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Key insights from "Atomic Habits" by James clear

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I recently finished reading "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. The book was incredibly insightful. If you are looking to improve your habits, and achieve results while you are at it, then this book is for you. It may help you form new habits, and break bad one.

Without further due, here are my top three takeaways.

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Photo by Nataliya Vaitkevich via Pexel, adapted by Beolle


Takeaway 1:  The habit-forming loop: James outlines that the habit-forming loop consists of four stages

  1. Cue. The cue triggers the brain to expect a reward and is crucial for building automatic habits. It is typically associated with time, place, or feeling. For example, feeling bored could be a cue to the habit of using social media.
  2. Craving. This is the urge resulting from the cue. Using the above example, opening the social media app is the craving initiated by the cue of boredom.
  3. Response. An example of a response is the action of opening the social media app and using it.
  4. Reward. An example of reward is the feeling of novelty and stimulation that social media provides.

James framework is similar to the Hook's model used to develop habit forming apps. You can learn more about Hook's model in our earlier article on designing habit forming mobile. 

Takeaway 2: The 4 Laws to build good habits

  1. The 1st Law. Make the cue obvious. James suggests associating a habit with a specific time of the day or location. For instance, if you want to build the habit of meditating, find a fixed time and location for it. Habit stacking is another framework to leverage the associations of an existing habit. 
  2. The 2nd Law. Make the craving attractive. James recommends temptation bundling, such as listening to podcasts while exercising, to make the activity more appealing.
  3. The 3rd Law. Make the response easy. James introduces the 2-minute rule, suggesting breaking down the response into smaller tasks that can be performed in 2 minutes. For example, meditate for just 2 minutes and gradually increase the time.
  4. The 4th Law. Make the reward satisfying. James proposes tracking habits as the best way to make habits satisfying. For instance, tracking the number of consecutive days of meditation to measure success.

Takeaway 3: Breaking bad habits: James advises inverting the 4 laws of habit forming to break bad habits

  1. Make the cue invisible. For example, uninstall social media apps from your phone to avoid seeing notifications and checking your social media feeds.
  2. Make the craving unattractive. Understanding the benefits of breaking a bad habit can make the craving unattractive.
  3. Make the response difficult. Create barriers to the bad habit, such as cutting off internet access after dinner to limit usage.
  4. Make the reward unsatisfying. Penalize yourself for not following through with the habit, such as joining a gym that charges for missed workout sessions.

On a final thoughts

The book highlights the importance of making small changes that amalgamate over time, and if so, you will experience those improvements that will change you for the better as you continue moving forward in life. 

I hope this summary is easy to follow and captures the key points from "Atomic Habits" for you!


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Agreed