A habit is a routine or a behavior that is performed regularly and automatically, many Behavioral scientists like Skinner realized that if you offered the right reward or punishment, you could get people to act in a certain way. In this book, the author James Clear studied the power of habits and how to create long-lasting principles that you can rely on to change your life.
This Is Atomic Habits Summary By James Clear:
How Habits Work
According to James Clear, the process of creating a habit falls under Simple Four Steps:
The Cue:
The cue is what triggers your brain to initiate a behavior, a piece of information that predicts a reward and satisfaction like food, water, sex, money, fame…etc. A cue is an indication for your mind that leads to caving.
The Craving:
While cues are the information that triggers your brain, cravings are the motivational force behind every habit, you do not crave brushing your teeth you crave the feeling of a clean mouth.
But cravings differ from one person to another one for example the sound of slot machines can trigger a wave of desire for a gambler but for a normal person, it’s just background noise.
The Response:
The response is the actual habit, the action that you perform whether it’s physical or mental. The response depends on your ability and how motivated you are. You can not practice a habit if you are not capable of doing it
The Reward:
The last step is the reward, the reward is the end goal of every habit, it’s what satisfies your cravings like food and water deliver the energy that you need to survive, money brings you a better life and respect.
Feelings of pleasure and disappointment are part of the feedback mechanism that helps you close the feedback loop and complete the habits cycle.
To summarize, you need a cue to start a habit that craves enough motivation to act and then you will get the reward to satisfy your desire.
That was the process of creating a habit, but what really makes you stick to your habits is divided into four laws:
The Four Laws of Behavior Change
The Four Laws of Behavior Change are a set of simple principles that can be used to change any behavior. These laws are:
1. Make it obvious.
2. Make it attractive.
3. Make it easy.
4. Make it satisfying.
The First Law: Make It Obvious
In his book, Atomic Habits, James Clear lays out a simple but powerful framework for creating and sustaining good habits. The First Law of this framework is “Make It Obvious.”
In other words, if you want to create a new habit, you need to make it easy to do. You need to make it obvious.
This might seem like common sense, but it’s amazing how often we make it difficult to do the things we want to do. We put obstacles in our own way, making it hard to start the new habit or stick with it.
The First Law is about making it easy to do the right thing and hard to do the wrong thing.
For example, if you want to eat more vegetables, you might put them front and center in your fridge so they’re the first thing you see when you open it. Or you might keep a stash of healthy snacks at your desk so you’re not tempted by the candy jar.
If you want to exercise more, you might put your workout clothes next to your bed so you can get dressed as soon as you wake up. Or you might keep your gym bag in your car so you can go straight to the gym after work.
Making it easy to do the right thing doesn’t have to be complicated. Sometimes, a small change can make a big difference.
The First Law is a simple but powerful way to create good habits. By making it easy to do the right thing, we can make it hard to do the wrong thing. And that can make all the difference.
The Second Law: Make It Attractive
The Second Law of Atomic Habits by James Clear is all about making your habits attractive.
The idea is that we are more likely to stick to a habit if it is something we enjoy doing.
So, if we want to make a habit of going to the gym, we should make it attractive by choosing a gym that we enjoy going to, and not one that we dread.
The same goes for any other habit we want to form.
The key is to make it attractive so that we actually want to do it.
If we can do that, then we are much more likely to stick to the habit in the long run.
The Third Law: Make It Easy
The Third Law of Atomic Habits states “Make it easy”. This means that you should make it as easy as possible to form the habit. The easier it is, the more likely you are to do it.
One way to make it easy is to have a specific trigger that tells you when it’s time to do the habit. For example, if you want to start flossing your teeth every night, you might put the floss next to your toothbrush so that you see it when you brush your teeth. This makes it easy to remember to floss because the trigger (seeing the floss) is right there in front of you.
Another way to make it easy is to make the habit as small and simple as possible. If you want to start running, you might start by running for just one minute a day. This makes it easy because it’s not a lot of time, and you’re more likely to do it if it’s not a huge time commitment.
The Third Law is all about making it easy to form the habit. The easier it is, the more likely you are to do it. So, if you want to make a change in your life, start by making it easy.
The Fourth Law: Make It Satisfying
We all have habits that we would like to change. Maybe you want to quit smoking, or start working out more. Maybe you want to stop procrastinating, or start eating healthier.
Whatever the case may be, we all have at least one habit that we would like to change. And, according to James Clear, author of the book Atomic Habits, the best way to change a habit is to make it satisfying.
In his book, Clear lays out what he calls the “Four Laws of Behavior Change.” These laws are based on the work of behavior change expert B.J. Fogg.
The first law is called the “Law of Motivation.” This law states that we are more likely to stick to a habit if it is motivated by a positive outcome. In other words, we are more likely to stick to a habit if it is something that we want to do, not something that we have to do.
The second law is called the “Law of Momentum.” This law states that it is easier to keep a habit going if it is already established. In other words, it is easier to stick to a habit if we have already been doing it for a while.
The third law is called the “Law of How You Do It.” This law states that the more fun we have with a habit, the more likely we are to stick to it. In other words, we are more likely to stick to a habit if it is something that we enjoy doing.
The fourth and final law is called the “Law of Satisfaction.” This law states that we are more likely to stick to a habit if it is satisfying. In other words, we are more likely to stick to a habit if it is something that we feel good about doing.
So, how can we make a habit more satisfying?
Clear gives a few examples, but the basic idea is to make the habit part of
The One-Percent Rule
We often hear about the 80/20 rule, which says that 80% of our results come from 20% of our efforts. But have you ever heard of the one-percent rule?
The one-percent rule is a simple concept that can have a major impact on your life. It states that you should strive to improve your performance by 1% each day.
Sounds easy enough, right?
But here’s the thing:
The one-percent rule is not about getting 1% better at something each day. It’s about getting 1% closer to your goal.
So, if your goal is to lose 20 pounds, the one-percent rule would mean that you would strive to lose 0.2 pounds each day.
If your goal is to save $1,000, the one-percent rule would mean that you would strive to save $10 each day.
And if your goal is to run a marathon, the one-percent rule would mean that you would strive to run 26.2 miles each day.
Obviously, we can’t literally get 1% closer to our goals each day. But the point is that we should always be striving for continuous improvement.
The one-percent rule is a great way to keep yourself motivated and on track. And it’s a great way to make sure that you’re always making progress.
So, if you’re looking for a way to improve your life, start by following the one-percent rule. You’ll be amazed at how quickly your life can change for the better.
The Power of Identity
We all know that bad habits can be hard to break and good habits can be hard to form. But why is that the case? And what can we do about it?
Atomic Habits by James Clear attempts to answer these questions and more. The book is based on the premise that our behaviours are determined by our identity. That is, the beliefs we hold about ourselves dictate the actions we take.
If we want to change our behaviour, we need to change our identity. And the first step to doing that is understanding the basics of habit formation.
The book starts off by explaining the four laws of behaviour change:
1. Make it obvious
2. Make it attractive
3. Make it easy
4. Make it satisfying
These laws are based on the work of BJ Fogg, a researcher at Stanford University. Fogg has found that for a behaviour to be successful, it must meet all four of these criteria.
Next, the book dives into the psychology of why we form habits in the first place. Clear explains that our brain is constantly looking for ways to save energy. Habits are a way for our brain to conserve energy by automating certain behaviours.
The book also discusses the role of triggers in habit formation. A trigger is something that cues our brain to start a particular behaviour. Triggers can be external (like seeing a friend) or internal (like feeling stressed).
Once we understand how habits are formed, the book provides some practical strategies for changing our behaviours. These include making our desired behaviours more obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying.
The book also includes a section on how to overcome the obstacles to habit change. These obstacles include procrastination, perfectionism, and self-doubt.
Overall, Atomic Habits is a well-researched and practical guide to understanding and changing our behaviours. If you’re looking for a book.
Conclusion
If you’re like most people, you probably have some bad habits that you’d like to break and some good habits that you’d like to form. But if you’re like most people, you probably also find it extremely difficult to stick to your good intentions for more than a few days or weeks. Why is that?
One of the biggest reasons is that we often underestimate the power of small, daily habits. We think that we need to make major changes in order to see significant results. But the truth is, even small, incremental changes can have a big impact over time.
That’s the premise of Atomic Habits, a book by James Clear. In it, he argues that the key to making lasting changes is not to focus on the big, life-altering decisions but on the tiny, daily decisions that we make without even thinking about them.
If you’re looking for a detailed, step-by-step guide to changing your habits, then Atomic Habits is definitely worth reading. But if you’re just looking for a quick summary, then I hope you liked what you just read.
My name is Muhammad Islem I’m a college student, I have 3 years since I started learning about digital marketing, I like talking about businesses, marketing, books, and ways of making money.
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