Atomic Habits is a must-read book if you want to know all about good habits and how to cultivate them.
Atomic Habits focuses on bringing positive changes to our lives by cultivating the right habits. This book provides know-hows on habits, how to cultivate them, and how to ensure the best ones stick.
The impact of habits on our lives
Habits can have a tremendous impact on our lives. It could change the entire course of our life. But it comes with a catch.
James Clear says that the impact that habits have on our lives is gradual. Results cannot be seen in a few days, but over time we would find ourselves at a point entirely different from where we had originally started. As such, what kind of habits we have cultivated heavily influences the course of our lives and could have positive or detrimental effects depending on these habits.
How are habits formed?
Habits are automated responses to a situation that has been ingrained into our memory from experience. The formation of habits takes place when our brain analyses a situation and figures out a way to solve, react or escape from a situation.
According to Atomic Habits, habits are generally formed in steps of four; first comes the trigger which forces us to act, second comes the desire for change in our state induced by the trigger, third comes to our action, which is mainly in response to our desire for change and finally comes the reward. Achieving a state of comfort for our body and mind is generally our reward. Our brain registers this set of actions and every time we face a similar situation, it acts in the same way, which leads to the formation of a habit.
Building new habits
Since it is these triggers that start the cycle of creating a hobby, we can use this knowledge to create new hobbies.
The first step, according to the author, is placing our cues or triggers in obvious places so that we do not miss them. This will prompt us into taking action. When we do this every time we see the trigger, we will have formed a habit. The best way to start this journey is to make small changes to our surroundings.
The second step is to have a well-developed plan for implementation. We need to be confirmed about our course of action on seeing a trigger and repeating this will help form a habit. If we are vague in our details, our triggers will fail to induce us to act and no new habits will be formed.
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Making our hobbies attractive
It is difficult to leave a life of comfort and to build good habits. But it can be done if we can twerk our habits to make it more rewarding and fun.
One piece of advice suggested by the author of Atomic Habits is associating something we enjoy with a new habit that we are trying to form. This will make us anticipate and we can easily develop our desired habits. The author also suggests rewarding ourselves so that we can anticipate those undesirable tasks and turn them into a hobby.
Easier habits are easier to adopt
It will be easier for us to adopt habits if they could be made easier. The lesser amount of work done to do a particular thing, the more attractive it becomes for us. As such, it is advisable to try out innovative ways to make those tasks as easy as possible so that we enjoy doing them and do not tire of them after just a few days. Similarly, for bad habits, the more difficult the task becomes, the lesser one we will be interested in doing it.
James Clear also suggests the ‘Two Minute Rule’, in which we start a new habit by doing it for a duration we are comfortable with as to gradually build up our interest in it. Going all out with something we do not enjoy doing is only going to exhaust us and make us lose interest in that thing.
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Keeping track of our habits
Atomic Habits also talks about a highly effective method to ensure that we keep practicing our good habits. A habit tracker could be something as simple as a diary or a notebook and all we have to do is keep a note of the habits that we wish to culminate. Keeping a note of whether we practice those actions every time the situation arises, will keep us on track.
So, through these few simple tricks, the book help us to develop the right habits to achieve great things in life.
