Download Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF book free online – From Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF: 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. Get Free Audiobook
Description of Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
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.
Editorial Reviews
Review of Atomic Habits PDF
Wall Street Journal bestseller
USA Today bestseller
Publisher’s Weekly bestseller
One of Fast Company’s 7 Best Business Books of 2018
One of Business Insider’s Best Self-Help Books of 2018
“A supremely practical and useful book. James Clear distills the most fundamental information about habit formation, so you can accomplish more by focusing on less.”
-Mark Manson, #1 New York Times best-selling author of The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck
“James Clear has spent years honing the art and studying the science of habits. This engaging, hands-on book is the guide you need to break bad routines and make good ones.”
-Adam Grant, New York Times best-selling author of Originals, Give and Take, and Option B with Sheryl Sandberg
“A special book that will change how you approach your day and live your life.”
-Ryan Holiday, bestselling author of The Obstacle is the Way and Ego is the Enemy
“As a physician attempting to help my patients build healthy habits to decrease and reverse chronic disease, Atomic Habits is the playbook I have been searching for. Not only does the book offer actionable items I can teach my patients, I can refer them to read and implement the ideas themselves. The format is powerful and simple. This should be taught in all medical schools.”
-Laurie Marbas, MD, United States Air Force veteran
“Atomic Habits was a great read. I learned a lot and think it’ll be helpful to a lot of people.”
—Gayle King, co-anchor of CBS This Morning and editor-at-large for O, The Oprah Magazine
“Useful new book”
–Wall Street Journal
“In Atomic Habits, Clear will show you how to overcome a lack of motivation, change your environment to encourage success, and make time for new (and better) habits.
–Glamour.com
“Atomic Habits is a great book for anyone who is frustrated with the way they can’t seem to kick that one (or two dozen) bad habit(s) and wants to finally achieve health, fitness, financial freedom, great relationships, and a good life.”
–Medium.com
“Excellent. Well worth the read.”
–Benjamin Hardy, Inc.com
Review of Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
I previously wrote this review right after reading the book. Today, February 15th, after applying James’s system for 100 days on a few tiny habits, I feel compelled to share updates with you because they have sincerely worked.
I will divide the review into 5 parts. The first part is a summary of the book with short excerpts highlighted while taking notes. Next, I hope to share pieces of advice that have motivated me while building new habits. Following that, I will share how I implemented the first 3 habits throughout these months. Then, some thoughts to whom I would recommend reading the book. Last, there are 4 complementary readings.
Summary of Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
The Basics – Why Do Small Changes Make a Big Difference?
What Exactly Are Habits?
Small, ordinary activities that we undertake mechanically and with little or no thought are referred to be habits. Habits have a lot of power. Every day, we are what we do. Habits shape our identity in this way. As a result, even the tiniest activities have a significant impact when performed everyday.
Positive transformation, on the other hand, necessitates patience. However, even if you don’t notice results immediately away, you can rest assured that excellent habits will keep you on the right track. Making big improvements in your life through habits does not necessitate a lot of disruption. Small modifications in your conduct can often lead to the intended outcomes.
Why Is It So Difficult to Form Good Habits?
Conditioning is the process of forming habits. In practice, we prefer to repeat pleasurable actions until they become second nature. When you were a newborn, for example, you might have sucked your thumb to relax. This soothing sensation was the rewarding result that made you want to repeat the behavior. This is why it’s so difficult to change negative habits and replace them with healthy ones.
Fortunately, conditioning can also be used to aid in the formation of positive habits. We can engage in routines like going for a morning run as grownups since it gives us an endorphin rush and makes us feel more productive.
Minor Enhancements
Humans have a tendency to tell themselves that great accomplishment necessitates massive action, therefore we fail to form excellent habits. It’s easy to overlook the importance of small changes, such as going for a morning run every day. However, because the habit is practiced on a daily basis, the benefits will accrue.
Clear demonstrates how small changes may have a tremendous impact. He argues that if you improve 1% of your life every day, you’ll be 37 times better at the end of the year. Here’s how it works: 37.78 is 1.01 to the power of 365 days (in other words, 37 times better). Small, everyday changes become atomic habits that help you achieve your goals in this way.
The disadvantage is that undesirable habits can also work this way. Clear demonstrates how going 1% worse every day leads to disastrous repercussions over the course of a year, since 0.99 to the power of 365 is 0.03. (near 0).
Compound Interest is a term that refers to the interest
The compound interest of self-improvement is atomic habits. The effect of your habits expands as you repeat them, much like money multiplies to produce compound interest. However, this means that on any given day, habits may appear to make little or no impact. Nonetheless, the impact they have over months or years might be huge.
Our goal is to instill a culture of healthy habits that will compound over time. Bad habits, on the other hand, multiply. As previously stated, deferring a project until tomorrow may appear insignificant at the moment. However, if this 1% inaccuracy is repeated day after day, the small errors might add up to toxic outcomes.
Daily habits, not once-in-a-lifetime transformations, are the key to success. You won’t see immediate beneficial results from everyday behaviors since habits always trail behind outcomes. In fact, until you exceed a threshold and unlock a new performance level, habits often appear to make no difference.
The plateau of latent potential is reached at this point. We often give up since habits do not provide us with the immediate fulfillment that people need. This is the pinnacle of our hidden potential. The plateau of latent potential demonstrates why habit formation might be difficult. To break through this plateau, you must only persevere long enough. You must learn to be patient and have faith in order to achieve habit fulfillment.
Forget about goals and instead focus on systems.
Your objectives are the outcomes you desire to achieve. The mechanisms that lead to those outcomes are known as systems.
The systems should be your primary focus. The aim will take care of itself if you adopt this approach. There are a few reasons why systems manage goals, according to Clear:
The goals of both winners and losers are the same. Every Olympian, for example, aspires to earn a gold medal, and every business aspires to be successful. The mere act of setting a goal does not imply that it will be achieved. Otherwise, we’d have millions of gold medalists and every entrepreneur’s dream would come true. As a result, it is the winners’ methods that assist them in achieving success and achieving outcomes.
Because achieving a goal only results in a temporary shift, goals can actually limit your enjoyment. We believe that achieving our objectives will provide us immediate enjoyment. However, taking this approach to life sets us up for failure. Even after accomplishing our aim, we may still feel unsatisfied. Though we fail, we feel as if we have been cheated out of a shot at happiness.
Long-term progress is made by systems, not by goals.
If you’re having problems changing your behaviors, it’s not your fault. Your system is the issue. As a result, instead of focusing on your particular goals, try to concentrate on the total system. Atomic Habits’ central premise is that you do not climb to the level of your ambitions. Instead, you fall back on your system’s level. It’s all about the process, not the end result.
Loops of Habit
Habits reinforce each other. This means that performing the behavior and obtaining the reward makes you want to repeat it. When you wish to change your behavior, you can take advantage of this. Actions go through a defined step-by-step procedure to become a habit:
Because it promises a reward, the cue causes your brain to initiate an activity.
You will begin to acquire desires after earning this initial reward. You are wanting the internal transformation that the habit has brought about, not the habit itself.
This behavior becomes a part of your personality and a habit you practice in your life as a result of these urges.
Finally, this persistent action begins to pay off in the long run.
In the establishment of a habit loop, James Clear uses the example of morning coffee:
The word “cue” means “wake up.”
Feeling alert = craving
Drinking coffee is an action.
Feeling awake is a reward.
A neurological feedback loop is formed when the four steps of the habit loop are combined. This loop is as follows:
cue –> desire –> action –> reward
Finally, you can use this loop to build and reinforce habitual habits. The more you repeat this habit loop with any habit, the more automatic it will become. Clear outlines four principles that illustrate how to begin creating habit loops.
1st Law: Make It Clearly Visible
You want to make the cues evident if you want to use habit loops to create positive habits. You want to make the cues invisible or delete them if you have undesirable behaviors.
Assume you wish to improve your guitar skills. In this scenario, an evident cue that serves as a reminder to play the guitar is required. You may, for example, place the guitar in the middle of the living room to stimulate your brain more frequently.
Creating a habit stack is another great technique to introduce new cues. Adding habits before and after each other is known as habit stacking. Keep in mind that your brain forms strong neurological connections to promote consistent behavior. You can take advantage of those connections by linking a new habit to an old one. This could mean immediately changing into training clothing after removing your work shoes, or meditating for a minute after pouring your first cup of coffee.
How to Develop Positive Habits
Habitual behavior might be triggered by certain stimuli. You may use this knowledge to build excellent behaviors once you grasp it.
Change your surroundings to encourage improved behaviours. You’ll be more likely to respond to cues if you make them as plain as possible. Let’s say you wish to eat more nutritious snacks. Instead of hiding these healthful snacks in the salad drawer, you may place them on the shelf.
Make use of implementation goals. Implementation intentions are detailed plans for when and where you’ll practice your new habit. Don’t make vague promises like “I’ll eat healthier.” Instead, make a detailed action plan that specifies when and where you will practice the habit you wish to develop.
Create an environment that invites temptation. Humans are driven by the prospect of receiving a reward. Dopamine (the feel-good hormone) is released by our brain not only when we accomplish pleasurable things, but also when we anticipate them. It’s worth noting that developing appealing routines will help you keep to them. Connect a behavior you’re drawn to with a habit you’d like to cultivate (but aren’t enjoying). Allow yourself to watch episodes of your favorite show while riding at the gym, for example.
Make it as simple as possible to get into the habit. Friction should be reduced for good habits and increased for undesirable habits.
Use the two-minute rule as a guideline. Make any new task feel manageable by dedicating only two minutes of your time to it. This is a method for forming simple habits that will lead to greater accomplishments. The most important step is to get started.
Create behaviors that are immediately rewarding. When it comes to habits that have a long-term payoff, attempt to connect instant enjoyment to them.
Option 1: Use a Habit Tracker to Keep Your Habits on Track
Habit trackers help you keep track of the daily behaviors that feed a habit. Make a habit tracker with a calendar or diary, for example. Every day that you manage to stick to your good behavior, cross it off your list. Furthermore, habit tracking is a pleasurable and fulfilling habit in and of itself. This is one of the reasons why habit tracking is so helpful.
Contract is the second option.
Make a habit contract with yourself that has negative repercussions if you don’t stick to it. Make an effort to enlist the help of others. Knowing that someone is observing you can be a huge motivator to keep going.
Make It Attractive is the second law.
Then, in order for a habit to stick, you must receive regular positive feedback from it. Using temptation bundling is an effective technique to produce this positive feedback. Temptation bundling focuses on the relationship between unenjoyable activities and your favorite things, such as watching TV and exercising, to make them delightful. When you get to do one of your favorite activities while engaging in a habit, you are more likely to find it appealing.
Joining a society where your desired behavior is normalized is the second way to make the urge more appealing. For instance, if you want to improve your reading skills, you could join a book club. Joining our club will hold you accountable, and you’ll probably have more fun reading than if you did it alone.
Similarly, if you wish to break undesirable habits, you should associate with a culture that does not support them. You should also avoid cultures where your poor habits are accepted. Assume you wish to stop smoking. In that scenario, it could be a good idea to avoid spending time with folks who smoke regularly.
3rd Law: Make It Simple
Motivation, according to conventional opinion, is the key to breaking a habit. We will change if we desire to change strongly enough. However, the relationship between motivation and habit change is a little more nuanced. To be more exact, human conduct is guided by the principle of least effort. We are compelled to choose the choice that needs the least amount of effort. You may take advantage of this by establishing an environment that makes doing the right thing as simple as possible.
Reduce the friction associated with positive activities to establish this atmosphere. If you want to become in shape, for example, you could join a gym on your way to work. You can also organize and prepare your exercise bag the night before.
Increase the friction if you’re trying to stop someone from doing something bad. If you want to watch less television, make sure you can state the name of the program you want to watch out loud before turning it on. This generates friction, which discourages mindless viewing and channel flipping just to see what’s on.
Make It Satisfying is the 4th Law.
Habits don’t always bring immediate gratification in the form of results. As a result, it can be difficult for us to form new habits. We think of the beginning of a new habit as a sacrifice with no payoff. At first, nothing will change physically if you start coming to the gym a few times a week. Instead, finding meaningful effects takes months. So, to make your new habit stay, come up with a strategy to reward yourself right away.
Setting up a loyalty system for yourself is a tactic you might utilize when the reward is long-term. Take, for example, the desire to abstain from consuming alcohol. Simply abstaining does not provide satisfaction on its own. However, say you put $25 into your holiday bank account every week you go alcohol-free. In that instance, you’ll be rewarding yourself right away for your new behavior.
Advanced Strategies
The Three Levels of Behavior Modification
Clear introduces the three layers of behavior change: results, processes, and identity, to help us understand how to alter our behavior. The outer layer, outcomes, are the outcomes of a single action or a series of activities. Processes are the steps you take to get those results. Finally, your innermost layer, your identity, is about what you believe. When people set out to develop themselves, they consider the end result first, followed by the process.
However, if you don’t modify the underlying beliefs (or identities) that lead to your previous behaviors, it’ll be difficult to change your habits. As a result of your heightened motivation, you may develop a habit. You won’t be able to keep this habit unless it becomes a part of your identity.
Every action you take represents a vote for the kind of person you want to be. No single deed will change your beliefs in a single day. As your beneficial deeds accumulate, the proof of your new identity rises.
Here’s a simple two-step change procedure:
Make yourself into the person you want to be.
Demonstrate your identity to yourself through little victories and atomic habits.
Atomic Habits: A Summary and Review
The idea that creating several goals is the path to success is challenged in Atomic Habits. Instead, James Clear advises creating systems that will assist you in forming habits that will improve your chances of success. The simplest system to put in place is one that helps you improve by 1% every day. According to Clear, you can improve by 1% by:
Getting rid of harmful habits and forming new ones.
Avoiding the most typical blunders people make when trying to change their routines.
Overcoming a lack of drive and determination to succeed.
Developing a greater sense of self and having faith in oneself.
Making time for new habits is important.
Creating an environment that facilitates achievement.
Making little, simple improvements that have a tremendous impact.
When you stray off track, you must get back on track.
Learning how to use these concepts in the actual world.
You can also start creating habit loops by following Clear’s four laws:
Make It Explicit
Make It Appealing
Make It Simple
It Should Be Satisfying
Summary 2
[Introduction] James starts by sharing personal strategies he implemented to recover from a serious accident in high school. That event forced him to improve the quality of his routine to get his life in order, coming to the conclusion that “we all deal with setbacks, but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you will end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible.”
[Section I : The Fundamentals]
[Chapter 1] Here we learn the power of compounding effect: changes that seem small and unimportant at any given day will compound into remarkable results if we are willing to stick with them for months and years. James explains that “breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, which build up the potential required to unleash a major change.” Comparing to habits, he shows that bamboo can barely be seen during the first couple of years while the roots grow underground before exploding for almost 100 feet into the air in a few weeks. From that perspective, we come to understand the best outcomes are generally delayed.
[Chapter 2] Based on a 3-layer concentric circle behavior change model—divided into outcome change, process change, and identity change—James explains that we should pay attention to our inner identity by focusing on beliefs, assumptions, and values. “Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.” The strongest changes, then, happen from inside out, starting from our identity, passing through the process, and ultimately changing the outcome.
[Chapter 3] In this chapter we are introduced to a 4-step framework, which is composed of cue, craving, response, and reward. James calls it ‘The 4 Laws of Behavior Change’. He then explains that we can think of each law as a lever that influences our behavior—when the levers are in the right positions, they create good habits effortless whereas when they are in the wrong position, it is nearly impossible. Through examples, he explains that “the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue.” Together they create a habit loop that, when repeated many times, habits become automatic. Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
[Section II : Make It Obvious]
[Chapter 4] A primer on how cues play a crucial role in predicting habit formation without consciously thinking about the outcomes. Once our habits become so common, the cues associated with them become essentially invisible because they are deeply encoded. If we want to create better habits, a good idea is to be aware of the cues. James finishes up by sharing a strategy called ‘Habits Scorecard’—a simple exercise to become more aware of our behavior on a daily basis. We first write down a chronological list of our daily habits and, once we have a full list, we score each habit as an effective, ineffective, or neutral habit. Besides noticing what is actually going on, we can notice if certain behaviors help us become the type of person we wish to be.
[Chapter 5] The cues that can trigger a habit come in a wide range of forms, and the 2 most common cues are time and location. When we make a specific plan for when and where we will perform a new habit, we are more likely to follow through. Stacking our habits by pairing a new habit with a current habit is a form to connect our behavior to our own advantage. An example when building a daily journaling habit would be: “after I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will journal for 5 minutes.”
[Chapter 6] This chapter shows how our environment plays a crucial role in defining habit behaviors. “Given that we are more dependent on vision than any other sense, it should come as no surprise that visual cues are the greatest catalyst of our behavior.” To build good habits, then, we should either make desirable cues obvious in our environment or build new habits in a new environment to avoid fighting against old ones.
[Chapter 7] One of the most practical ways to break a bad habit is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it. As James points out, “it is easier to avoid temptation than resist it.” Atomic Habits PDF
[Section III : Make It Attractive]
[Chapter 8] James explains how the modern food industry has created products that are more attractive and addictive to consumers, and by doing so he shows that the more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming. Every behavior that is highly habit-forming tends to be associated with higher levels of dopamine. It is the anticipation of a reward that motivates us to take action. “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.”
[Chapter 9] “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.” That said, it is common to pick up habits and behaviors from our parents, peers, and colleagues. There is also a tremendous internal pressure to comply with the norms of the tribe. And, finally, we try to copy the behavior of successful people because we desire success ourselves. One of the best strategies to build better habits is to join a culture where the desired behavior is the normal behavior.
[Chapter 10] To avoid unnecessary and detrimental cravings, we should highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit by making it seem unattractive. “Habits are unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings.”
[Section IV : Make It Easy]
[Chapter 11] “All habits follow a similar trajectory from effortful practice to automatic behavior, a process known as automaticity. Automaticity is the ability to perform a behavior without thinking about each step, which occurs when the nonconscious mind takes over.” The key component is to pay close attention to the frequency we perform a habit, not much for how long we have been practicing it. Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
[Chapter 12] Since every action requires a certain amount of energy, we are motivated to do what is easy. By contrast, the more energy required, the less likely it is to occur. “You don’t actually want the habit itself. What you really want is the outcome the habit delivers. The greater the obstacle, the more friction there is between you and your desired end state.” That is why we should reduce the friction associated with our habits by creating a prosperous environment to make future actions easier.
[Chapter 13] There are decisive moments that deliver an outsized impact every single day. As James puts, these decisive moments are a fork in the road, sending us in the direction of a productive path or an unproductive one. To avoid procrastination, the skill of ‘Showing Up’ says that we should start a new habit by taking baby steps, making it as easy as possible to take action. “A new habit should not feel like a challenge. The actions that follow can be challenging, but the first 2 minutes should be easy. What you want is a gateway habit that naturally leads you down a more productive path.” He calls it the ‘Two-Minute Rule’, meaning that new habits should take less than 2 minutes to do in the beginning. Once the habit is established we can improve and master the finer details.
[Chapter 14] In order to keep bad habits away is to make them difficult in the first place. There are 2 interesting strategies to improve our future behavior. [1] Make good choices in advance before we can fall victim to temptation in the future. James gives a personal example by sharing that whenever he is looking to cut calories he will ask the waiter to split his meal and box half of it to go before the meal is served. If, however, he waits for the meal to be served and tries to eat just half, that would never happen. [2] Make onetime actions that can automate our future habits and deliver increasing returns over time such as buying a good water filter, unsubscribing from unwanted emails, moving to a friendlier neighborhood, buying a standing desk, or setting up automatic bill pay.
[Section V : Make It Satisfying]
[Chapter 15] We should make sure to feel immediately satisfied after performing a new habit to increase the odds that the behavior will be repeated next time. “The human brain has evolved to prioritize immediate rewards over delayed rewards.” For that, we can add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run. Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
[Chapter 16] Here we learn how to measure our progress by tracking our habits. The immediate satisfaction it delivers—as mentioned earlier in Chapter 15—is one of the many benefits that standout. Besides that, James says, “when we get a signal that we are moving forward, we become more motivated to continue down that path.” The most basic format to track our habits is to get a calendar and mark an X each time we stick with our routine. One of the most important passages of the entire book is as follows: “If you miss one day, try to get back into it as quickly as possible. The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit. This is a distinguishing feature between winners and losers. Anyone can have a bad performance, a bad workout, or a bad day at work. But when successful people fail, they rebound quickly.”
[Chapter 17] In order to prevent bad habits and/or eliminate unhealthy behaviors, James says that we could either add an instant cost to the action or make it painful. A habit contract is also another strategy to hold our accountability: “It is a verbal or written agreement in which you state your commitment to a particular habit and the punishment that will occur if you don’t follow through. Then you find one to two people to act as your accountability partners and sign off on the contract with you.”
[Section VI : Advanced Techniques] Atomic Habits PDF
[Chapter 18] We learn how to distinguish habits when genes may or may not influence our performance especially for competitive activities. “One of the best ways to ensure your habits remain satisfying over the long-run is to pick behaviors that align with your personality and skills.” James proposes us to set some time apart to explore new activities in the beginning, before shifting our focus to exploit them thoroughly.
[Chapter 19] When we find the sweet spot of our ability we tend to learn best and fastest. The ‘Goldilocks Rule’ states that “humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.”
[Chapter 20] One downside of certain habits, James explains, is that we may stop paying attention to the little details and errors. To counterbalance that we should review and reflect on the process over time to remain conscious of our own performance. Using a simple chart to convey his message, we learn that “the process of mastery requires that you progressively layer improvements on top of one another, each habit building upon the last until a new level of performance has been reached and a higher range of skills has been internalized.”
PERSONAL THOUGHTS
Reading the book twice helped me take better notes and capture details. In the meantime, I thought about 3 simple strategies that could improve our adherence to new habits. Let me share these strategies here with you, and in the following section, I will describe how I managed to cultivate the first 3 new habits upon reading the book—following the system proposed by James together with these 3 strategies. Atomic Habits PDF
[1] The first strategy is about determining a ‘commitment time frame’ to avoid excuses during this initial trial period. A 1-month time frame is a fair commitment, choosing to start on the first day of the month to practice it every single day for a full month. Just at the end of the period, I will take the time to reflect and evaluate the pros and cons.
[2] The next one is to choose only 1 new habit each month. In doing so we become familiar with the practice intentionally while we develop a sense of purpose.
[3] Last, during the first month of any new habit, I noticed that if I spend time exploring the details and the benefits, my motivation stays high. It doesn’t only help us create better practices, but it is also inspiring to learn from others who have succeeded previously by adding the same habit into their lives. Podcasts, articles, videos, books, online courses, tutorials, and blog posts are all good sources.
IMPLEMENTATION OF NEW HABITS
[Nov 1, 2018] I had been wanting to journal on a daily basis for many years but that had never happened. Although I have carried a notebook with me for quite a while, it has never worked as a real journal—a daily routine, when we sit down and write personal thoughts, intentions, and reflections at around the same time. Instead, it has been mostly used to take notes during meetings, to write down ideas and thoughts, to express travel memories, and to doodle. Today, after 3+ months, I haven’t looked back once, and still can’t believe it took me that long to start this daily habit. During the first month, I read blog posts, watched videos, and even read a short and inexpensive book to foster my creativity. Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
[Dec 1, 2018] I have been impressed by the physical capabilities we can develop through body movement. Although yoga has been a special part of my life since I was 18, I hadn’t given proper attention to handstands. But now, after 2+ months practicing it every day, it is rewarding to see improvements on a weekly basis. Again, I definitely recommend watching videos and reading tutorials to find your favorite method. This is the perfect habit to stack at the end or in the middle of any physical movement practice you may enjoy.
[Jan 1, 2019] By now we know the benefits of cold showers—ranging from healthier skin appearance all the way to a more resilient perspective of the world. I had previously taken cold showers for 3 months in 2017, but it was a “goal” mindset instead of a “habit” mindset. After that trial I set aside and, although I have kept taking cold showers once or twice a week since then, I wished cold showers was the default mode. Now, after 1+ month, I can’t see myself taking warm showers. After all, it is about intention. Again, we can learn uncountable benefits of cold showers by reading success stories. One of my inspirations was Wim Hof. It isn’t comfortable in the beginning of any chosen day, but after 3-4 minutes, both my breath and thoughts calm down.
Putting them together, these 3 habits don’t take more than 30 minutes of my day. While I spend about 10 minutes journaling and 10 more minutes practicing handstands, I save 5 minutes taking cold showers because I won’t stay any longer than necessary. Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
RECOMMENDATION
[1] First, if you have watched videos, listened to podcasts, read articles and books on habit formation and, after all that, you feel satisfied, then, please, save your money and time.
[2] However, if you are like me, that even after reading a few books on building habits and having successfully added good habits to your life, feel that there is still room for improvement, this book can be a terrific addition.
[3] Last, if you haven’t spent much time and energy discovering a good system to build lasting habits while breaking bad ones, please, read this book.
COMPLEMENTARY READINGS
[1] Game Changers, by Dave Asprey, exposed me to a wealth array of ideas/habits/tools that have helped me decide which new habit to build next. The book is divided into 46 laws.
[2] Essentialism, by Greg McKeown, helped me focus on less but more important tasks, giving clarity to what matters most. This is especially interesting to break bad habits. Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF
[3] The Talent Code, by Daniel Coyle, brought more motivation when learning new skills based on the assumptions that we develop new talents through deep practices, finding our ignition identity, and having the right coach to guide us genuinely. I read it many years ago, then, a few years back, I read his following book called The Little Book of Talent—which is perhaps even more to the point.
[4] The Systems View of Life, by Fritjof Capra, enlightened my perspectives on how nature and living beings are systematically integrated. It is a profound and slightly academic book that can complement Atomic Habits especially to tie together the 4-step framework into the feedback loop system.
I sincerely hope you, too, have fun while building new habits.
Take care,
Haical
Biography
James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning. His website receives millions of visitors each month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his popular email newsletter at jamesclear.com.
He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Through his online course, The Habits Academy, Clear has taught more than 10,000 leaders, managers, coaches, and teachers. The Habits Academy is the premier training platform for individuals and organizations that are interested in building better habits in life and work. You can learn more at habitsacademy.com.
jamesclear.com
Atomic Habits by James Clear PDF : eBook Information
- Full Book Name – Atomic Habits
- Author of this Book – James Clear
- Language – English
- Book Genre – Non Fiction, Psychology, Self Help, Productivity
- Download Format – PDF
- Size – 6 MB
- eBook Pages –285
- Price – Free