Atomic Habits - How to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones
Fundamentals - Tiny Changes Matter
Sustained Tiny Change Makes a Difference
- Takeaway: trajectory should be your daily concern, not results
- We tend to value defining moments but look over daily changes
- e.g. Steve Jobs is so good at presentation, but most people don’t know he work so hard he wake up at 5 in the morning everyday
- Instead we call it a “talent,” neglecting all the tiny effort during his daily effort
- Making a choice 1% better or 1% worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over a lifetime it becomes the difference of who you are and who you could be
- e.g. brush teeth seems useless at the time, but over the years, your teeth might be your friend or your pain
- We should concern more about current Trajectory than current results
- e.g. eat junk food once won’t be a problem at all, but if you find yourself keep eating it, you are on a bad trajectory
Valley of Disappointment
- Takeaway: Be patient at your dark times.
- Habits appears to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold (Plateau of Latent Potential)
- Like melting ice – nothing seems to happen for a while, then all actions happens at 32 degrees
Forget about Goals, Your System Will Take Care of It
- Best way to achieve is to set Specific, actionable goals (There are limitations to setting goals, as we will see later)
- Goals are about what you want to achieve (like be fit), systems are the process that lead to that goal (like exercise every day)
- Fantasizing achieving the goal does not make it a reality, real progress come from a usable system
Goal-oriented is the Problem
- Takeaway: The Journey is the reward. Be present. (after you build up the system, of course)
- Problem 1: Goal setting suffers from a serious case of survivorship bias:
- Society emphasizing successful people’s (achieved) goals, while ignoring failed people have the same goals
- Problem 2: Goal only temporarily change things, it treats a symptom but not the cause of it
- You decided to clean your messy room, and it is cleaned for now. But without a good habit, it will be messy again in a few days
- To improve for good, you need to address and fix at the system level
- Problem 3: Goal restrict happiness
- The idea of a goal is like this: “I will be happy only after I have achieved it”. You are putting happiness off to chase the carrot
- This is why Buddhist talk about being present: happiness should come from doing, not just from achieving
- Also, you either achieve the goal (momentary happiness); or you failed the goal – Now your brain associate this action and grief – which makes doing it even harder
- Solution: if you enjoy the process instead of just the result, you can always be happy, which make the habit more likely to survive
- Problem 4: Goal can’t persist over time
- When your GPA relies on the exam, you are less likely to learn once you achieve the goal – which might be useful for your GPA but definitely not good for your self-improvement
A System of Atomic Habits
- Takeaway: Accept human limitations, build a better system instead of blaiming self-control.
- If you failed to change your habits, the problem isn’t you, it’s your system
- Small habits compound over time, just like atoms make up molecules
- Breaking habits into atomic units makes them easier to build
- You need to focus on the system rather than the goals
- Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits
- Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits
- Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits
- Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits
- Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become
The 1st Law - Make it Obvious
The Habit Loop
- Our brains build habits through a 4-step process: cue, craving, response, and reward
- The cue triggers your brain to initiate a behavior because it predicts a reward
- Breaking this loop requires addressing each component
The Habit Scorecard
- List your daily habits to become aware of what you’re actually doing
- Mark each habit as positive (+), negative (-), or neutral (=)
- Awareness is the first step to behavior change
Implementation Intentions
- Most people’s plans fail because they’re too vague: “I want to exercise more”
- Be specific by using implementation intentions: “I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]”
- Example: “I will exercise for 30 minutes at 6:00 AM in my living room”
Habit Stacking
- Identify a current habit you already do each day
- Stack your new habit on top of this “anchor” habit
- Formula: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]”
- Example: “After I pour my morning coffee, I will meditate for one minute”
Environment Design
- Your environment often has more control over your behavior than your willpower
- Make cues for good habits obvious in your environment
- Example: Leave your running shoes by the door if you want to run more
The Invisible Problem
- Once a habit becomes automatic, we stop paying attention to what we’re doing
- The more you repeat a behavior, the more unconscious it becomes
- This is good for good habits but dangerous for bad ones
Habit Inversion
- Inversion of 1st law: Make it invisible
- Remove cues of your bad habits from your environment
- Example: Unplug your TV and put it in a closet if you watch too much
The 2nd Law - Make it Attractive
The Dopamine Driven Feedback Loop
- Dopamine is released not just when we experience pleasure, but when we anticipate it
- The anticipation of a reward (craving) drives action, not the reward itself
- We can use this knowledge to make habits more attractive
Temptation Bundling
- Pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do
- Example: Only watch your favorite show while exercising
- This links the pleasure of the want-to behavior to the need-to behavior
The Role of Family and Friends
- We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved by our culture and community
- Join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior
- Example: Join a running club if you want to run more
Habit Reframing
- Reframe your habits to highlight their benefits rather than their drawbacks
- Instead of “I need to go run in the morning,” tell yourself “I get to go run and clear my mind before work”
- Shift your mindset from “have to” to “get to”
Motivation Ritual
- Create a ritual before a difficult habit to make it more attractive
- Example: Listen to the same pump-up song before a workout
Habit Inversion
- Inversion of 2nd law: Make it unattractive
- Highlight the benefits of avoiding your bad habits
- Example: Focus on feeling healthy and energetic rather than the taste you’re missing when skipping junk food
The 3rd Law - Make it Easy
The Law of Least Effort
- Human behavior follows the path of least resistance
- Reduce friction associated with good behaviors
- Example: Set out your workout clothes the night before
Two-Minute Rule
- When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do
- Scale down your habits until they can be done in two minutes or less
- Example: “Read before bed each night” becomes “Read one page before bed each night”
- The point is to master the habit of showing up
Designing for Automaticity
- The ultimate purpose of habits is to solve problems with as little energy and effort as possible
- Invest in technology and one-time purchases that lock in future behavior
- Example: Buy a good water filter to drink more water, or a better mattress to sleep better
The Decisive Moment
- Small choices determine the difference between good and bad days
- Create a series of decisive moments that lead to the right behavior
- Example: Packing your gym bag the night before is a decisive moment that determines whether you’ll work out tomorrow
Habit Inversion
- Inversion of 3rd law: Make it difficult
- Increase friction associated with bad behaviors
- Example: Leave your phone in another room while working to reduce distractions
The 4th Law - Make it Satisfying
The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change
- What is immediately rewarded is repeated
- What is immediately punished is avoided
- We value immediate rewards more than delayed ones
Habit Tracking
- One of the most satisfying feelings is the feeling of making progress
- Use a habit tracker to maintain a visual record of your progress
- Example: Mark an X on a calendar each day you complete your habit
- Don’t break the chain; never miss twice
Habit Contracts
- Make the costs of violating your good habits public and painful
- Example: Tell a friend you’ll pay them $100 if you miss your workout
- This creates an immediate cost to not following through
The Goldilocks Rule
- 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
- For a habit to stay satisfying, you must keep experiencing both success and challenge
Habit Inversion
- Inversion of 4th law: Make it unsatisfying
- Create an accountability partner
- Example: Ask someone to check in on your progress, making it socially painful to fail
Advanced Tactics
The Truth About Talent
- Genes do not determine your destiny, but they do determine your areas of opportunity
- Choose the right field of competition where your natural talents have the greatest impact
- The secret to maximizing your odds of success is to choose the right field of competition
The Goldilocks Rule in Practice
- How to stay motivated in life and work: work on tasks of “just manageable difficulty”
- The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom
- Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated
- Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way
Downside of Creating Good Habits
- The downside of habits is that you get used to them and stop paying attention
- Establish a system for reflection and review
- Review and adjust your systems to prevent plateaus
Getting 1% Better Every Day
- Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line to cross
- It is a system to improve, an endless process to refine
- Small habits don’t add up, they compound
- That’s the power of atomic habits - tiny changes, remarkable results