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A review by forgottensecret
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear
4.0
'At some point it comes down to who can handle the boredom of training every day, doing the same lifts over and over.'
A great book to start the new year with, or really any point in your life. James has written a book that is more actionable than the Power of Habit, and added a few more ideas which I found a lot more impactful. If you view any master of their craft: master meditator, mathematician, author, they have committed to thousands of hours. I like to use this analogy of seeing them at their 10000th step, but really investigating that at one point Sylvia Plath was at step 435. So when you look at the achievements of another, it is much more important (and encouraging) to view the middling steps or their first few entries than it is to view their chef-d'oeuvres. James encapsulated this with 1% better every day where 'if you can get just 1 percent better each day, you'll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after one year.' He uses an analogy which I have read somewhere else, where if a pilot adjusts his plane only slightly from LAX, he will 'land in Washington D.C., instead of New York.' So things that you consider dull, drab, unspectacular in the moment through the power of compounding can really cause huge alterations.
Being a runner, I like to imagine that my 3 hours of studying is like walking a single step of a marathon; it may not be much, but it's still forward movement. It's still the same forward movement that every master had had to once walk. From books like Mastery or Peak, we can see that the Mozarts of the world have ten years of silence: that's Monday, Tuesday, lunch breaks, walks, sleep, etc all conflated, the mundaneness of your own life bears resemblance. There is no exception to ten years of silence, of doing nothing of note. I like to think of it more as a law of nature: just as there is a necessary progression for trees, dolphins and bears, so too is there natural laws guiding progression in habits like meditation, mathematics or writing. Examine this evidence dispassionately, see that if you were addressing a class of primary school children, you would have to tell them this was the case. Always take the advice you would give to another, as this allows you to utilise the most objective advice. What happens after the 10000th step, you get out of what James calls 'the Plateau of Latent Potential, this is where 'the overnight success' meets its reward.
The two big takeaways that really set this book apart are:
1. Systems, not goals
2. Identity based habits
The former comes from Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert where it really upends previous approaches to accomplishing goals. 'Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.' He proposes four problems that arise by focusing on goals:
Problem 1. 'Winner and Losers have the same goals'. Every Olympian has the goal of winning a gold medal, every football team has the goal of winning the match, so it must be that their systems are what distinguish them
Problem 2. 'Achieving a goal is only a momentary change.' Very importantly, the goal of finishing an ultramarathon will bring you about 3 minutes of happiness on completing. It changes your life for a moment. We shouldn't aim for the completion of a goal because it will be life changing, but rather the systems that meld you into a new identity are what is life changing and should be sought.
Problem 3. 'Goals restrict your happiness'. Goals lead to a binary world view, where happiness only comes through way of their fulfillment. 'A systems-first mentality provides the antidote. When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don't have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.'
Problem 4. 'Goals are at odds with long-term progress'. Having a finish line is debilitating in a way. Is running a 50 mile ultra really the end point? As David Goggins puts it, there is no finish line. When you approach training for running or meditating, really have the expectancy of doing this for 20 years, 30 years. It has to become your new norm, the new standard. This complete obsequiousness to this new norm will make it easier to do every time, because it is strung to your identity and expectation. 'The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It's not about any accomplishment... Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.'
As James summarises it: 'You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.'
The next big idea is identity based habits: 'Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.' He demonstrates this difference by someone who considers themselves not a smoker and someone who responds 'No thanks. I'm trying to quit.' The difference is the latter still considers themselves to be a smoker. So, '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.' This can be fomented by installing feelings of pride. To take this idea home: 'The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.' How do you change your identity?
2 steps: 1. Decide the type of person you want to be
2. Prove it to yourself with small wins
Every action you take 'is a vote for the type of person you wish to become'. So change the actions, and you change the identity.
Some other good ideas:
Habit tracking
The Goldilocks Rule and flow: 'The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom. We get bored with habits because they stop delighting us.' How do you end this? '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.'
2 minute rule
Four Laws of Habit Change OAES: Make it Obvious, Make it Attractive, Make it Easy and Make it Satisfying.
To end, why are habits so important? It comes down to this: '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.' Just like Eric Greitens wrote in Resilience, a philosophy of action should be the only philosophy.
A great book to start the new year with, or really any point in your life. James has written a book that is more actionable than the Power of Habit, and added a few more ideas which I found a lot more impactful. If you view any master of their craft: master meditator, mathematician, author, they have committed to thousands of hours. I like to use this analogy of seeing them at their 10000th step, but really investigating that at one point Sylvia Plath was at step 435. So when you look at the achievements of another, it is much more important (and encouraging) to view the middling steps or their first few entries than it is to view their chef-d'oeuvres. James encapsulated this with 1% better every day where 'if you can get just 1 percent better each day, you'll end up with results that are nearly 37 times better after one year.' He uses an analogy which I have read somewhere else, where if a pilot adjusts his plane only slightly from LAX, he will 'land in Washington D.C., instead of New York.' So things that you consider dull, drab, unspectacular in the moment through the power of compounding can really cause huge alterations.
Being a runner, I like to imagine that my 3 hours of studying is like walking a single step of a marathon; it may not be much, but it's still forward movement. It's still the same forward movement that every master had had to once walk. From books like Mastery or Peak, we can see that the Mozarts of the world have ten years of silence: that's Monday, Tuesday, lunch breaks, walks, sleep, etc all conflated, the mundaneness of your own life bears resemblance. There is no exception to ten years of silence, of doing nothing of note. I like to think of it more as a law of nature: just as there is a necessary progression for trees, dolphins and bears, so too is there natural laws guiding progression in habits like meditation, mathematics or writing. Examine this evidence dispassionately, see that if you were addressing a class of primary school children, you would have to tell them this was the case. Always take the advice you would give to another, as this allows you to utilise the most objective advice. What happens after the 10000th step, you get out of what James calls 'the Plateau of Latent Potential, this is where 'the overnight success' meets its reward.
The two big takeaways that really set this book apart are:
1. Systems, not goals
2. Identity based habits
The former comes from Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert where it really upends previous approaches to accomplishing goals. 'Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.' He proposes four problems that arise by focusing on goals:
Problem 1. 'Winner and Losers have the same goals'. Every Olympian has the goal of winning a gold medal, every football team has the goal of winning the match, so it must be that their systems are what distinguish them
Problem 2. 'Achieving a goal is only a momentary change.' Very importantly, the goal of finishing an ultramarathon will bring you about 3 minutes of happiness on completing. It changes your life for a moment. We shouldn't aim for the completion of a goal because it will be life changing, but rather the systems that meld you into a new identity are what is life changing and should be sought.
Problem 3. 'Goals restrict your happiness'. Goals lead to a binary world view, where happiness only comes through way of their fulfillment. 'A systems-first mentality provides the antidote. When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don't have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.'
Problem 4. 'Goals are at odds with long-term progress'. Having a finish line is debilitating in a way. Is running a 50 mile ultra really the end point? As David Goggins puts it, there is no finish line. When you approach training for running or meditating, really have the expectancy of doing this for 20 years, 30 years. It has to become your new norm, the new standard. This complete obsequiousness to this new norm will make it easier to do every time, because it is strung to your identity and expectation. 'The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It's not about any accomplishment... Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.'
As James summarises it: 'You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.'
The next big idea is identity based habits: 'Many people begin the process of changing their habits by focusing on what they want to achieve. This leads us to outcome-based habits. The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become.' He demonstrates this difference by someone who considers themselves not a smoker and someone who responds 'No thanks. I'm trying to quit.' The difference is the latter still considers themselves to be a smoker. So, '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.' This can be fomented by installing feelings of pride. To take this idea home: 'The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.' How do you change your identity?
2 steps: 1. Decide the type of person you want to be
2. Prove it to yourself with small wins
Every action you take 'is a vote for the type of person you wish to become'. So change the actions, and you change the identity.
Some other good ideas:
Habit tracking
The Goldilocks Rule and flow: 'The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom. We get bored with habits because they stop delighting us.' How do you end this? '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.'
2 minute rule
Four Laws of Habit Change OAES: Make it Obvious, Make it Attractive, Make it Easy and Make it Satisfying.
To end, why are habits so important? It comes down to this: '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.' Just like Eric Greitens wrote in Resilience, a philosophy of action should be the only philosophy.