Atomic Habits

introduction

from the book

“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.

Focusing on the overall system, rather than a single goal, is one of the core themes of this book. It is also one of the deeper meanings behind the word atomic. By now, you’ve probably realized than an atomic habit refers to a tiny change, a marginal gain, a 1 percent improvement. But atomic habits are not just any old habits, however small. They are little habits that are part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results.

Habits are like the atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that contributes to your overall improvement. At first, these tiny routines seem insignificant, but soon they build on each other and fuel bigger wins that multiply to a degree that far outweighs the cost of their initial investment. They are both small and mighty. This is the meaning of the phrase atomic habits—a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do, but also the source of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth.”

James Clear has a super-popular website (jamesclear.com). Millions of people visit it every month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his email newsletter.

After reading this book, I can see why.

He’s a great writer and distills the essence of habit formation into, well, its fundamental components—the “atomic” structure if you will—while showing us how those TINY little incremental improvements add up to MIGHTY results. (We’ll talk about the math behind +1% daily gains in our first Big Idea.)

Now, I rarely say a book is a must-read but this one’s as close as it gets.

We’ve covered a lot of books on habits, but I’d say THIS book is the one to read for the best scientific overview of how habits work AND the best practical model to make that science work for you. I think you’ll love it. Get a copy here.

The book is PACKED (!!!) with Big Ideas. It’s one of those books that is SO GOOD it’s really hard to distill into a six-page Note. We’ll barely scratch the surface of all the goodness, but I’m excited to share some of my favorites so let’s jump straight in!