From James Clear’s book, “Atomic Habits”
“If you have ever wondered, “Why don’t I do what I say I’m going to do? Why don’t I lose the weight or stop smoking or save for retirement or start that side business? Why do I say something is important but never seem to make time for it?” The answers to those questions can be found somewhere in these four laws. The key to creating good habits and breaking bad ones is to understand these fundamental laws and how to alter them to your specifications. Every goal is doomed to fail if it goes against the grain of human nature.” (p. 55)
“In summary, the cue triggers a craving, which motivates a response, which provides a reward, which satisfies the craving and, ultimately, becomes associated with the cue. Together, these four steps form a neurological feedback loop—cue, craving, response, reward; cue, craving, response, reward—that ultimately allows you to create automatic habits. This cycle is known as the habit loop.” (p. 50)
Below is the General Outline for Creating Good Habits. From (p. 211):
The 1st law (Cue): Make it obvious.
The 2nd law (Craving): Make it attractive.
The 3rd law (Response): Make it easy.
The 4th law (Reward): Make it satisfying.” (p. 54)
The 1st Law is Make it Obvious.
Fill Out the Habits Scorecard: Write down your current habits to become aware of them.
- Example:
Wake up
Turn off alarm
Check my phone
Go to the bathroom
Weigh myself
Take a shower
Brush my teeth
Floss my teeth
Put on deodorant
Hang up towel to dry
Get dressed
Make a cup of tea
… and so on. - “Once you have a full list, look at each behavior, and ask yourself, “Is this a good habit, a bad habit, or a neutral habit?” If it is a good habit, write “+” next to it. If it is a bad habit, write “–”. If it is a neutral habit, write “=”.” (p. 64)
Use Implementation Intentions: “I will {behavior} at {time} in {location}
- Examples:
“I will meditate for one minute at 7am in my kitchen.”
“I will exercise for one hour at 5pm in my local gym”
Use Habit Stacking: After {current habit}, I will {new habit}.
- Examples:
“After I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will meditate for one minute.”
“After I take off my work shoes, I will immediately change into my workout clothes.”
“After I sit down to dinner, I will say one thing I’m grateful for that happened today.”
Design Your Environment: Make the cues of good habits obvious and visible.
- Examples:
“If you want to practice guitar more frequently, place your guitar stand in the middle of the living room.” (p. 86)
“If you want to drink more water, fill up a few water bottles each morning and place them in common locations around the house.” (p. 86)
The 2nd Law: Make It Attractive.
Use Temptation Bundling: Pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.
“You’re more likely to find a behavior attractive if you get to do one of your favorite things at the same time.” (p. 109)
- After {current habit}, I will [habit I need}
After {habit I need}, I will {habit I want}. - “Ronan Byrne, an electrical engineering student in Dublin, Ireland, enjoyed watching Netflix, but he also knew that he should exercise more often than he did. Putting his engineering skills to use, Byrne hacked his stationary bike and connected it to his laptop and television. Then he wrote a computer program that would allow Netflix to run only if he was cycling at a certain speed. If he slowed down for too long, whatever show he was watching would pause until he started pedaling again.” (p. 108)
- Perhaps you want to hear about the latest celebrity gossip, but you need to get in shape. Using temptation bundling, you could only read the tabloids and watch reality shows at the gym. Maybe you want to get a pedicure, but you need to clean out your email inbox. Solution: only get a pedicure while processing overdue work emails.” (p. 109)
- “After I get back from my lunch break, I will call three potential clients (need). After I call three potential clients, I will check ESPN (want).”
- “After I pull out my phone, I will do ten burpees (need). After I do ten burpees, I will check Facebook (want).” (p. 111)
- “After I get my morning coffee, I will say one thing I’m grateful for that happened yesterday (need). After I say one thing I’m grateful for, I will read the news (want).” (p. 109)
Join a culture where you desired behavior is the normal behavior.
- “One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group.” (p. 123)
- “If you are surrounded by fit people, you’re more likely to consider working out to be a common habit. If you’re surrounded by jazz lovers, you’re more likely to believe it’s reasonable to play jazz every day. Your culture sets your expectation for what is “normal.” Surround yourself with people who have the habits you want to have yourself. You’ll rise together.” (p. 117)
Create a Motivation Ritual: Do something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.
“You can make hard habits more attractive if you can learn to associate them with a positive experience.” (p. 130)
- Example:
“My focus and concentration goes up just by putting my headphone on while writing. I don’t even have to play music.” Without realizing it, he was condition himself.” (p. 132)
The 3rd Law: Make It Easy.
Reduce Friction: Decrease the number of steps between you and your good habits.
- “when deciding where to practice a new habit, it is best to choose a place that is already along the path of your daily routine. Habits are easier to build when they fit into the flow of your life. You are more likely to go to the gym if it is on your way to work because stopping doesn’t add much friction to your lifestyle. By comparison, if the gym is off the path of your normal commute—even by just a few blocks—now you’re going “out of your way” to get there.” (p. 153)
- “If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. You don’t need to map out every feature of a new habit. You just need to practice it. This is the first takeaway of the 3rd Law: you just need to get your reps in.” (p.143)
- “The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.” (p. 147)
Prime the Environment: Prepare your environment to make future actions easier.
- Examples:
“Want to exercise? Set out your workout clothes, shoes, gym bag, and water bottle ahead of time.” (p. 157)
“Want to improve your diet? Chop up a ton of fruits and vegetables on weekends and pack them in containers, so you have easy access to healthy, ready-to-eat options during the week.” (p. 157)
“If sticking your phone in another room doesn’t seem like enough, tell a friend or family member to hide it from you for a few hours. Ask a coworker to keep it at their desk in the morning and give it back to you at lunch.” (p. 157)
Master the Decisive Moment: Optimize the small choices that deliver outsized impact.
Use the Two-Minute Rule: Downscale your habits until they can be done in two minutes or less.
“When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.” (p. 162)
- Examples:
“Read before bed each night” becomes “Read one page.””
“Run three miles” becomes “Tie my running shoes.”
“Meditate for one minute”
Automate your habits: Invest in technology and onetime purchases that lock in future behavior.
- Examples:
“my friend and fellow habits expert Nir Eyal purchased an outlet timer, which is an adapter that he plugged in between his internet router and the power outlet. At 10 p.m. each night, the outlet timer cuts off the power to the router. When the internet goes off, everyone knows it is time to go to bed.” (p. 170) - “Whenever I’m looking to cut calories, for example, I will ask the waiter to split my meal and box half of it to go before the meal is served.” (p. 170)
- “Unsubscribe from emails. Turn off notifications and mute group chats. Set your phone to silent. Use email filters to clear up your inbox. Delete games and social media apps on your phone.” (p. 173)
- “Use smaller plates to reduce caloric intake.” (p. 172)
The 4th Law: Make It Satisfying.
Use Reinforcement: Give yourself an immediate reward when you complete your habit.
- Examples:
People like to use soap because it smells great and suds up.
People like to use toothpaste because they like the minty taste.
People like to chew gum because of the flavorings.
“Whenever they skipped going out to eat, they transferred $50 into the account. At the end of the year, they put the money toward the vacation.” (p. 191)
“seeing $50 hit your savings account- can offer the immediate pleasure you need to enjoy a habit” (p. 192) - “The more a habit becomes part of your life, the less you need outside encouragement to follow through. Incentives can start a habit. Identity sustains a habit.” (p. 192)
Make “doing nothing” enjoyable. When avoiding a bad habit, design a way to see the benefits.
Use a Habit Tracker: Keep track of your habit streak and “don’t break the chain.”
- “Making progress is satisfying, and visual measures—like moving paper clips or hairpins or marbles—provide clear evidence of your progress. As a result, they reinforce your behavior and add a little bit of immediate satisfaction to any activity. Visual measurement comes in many forms: food journals, workout logs, loyalty punch cards, the progress bar on a software download, even the page numbers in a book. But perhaps the best way to measure your progress is with a habit tracker.” (p. 196)
- “One study of more than sixteen hundred people found that those who kept a daily food log lost twice as much weight as those who did not. The mere act of tracking a behavior can spark the urge to change it.” (p. 197)
- “First, whenever possible, measurement should be automated.” “Second, manual tracking should be limited to your most important habits. It is better to consistently track one habit than to sporadically track ten.” “Finally, record each measurement immediately after the habit occurs.” (p. 200)
Create a Habit Contract
- “Just as governments use laws to hold citizens accountable, you can create a habit contract to hold yourself accountable. A habit contract is a verbal or written agreement in which you state your commitment to a particular habit and the punishment that will occur if you don’t follow through. Then you find one or two people to act as your accountability partners and sign off on the contract with you.” (p. 208)
“He wrote up a habit contract between himself, his wife, and his personal trainer. The first version read, “Bryan’s #1 objective for Q1 of 2017 is to start eating correctly again so he feels better, looks better, and is able to hit his long-term goal of 200 pounds at 10% body fat.
Below that statement, Harris laid out a road map for achieving his ideal outcome: Phase #1: Get back to a strict “slow-carb” diet in Q1. Phase #2: Start a strict macronutrient tracking program in Q2. Phase #3: Refine and maintain the details of his diet and workout program in Q3. Finally, he wrote out each of the daily habits that would get him to his goal. For example, “Write down all food that he consumes each day and weigh himself each day.” And then he listed the punishment if he failed: “If Bryan doesn’t do these two items then the following consequence will be enforced: He will have to dress up each workday and each Sunday morning for the rest of the quarter. Dress up is defined as not wearing jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, or shorts. He will also give Joey (his trainer) $200 to use as he sees fit if he misses one day of logging food.” (p. 208) - “Even if you don’t want to create a full-blown habit contract, simply having an accountability partner is useful.” (p. 209)
Never Miss Twice: When you forget to do a habit, make sure you get back on track immediately.
- “If I miss one day, I try to get back into it as quickly as possible. Missing one workout happens, but I’m not going to miss two in a row. Maybe I’ll eat an entire pizza, but I’ll follow it up with a healthy meal. I can’t be perfect, but I can avoid a second lapse. As soon as one streak ends, I get started on the next one. The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit.” (p. 201)
How to Change Bad Habits? Invert the Laws.
- Inversion of the 1st law (Cue): Make it invisible.
- Inversion of the 2nd law (Craving): Make it unattractive.
- Inversion of the 3rd law (Response): Make it difficult.
- Inversion of the 4th law (Reward): Make it unsatisfying. (p. 54)