10 Lessons From Atomic Habits To Develop Better Habits

I am reading Atomic Habits by James Clear and I am really impressed by the work that the author has put into it. Clear starts the book with a harrowing personal account and I was sold from the get-go. I generally find self-help books shoddily done but Atomic Habits hits differently. It’s packed with pragmatic suggestions that you can incorporate into your home.

Clear suggests that winners and losers have the same goals but their habits decide each individual’s fate. I love that the bestselling author is not imparting vague information about how to change things in your own hands. I am collating a number of suggestions from Atomic Habits that would be appropriate for people who want to change their lives for good. Read these stirring lines by James Clear that urge you to become your best self.

1. The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it. If you’re proud of how your hair looks, you’ll develop all sorts of habits to care for and maintain it.

2. Your actions reveal how badly you want something. If you keep saying something is a priority but you never act on it, then you don’t really want it. It’s time to have an honest conversation with yourself. Your actions reveal your true motivations.

3. If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.

4. The tendency for one purchase to lead to another one has a name: the Diderot Effect. The Diderot Effect states that obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption.

5. The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this.

6. We imitate the habits of three groups in particular: The close. The many. The powerful.

7. The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over. You have to fall in love with boredom.

8. The real reason you fail to stick with habits is that your self-image gets in the way. This is why you can’t get too attached to one version of your identity. Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and upgrade and expand your identity.

9. It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action.

10. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement.