May 31, 2020

Reading this book while many parts of the country are still in quarantine, many workers have lost their jobs or are working on reduced hours, and many normal lifestyles are shaken and disrupted has been very timely. I am personally spending a lot of time reflecting, finding new identities, and trying to re-instill order among the uncertainty and chaos of the world around us. In doing anything new or trying to achieve anything big, author James Clear stresses that making small, atomic changes is the reliable way to get there.

'Atomic Habits' is about changing people’s mindsets to recognize that having goals and motivation is not enough to achieve success. Winners and losers both have the same goals. It’s the system set to work towards those goals that makes the difference. The path to success is not glamorous and will include disappointment, boredom, and frustration, but establishing a strong system will help condition ourselves to stick to the mission and increase the odds of making it to the final mile.

Decide first the type of person you want to be to trigger the most raw, intrinsic form of motivation for self-improvement. Challenge and edit your beliefs to upgrade and expand your identity. Determine the habits required to put you in the path toward success, and incorporate these habits into your life using the Four Laws of Behavior Change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying.

Three other quotes that stood out to me include:

• The problem is not slipping up; the problem is thinking that if you can’t do something perfectly, then you shouldn’t do it at all.
• Being curious is better than being smart.
• Happiness is the absence of desire.

The last quote was simply interesting to me as I try to better define what happiness is to me. Mark Manson describes it as derived from solving problems. James Clear here promotes it being the space between one desire being fulfilled and a new desire forming.