4 Life-Changing Lessons from Atomic Habits

Hey friends. I recently completed studying the book, ‘’ Atomic Habits ‘’ by James Clear, and I found it a life-changing and remarkable book about building tiny small habits and breaking the bad ones from scratch, and I recommend everyone should read it. 

Because it changed my mind about success and helped so much to achieve goals by building many tiny positive habits so then it’s my duty to share all the secret strategies and lessons that are compiled in this book.

And today I am going to review and share my honest experience. What are the core things I learnt from this book and how it will make your life productive.

Before we begin, if you’re new on this blog, make sure you share an honest FEEDBACK in the comment section, so I will try to improve further next time. 🙂

Alright, I derive 5 Core Lessons from Atomic Habits which are the fundamentals to understand the concept that James Clear discussed about habits.

1. Improving 1% everyday – Why do small changes really matter?
2. Never set goals, build the systems instead.
3. 4 Laws of Behaviour Change.
4. Shaping your Identity.
5. DownSide of good habits.

So let’s dive! 

Lesson #01: IMPROVING 1% EVERYDAY:

We easily underestimate the power and value of doing tiny things, making small changes and overestimating defining one moment. 

Like, people mostly think in order to do something big, for creating a massive impact on people, you need to implement something really big and do it once.

But that’s not really the true approach, according to this book.

Instead, doing tiny things and creating very small habits can lead to massive impact and success.

For instance, in order to start reading habits, you should not read 1 or 2 hours a day, rather read only 1 or 2 pages a day. Start with very small. 

In order to get physically fit, don’t start doing push ups at the beginning. Start walking first. 

We say this Compound Effect of Habits. You don’t have to do more difficult tasks.

SO in order to get a compound effect of habits, you need to improve ourselves 1% everyday.

MATHEMATICAL CALCULATION:

See what will happen if you improve 1% everyday you will be 32 times better. And if you do not improve and rather degrade yourself, you might end up being far worse than before. 

Lesson #02: DON’T SET GOALS; BUILD SYSTEMS.

If you want to change your habits, and you’re not able to do, then the problem is not you; it’s the SYSTEM. Your system isn’t allowing and encouraging you to start good ones.

You actually need a habit system within that you can perform any positive habit without resistance. 

And in order to develop a system,  it’s very important to Prime Your Environment first. For example, remove the extra  garbage from your study room and make it clean. You can hire someone to do that or do it by Yourself. But the key here is to make the environment clean and it should reflect the vibe of it.

In the same way, you adjust goods in the work station, set every item in separate and organized sections so that everything is in the right perfect locations. And then you will be able to easily pick up anything and your mind will crystal clear and can focus on right and productive tasks.

Now you might think – oh I can build the system, but why shouldn’t I set goals?

Look,  the Goal sounds dreamy, but there will be some problems or drawbacks that come while setting goals. ( I never say don’t set goals; but you need to utilize your goals to build the systems instead).

#1: Winners and Losers have the same goals.

Winners and losers have the same goals, but very few people actually win, and people usually recognize winners. So why then do losers cannot win? Even-though both have the same goals?

Here’s the key difference. Winners have a system of habits that keep them practicing. Their goals are not to win a match, obtain A+ grade in exams, or read a book. Instead they focus on building identity habits that encourage them to become a player instead of winning only 1 match, become a regular reader and then they can pass any exams. Their goals are not to achieve one thing, rather to build up a thing which always continues to work and success and winning are the end-product.

On the other side, losers also have goals. But they only want to pass one exam, do push ups for 30 days, read 1 book and then think why am I not getting results?

Getting results takes time. You need to be consistent and make small improvements. Only 1% a day.

#2: Achieving/Winning something is temporary.

Another drawback of setting goals is that even if you achieved one goal, you will get only a momentary change, it may be happiness, good grades, etc. But that will be totally temporary.

But what about the long run? What will happen after that? Life is like a race. Again, find a new goal and then start achieving it ?

Instead of setting goals, improve the system that causes the results. You’ll get excellent results if you change the system, trust me. Just improve your system 1% daily. 

Like whenever I need to create a new Youtube video, I do have an All in One / A to Z system in my laptop that has resources for researching the topic, finding key points, doing competitor analysis, structuring and writing script, shooting the video, editing, creating thumbnails and finally uploading with doing SEO stuff.

When you build good systems, results come automatically. 

So in order to get lifetime happiness and feel good, focus on developing the system; not setting goals.

Lesson #03: Shaping your Identity.

Clear also emphasizes the importance of repetition when it comes to building an identity-based habit. By repeating an action over and over again, we start to reinforce the belief that this is the type of person we are. So, if you want to become the type of person who exercises regularly, you might start by going for a short walk every day. Over time, this small action can become a part of your identity.

Another gem of this book is that it defines habits based on identity.

Majorly, there are 3 layers of Behaviour change:

1. OUTCOMES 2) PROCESSES 3) IDENTITY 

These are 3 steps which lead to an identity development.

And here we divide 2 kinds of habits.

1. Outcome based habits and Identity Based Habits

Outcome means the results you get.

Process is the work and action you do in order to achieve something.

And the core thing; is Identity.

In Outcome based habits, a person focuses on getting results. They change their habits to achieve their goals. They don’t build systems.

But with it you can only get your goals achieved, and next, nothing.

A great alternative is to build Identity Based Habits. For example, you’re smoking and you want to quit smoking, and someone asks you to stop, and you say Yes I am trying to quit.

That sounds reasonable, but that does not guarantee you will be comfortable and satisfied to quit smoking.

Whereas, identity based habits define the type of person you want to be, you wish to be.

For example, you can say I am not the type of person who smokes.

The goal is not to read a book, but to become a reader.

Your behaviors and habits reflect your identity. If you change your identity, results come automatically. 

Like me, my goal is not to record 30, 40  videos and then wait for results, instead to become a content creator and Youtuber that offers value.

When you start working on identity based habits, your life completely transforms. Then you have systems and ease to develop and positive change.

Lesson #04:  Laws of Behaviour Change

1. Cure
2. Craving
3. Response 
4. Reward

The first step is Cure. The idea here is to identify the cue or trigger that initiates the habit. The cue can be a specific time of day, a location, a certain person, or a particular emotional state. Once you understand what triggers your habit, you can take steps to change the cue or adjust your environment to make it easier to avoid the habit altogether.

The second step is Craving. This is the second part of the habit loop where the brain starts to crave the reward associated with the habit. In order to break a bad habit, you need to replace the craving with a new one. For example, if you have a habit of eating junk food when you’re bored, you could replace that habit with going for a walk when you feel bored.

The third step is Response. This is the actual habit or behavior that you engage in as a result of the cue and the craving. To change your habits, you need to replace your old responses with new ones. This can involve creating new routines or systems that help you make better choices. For example, if you have a habit of checking your phone constantly, you can replace that habit with a new response, such as putting your phone in another room or turning it off during certain times of the day.

The fourth step is Reward. This is the final part of the habit loop where your brain gets a reward for completing the habit. The reward can be tangible, like a piece of candy, or intangible, like a feeling of accomplishment. To create good habits, you need to make sure that the reward is something that you value and that reinforces the behavior you want to encourage.

That’s it for today. Again I recommend this book to everyone.

I hope you enjoyed this post, make sure to give your feedback in the comment section.

See you soon,

Bye bye!