Summary
Brilliant book. Everything a good book should be: concise, clear, and actionable. This is the best book on habit formation I have read, and will no doubt be a resource to reread again. Author does an excellent job of providing all the required planning resources to go along with the book.
Recommend for everyone who is trying to change and build new habits (ie. pretty much everyone).
10/10
Chapter 1 – The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits
•1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done
•Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement.
•You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.
•Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, which build up the potential required to unleash a major change.
One Key Takeaway – compounding happens in every aspects of life hence focus on process instead results
Chapter 2 – How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)
•True behavior change is identity change.
•The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader.
•Your identity emerges out of your habits.
•Each time you read a page, you are a reader.
•Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
Chapter 3 – How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps
•Habits do not restrict freedom. They create it.
•The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: cue, craving, response, and reward.
•How to Create a Good Habit
• 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.
Chapter 4- The Man who didn’t look right
•Pointing-and-Calling is so effective because it raises the level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level.
•The first step to changing bad habits is to be on the lookout for them.
•Habits Scorecard are focused on getting you to recognize your habits
Chapter 5 – The Best Way to Start a New Habit
•Broadly speaking, the format for creating an implementation intention is:
•When situation X arises, I will perform response Y.
•The habit stacking formula is:
•After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].
One Key Takeaway – Habit stacking and linking new habit to existing habit
Chapter 6 – Motivation is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More
•Design your environment to motivate you to accomplish the things you want to. Visual stimuli help.
•New environments can help eliminate old bad habits and establish new ones.
One Key Takeaway –Environment must be changed for new habit. Better Cue
Chapter 7 – The Secret to Self-Control
•Avoid temptations that trigger bad habits. This is the only way to break bad habits.
•The best way to improve qualities by creating a more disciplined environment.
One Key Takeaway –Environment must be changed for new habit. Better Cue
Chapter 8 – How to Make a Habit Irresistible
•The habit stacking + temptation bundling formula is:
•After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [HABIT I NEED].
•After [HABIT I NEED], I will [HABIT I WANT].
One Key Takeaway – Habit stacking with reward at the end
Chapter 9 – The Role of Family & Friends in Shaping Your Habits
•We tend to imitate the habits of three social groups: the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige).
•One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behaviour is the normal behaviour and (2) you already have something in common with the group.
One Key Takeaway – Be aware of your social groups and try to have positive groups
Chapter 10 – How to Find and Fix the Causes of Your Bad Habits
•Change the language and frame of habits to make them positive.
•Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.
•Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings and unattractive when we associate them with negative feelings. Create a motivation ritual by doing something you enjoy immediately before a difficult habit.
One Key Takeaway – Associate Negative feeling to negative habits
Chapter 11 – Walk Slowly, but Never Backward (Generic)
•Habits form based on frequency, not time. Story of Quantity vs Quality
•The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning. Error and trial
•Aim for small actions (ex: working out) to achieve instead planning for something big
•The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed it.
One Key Takeaway – Take small action daily as habit is formed on frequency not on time
Chapter 12 – The Law of Least Effort
•Energy is precious, and the brain is wired to conserve it whenever possible. It is human nature to follow the Law of Least Effort.
•Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.
•Conversely, use environment design to make the wrong thing as difficult as possible.
•The greater the obstacle—that is, the more difficult the habit—the more friction there is between you and your desired end state.
One Key Takeaway – Create an environment friendly to your good habits and full of friction for bad habits
Chapter 13 – How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule
•The idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start.
•New habit should not feel like a challenge, The actions that follow can be challenging,
•When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.
•Ex: “Read before bed each night” becomes “read one page.”
•Master the art of showing up, then refine.
One Key Takeaway- New habit should take less than two minutes to start or show up.
Chapter 14 – How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible
•The best way to break a bad habit is to make it impractical to do. Increase the friction until you don’t even have the option to act.
•Automate as much of your life as possible.
•Use commitment devices – a choice you make in the present that locks in future behaviour – to guarantee future actions. Gym Payment in advance
Key Take away – Automate and think 1 big change that will automatically put you on good habit
Chapter 15 – The Cardinal Rule of Behaviour Change
•Problem is not awareness but consistency, hence make it satisfy
•What is rewarded is repeated. What is punished is avoided.
•Add a small, immediate reward to good behaviours.
Key Takeaway – End every habit on that day with some immediate reward.
Chapter 16 – How to Stick with Good Habits Every Day
•Most satisfying feelings is the feeling of making progress.
•Track your behaviour, ideally with something visual like a calendar.
•Automate this tracking when possible.
•The habit stacking + habit tracking formula is:
•After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [TRACK MY HABIT].
Chapter 17 – How an Accountability Partner Can Change Everything
•Create a habit contract with a painful penalty with one or two other people.
•Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator.
•An accountability partner can create an immediate cost to inaction. We care deeply about what others think of us, and we do not want others to have a lesser opinion of us.
• Key Take away – Accountability Partner and Habit contract
Conclusion: The Secret to Results That Last
Book Summary – You → Choice (decision) +Behaviour (Action) + Habit (repeated action) +Compounded (time) = Goals
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