What I learned from Atomic Habits
What positive change would you like to make in your life? Maybe you want to be strong and healthier. Maybe you want to learn a new skill like Guitar, master Karate or Parkour. Whatever the changes you’d like to make, it’s a bit tricky to accomplish them. Simply saying 100 times that you read some book this week will not complete that task. Sometimes, Netflix can be the barrier. But that’s where habits come into play.
Here I am just sharing what I learned from James Clear through his best seller Atomic Habits.
To be disciplined in life to achieve something, you don’t have to be a new you. You don’t have to learn rocket science. Rather, you can make tiny changes to your behavior, which, when repeated again and again, will become habits that can lead to big results in long term.
What progress really look like?
I always imagined progress is like a linear line at 45 degrees. It’s actually not like that. Due to the compounding of minute things happening and the changes we make, the progress is exponential in nature. The same thing we can see in many areas of life. Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root systems underground before exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks. Like the same way, our productivity, knowledge and relationship compounds with time. Time can multiply what ever you feed to it.
The compound effect is defined as the “principle of reaping huge rewards from a series of small, smart choices.” The basic premise for the compound effect is to reject the idea of changing your life quickly. That isn’t going to happen as ‘quick fixes’ never lead to long-term self-development. When we make small changes every day, this adds up over time to a bigger outcome. The changes may seem insignificant, but together they end up making you big.
James Clear through his book, made it abundantly clear that if an individual decides and implements the strategy to get 1% better every day for one year, he will end up 37% better by the end of it. No one may notice the 1%, but no one will miss the 37% improvement in you.
If you can completely ignore your goals and focus on systems instead, would you get the same results?
Do you wonder one thing? Winners and Losers have the same goal. They both work hard for the same trophy. How many teams are competing for the same FIFA world cup?
Stop setting Goals. Start building the System. The purpose of setting goal is to win the game. But the purpose of building the system is to continue playing the game.
Everyone tries to set up the best goal possible and most of them blindly work hard to achieve them. But they fail because of poor execution or unforeseen occurrences. You have to break down the goals into minor actionable tasks whose progress can be measured. You have to create a system that avoid all the distractions like Netflix, people that can possibly a barrier when you start working for the task. Remember to always adapt to a system to create, regulate, and adapt your execution plan to your circumstances.
Change the perspective towards you
Imagine two people resisting alcohol. When offered a peg, the first person says, “No thanks. I’m trying to quit.” It sounds like a reasonable response, but the person still believes that he is an alcoholic and trying to be someone else. The second person declines by saying, “No thanks. I’m not an alcoholic.” It’s a small difference, but this statement signals a shift in perspective towards you. Behind every system of actions, there is a system of beliefs. The system of democracy is founded on beliefs like freedom, majority rule and social equality.
Build a system of actions but build a system of beliefs before that.
Be specific on what you want to do
Instead of reminding yourself that I will read few pages of this book today, remind that “I will do ___ at ___ in ___.”
When I actually all these specifics written down, I started doing the things I want to do regardless of the situation.
Habit stacking
When it comes to building new habits, you can use the connectedness of behavior to your advantage. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. This is called habit stacking.
Habit stacking is a special form of an implementation intention. Rather than pairing your new habit with a particular time and location, you pair it with a current habit.
The habit stacking formula is:
After/Before [CURRENT HABIT], I will do [NEW HABIT].
- If you want to learn about investing, whenever you are in Gym, listen to the podcast on investing.
- After eating my dinner, I will clean the kitchen for 10 minutes.
Make it Normal
A person’s chance of becoming a good leader is 57% higher, if he / she surround with leaders as friends or family.
If you surround yourself with people who are wealthy, wise and like whom you want to be, you are more likely to be like what you want to be. The reason is that the new surrounding will become your normal and what is normal is going to be the thing you are most likely going to do.
Change the way you look at the things
Instead of thinking like, I have to wake up early tomorrow for going to Gym, think like I’m getting a plus of 2 hours in the morning before everyone wakes up, which I can utilize for doing what I love.
Reps not days
Instead of thinking how many days it will take to make this task a Habit, think like how many times I need to do this to adopt as a new Habit. If I can make my bed as the first thing after waking up, how many reps I need to do that to make it the new normal?
What matters is continuing the reps until you forget that you are doing the reps.
Don’t break the chain
Do one thing each day to achieve your goal. Spend at least 5 minutes for what you want to achieve in the future. As long as you continue the streak, you will be more motivated and confident towards the goal.
Whatever happens, I will go to the Gym each single day. At least I will raise the dumb bell for 2 minutes.
Use some apps to track your Habits or winning streaks to keep the chain firm.
If you somehow miss one day, it’s fine. Because we are not machines, we are humans, social animals, the emotional beings. Make sure to never miss twice!!!
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