I always wondered –
- Why are Fridays more exciting than the weekend, though the weekend is where all the fun happens?
- Why thinking about exams is more fearful than writing the exam itself is?
- Why thinking about the customer demo scheduled for tomorrow makes us more anxious than doing the actual demo?
- Is there a systematic way of building good habits and breaking bad ones?
I learned from the book that the dopamine levels in the brain are higher when the brain anticipates a reward/fear than experiencing the reward/fear itself. This is one of the intriguing facts mentioned in the book and the least you can expect. There is a much more curated set of exciting facts about the human brain and psychology that you would enjoy reading.
From our grandparents to our friends, many people talk about building good habits (Eg: Waking up early, Regularly exercising, Eating healthy, etc.) and how that could help us live a better life. But I often looked for scientific evidence for why habits are critical, how good habits actually help us, and whether there is an easy process to build good habits.
My quest for explanations to these questions ends here.
Atomic Habits by James Clear- An easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones.
James clear is a world-renowned habits expert and has written numerous articles on this subject.
The example from the book that stuck with me:
– Habits are behaviors that have been repeated enough times to become automatic. The ultimate purpose of building habits is to solve life’s problems with as little energy and effort as possible.
– To draw an analogy with the Software field – Habits are like an automated task (like RPA) where there is less or no cognitive load required to perform them so that our brain is freed up to focus on more value-added tasks.
The author says that real change in habits comes from the compound effect of hundreds of small decisions –
Eg: doing two push-ups a day, waking up five minutes earlier, and reading one page a day.
He calls them atomic habits. He reveals how these small changes can compound into life-altering outcomes.
The author introduces the four laws of building good habits and calls it HABIT LOOP.
1st Law (Cue) – Make it obvious
2nd Law (Craving)- Make it attractive
3rd Law (Response)- Make it easy
4th Law (Reward) – Make it satisfying
He draws numerous examples from inspiring stories of Olympic gold medalists, leading CEOs, and other Sports who employed these techniques in their day-to-day life to stay ahead of the curve.
The best part is – For each of these laws, the author shares practical techniques/tools that systematically help you build good habits and break bad ones:
Here is a summary of Tools/Techniques to implement the laws:
- Make it obvious:
- Habit scorecard
- Implementation intentions
- Habit stacking
- Environment design
- Make it attractive:
- Temptation bundling
- Motivation ritual
- Join a culture where your desired behavior is normal
- Make it easy:
- Reduce friction
- Prime the environment
- Master the decisive moment
- Two-minute rule
- Automate your habits using technology
- Make is satisfying:
- Immediate reward
- Habit tracker
- Never miss twice
The author shares these techniques in a downloadable cheat sheets for easy reference. There is a lot of material available if you would like to apply these techniques to business or other fields.
Many concepts resonate with people who read the book “Hooked” by Nir Eyal. And this book can be used as a way to reinforce those concepts.
This book is among the best sellers for 2022 on Amazon in the non-fiction category. It is a lovely read for those who care about habits, human behavior and psychology. It is the best practical self-help guide I have ever read to build good habits ourselves.