or gain status or win approval, but your sensory nervous system is continually monitoring which actions satisfy your desires and deliver pleasure. Together, these four steps form a neurological feedback loop that ultimately allows you to create automatic habits.
The fours steps above can be transformed into a practical framework that can be used to design good habits and eliminate bad ones. Each step can be thought of as a lever that influences human behavior, so that when the levers are in the right position, creating good habits is effortless. Below are the Four Laws of Behavior Change to create both a good habit and break a bad habit:
How to Create a Good Habit:
- Make it obvious (cue)
- Make it attractive (craving)
- Make it easy (response)
- Make it satisfying (reward)
How to Break a Bad Habit:
- Make it invisible (inversion of cue)
- Make it unattractive (inversion of craving)
- Make it difficult (inversion of response)
- Make it unsatisfying (inversion of reward)
If you have ever wondered why you don’t lose weight, stop smoking, or start that side business, the answers to those questions can be found somewhere in the Four Laws of Behavior Change.
Key Concept #3
Make it Obvious, Make it Attractive
“Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity.” Atomic Habits p. 71
In order to build a new habit, it is imperative you make it obvious and attractive. James Clear offers great advice on how to accomplish this.
Research studies have confirmed that to build a new habit, implementation intentions are key. An implementation intention is a plan you make beforehand about when and where to act. For instance, if you are having a hard time working out, you might commit to a class at a specific time and set out your workout clothes next to your bed so when you get up each morning it is an obvious cue and requires less self discipline. Some people wait for motivation, but with an implementation intention, you don’t have to wait to feel inspired because when the moment of action occurs, there is no decision to be made, just follow your predetermined plan. The easiest way to apply this strategy to your habits is to fill in the sentence below:
I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]
When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of behavior to your advantage by identifying a current habit you already do each day and then add your new behavior right after. This concept is referred to as habit stacking. Rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit. An example could be after you make your cup of coffee each morning, you will meditate for 10 minutes. The secret to creating a successful habit stack is selecting the right cue to kick things off.
The author suggests that motivation is overrated, and a better approach is to focus on creating an environment that is conducive to the new habit you want to form. A simple example of this is if you have the goal of not eating any junk food, instead of trying to force yourself to resist the temptation, simply don’t keep any junk food in the house. One of the ways I used this in my life is I had the goal of wanting to practice guitar more frequently, so instead of keeping the guitar in the closet of my bedroom, I moved it to the corner of my living room where I see it more frequently. We also mentally assign our habits to the locations in which they occur. Since practicing guitar requires mental energy and focus, keeping it in a bedroom is not ideal since that room is associated with sleeping and relaxation. Even thought it seems trivial, small changes in context of environment can lead to big changes in behavior over time.
As mentioned previously, the second law of behavior change is to make it attractive. It may sound obvious, but you are more likely to find a behavior attractive if you get to do one of your favorite things at the same time. Perhaps you like watching trashy reality tv shows. Don’t give this up if you enjoy it, but only let yourself watch these shows if you are working out on the treadmill or bike at the same time. The hope with this approach is eventually you will look forward to exercising because you get to watch reality tv. The author refers to this technique as temptation bundling.
Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop because when dopamine rises, so does our motivation to act. Psychology has proven that it is the anticipation of a reward, not the fulfillment of it, that gets us to take action. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike.
The final point James Clear makes on how to make a habit attractive is to realize that the culture we live in determines which behaviors are attractive. Human beings have a desire to fit in and belong, so we tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved by our culture. 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 (2) you already have something in common with the group.
Key Concept #4
Make it Easy, Make it Satisfying
One of the most common questions people ask is “How long does it take to form a new habit?” James Clear argues that what people should really be asking is how many repetitions are required to make a habit automatic. After all, your current habits have been internalized over the course of hundreds or even thousands of repetitions, so new habits require the same level of frequency. To build a habit you need to practice it, and the most effective way to make practice happen is to adhere to the 3rd Law of Behavior Change, which is make it easy.
Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort, as humans will naturally gravitate towards the option that requires the least amount of work. Therefore, it is important to create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible, and for habits you want to reduce, increase the friction to make those habits more difficult. For example, it could be something as simple moving your phone into a different room when you are working so that you are not tempted to constantly check it. For personal finance, have money automatically deducted from your paycheck and invested in a retirement account. This takes zero discipline and over time you will be amazed at the power of compound interest, particularly if you automatically increase your contribution percentage after each raise.
It is important not to have an all or nothing mentality when it comes to forming new habits. The idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start. If your goal is to read more, it could be something as simple as read only one page before bed each night. The point is to master the habit of showing up. Instead of trying to create a perfect habit from the start, do the easy thing on a more consistent basis.
We all want better lives for our future selves, but when the moment of decision arrives, instant gratification usually wins. As a general rule, James Clear suggests that the more immediate pleasure you get from an action, the more strongly you should question whether it aligns with your long-term goals. The challenge is the human brain is wired to spend all day chasing quick hits of satisfaction. However, you can turn instant gratification to your advantage by using reinforcement. As an example, going to the gym a few times is not going to make you any noticeably fitter or stronger. It’s only months or even years down the road when you begin to see the benefits, so in the beginning you need a reason to stay on track. It is important that the reward is not conflicting with your long term visions. For instance, don’t eat a bowl of ice cream because you worked out; instead, reward yourself by going to get a massage. The good news is incentives can start a habit, but identity sustains a habit, so over time you will not need to reward yourself because the new habit will be part of your normal routine and you will have already seen the benefits of this new habit.
Key Concept #5
Play The Right Game
“Our genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on. Once we realize our strengths, we know where to spend our time and energy.” Atomic Habits p.226
Learning to play a game where the odds are in your favor is critical for both motivation and feeling successful. Pick the right habit and progress is easy, pick the wrong habit and life is a struggle. So how do you pick the right habit? In most cases, trial and error is the most common approach. Unfortunately, life is short, as you don’t have time to try every career, date every person, or learn to play every musical instrument. In the beginning of a new activity, there should be a period of exploration. After this period of exploration, shift your focus to the best solution you have found, but keep experimenting occasionally. If you are at the beginning of your career, you have more time, so it makes sense to explore because once you find the right thing, you still have a good amount of time to exploit it. Below are a series of questions you can ask yourself to narrow in on the habits and areas that will be most satisfying to you:
What feels like fun to me, but work to others? Whether you are made for a task is not whether you love it, but if you can handle the pain of the task easier than most people. The work that hurst you less than it hurts others is the work you were made to do.
What makes me lose track of time? Flow is the blend of happiness and peak performance. It is being “in the zone.”
Where do I get greater returns than the average person? We are all continually comparing ourselves to those around us, so a behavior is more likely to be satisfying when the comparison is in our favor.
What comes naturally to me? Ignore what society has told you, and what others expect of you. Look inside yourself and think about what feels natural to you.
Apply It
*Try implementing the habit stacking formula by first writing down a list of all your daily habits you do without fail. Think of a new habit you would like to form, and then try completing it after one of your existing daily habits, using it as a cue to get started.
*Instead of trying to wait for the right moment to start a new habit, realize that you can start small. If you want to get in shape, start by going to gym just for 15 minutes a few times a week. Once you realize that showing up is half the battle, your motivation will increase and you can gradually build from there.
*Regardless of where you are in life or what you want your future life to look like, remember that the key to getting results that last is to never stop making improvements. The next time you are lacking motivation, think about the quote below from Atomic Habits:
“It’s remarkable what you can build if you just don’t stop. It’s remarkable the business you can build if you don’t stop working. It’s remarkable the body you can build if you don’t stop training. It’s remarkable the knowledge you can build if you don’t stop learning. It’s remarkable the fortune you can build if you don’t stop saving. It’s remarkable the friendships you can build if you don’t stop caring. Small habits don’t add up. They compound.” Atomic Habits p. 253