# Atomic Habits - How to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones ## 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) - ![Plateau of Latent Potential](the_plateau_of_latent_potential.png) - 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 ### *Based on James Clear's book "Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones"*