REVIEW #36: ATOMIC HABITS – CREATING A NEW LIFE THE EASY AND REWARDING WAY!

Atomic Habits
By James Clear
Random House Business

When I first saw this book, I wondered how anyone could write so much about habits. Having read it, I see that focusing on how to develop good habits and eliminate bad habits was a wise decision because there is a lot more to consider in this endeavour than I could possibly have imagined. We are all in need of help cultivating the good habits that will help us achieve our goals and feel satisfied with our lives. And of course there are so many bad habits that can prevent us from experiencing the satisfaction of creating a life we are happy with that is productive and in harmony with our core identity, not just a life that feeds and clothes us and puts a roof over our heads.

HOW TO CREATE YOUR BEST MOST SATISFYING LIFE!

James Clear is able to explain how we can incrementally and successfully work towards this. I love the fact that he is open to other people’s thoughts and experiences and shares them in the relevant sections, providing inspiration for us to take a leaf out of other people’s books and apply their strategies to our own lives, in a way that rewards and satisfies us. For example, when I finish this book review, my reward will be to take a bible verse out of my jar of 20 bible verses, read and enjoy its wisdom and encouragement, then put it in the second jar. After that, the necessity to empty that jar, will motivate me to move on to the next task for the day. When all 20 verses have been transferred to the new jar, I will have a visual record of having achieved 20 goals for the day and that will be a very satisfying way to end the day. (This may seem like a strange reward to you, but you can use any reward you like. This suits me because I want to be familiar with the word of God, so it is combining that desire with my desire to ensure my days are productive in my retirement from teaching.) This is my version of a habit-tracking strategy employed by Trent Dyrsmid as a young stockbroker who ended up breaking records by the age of 24 simply through placing a jar of 120 paperclips on his desk and transferring one over to the empty jar each time he made a sales call. He brought in $5million dollars in 18 months and soon ‘landed a six-figure job with another company’ as a result of his understanding that good habits produce good results. In my situation, I think that 20 is enough and that is also part of Clear’s advice. He is always recommending we start small. I have figured out a small modification to the original by having some coloured slips I can add to the jar, if I do any tasks that take me above 20 which will give me an extra sense of satisfaction that I have gone above and beyond a good, productive day.

Dyrsmid’s story is just one of many anecdotes to illustrate all the strategies we can use to develop the habits which will achieve our desires and to eliminate those bad habits that stand in the way. As Clear says, ‘the seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow.’ These habits build our identity so Clear suggests that knowing the person we want to become is an essential place to start when deciding which habits we want to develop. According to Clear, each habit we work on is really ‘a vote for the type of person you wish to become.’ We also need to be realistic about our goals. He sites the absurdity of a person whose body is built for swimming trying to become a sprinter and vice versa. It is important to choose easy goals to achieve success quickly and build on them gradually as the success encourages you to continue to build the habit.

Building a new habit is broken down into four steps: cues, craving, response and reward. The reward gives us the impetus to return to the time and place that gives us the cue to begin the action that we are trying to habitualize in our lives. In order to establish this habit, we need to make the cues obvious, the goal desirable, the means easy to achieve and the results satisfying over time, rather than just a momentary pleasure. Whether we want to begin a new habit or overcome an old one, the process starts with awareness of the need, awareness of who you want to be and how the decisions you make will satisfy that desire. Clear warns us that you need to be intentional and that regularity and setting up an environment that is conducive to success is essential. I liked the way he put it. It is not about how disciplined we are and how much willpower we have, but our commitment to the habit and to creating what he calls ‘a more disciplined environment.’

To help us with our habits, both good and bad, Clear sets up the four laws of making changes that will produce the desired outcome.1. Make it obvious. 2. Make it attractive. 3. Make it easy. 4. Make it satisfying. He addresses each of these in detail with many real-life examples which are highly motivating. As he takes us through the theory and practice of acting habitually in pursuit of the person you want to be, Clear shows us that with just a little effort and self-awareness, we can ‘make good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible.’ I was absolutely absorbed in this book and so glad I bought my own copy, so that I could underline it and return to it regularly and be reinspired with these practical tips. I am confident this book will help me build up my poetry publishing business and ensure I don’t let the days flit by without achieving those things that will give me the satisfaction I need to feel that I am still growing and learning and contributing to society. (And, as an entirely unexpected bonus, I am becoming more familiar with the word of God!) I feel completely confident that you would consider this book a great investment in your time and attention. I know it’s available through the one-card library system here in South Australia. Enjoy!