{"id":7858,"date":"2018-10-18T11:26:09","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T18:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/?p=7858"},"modified":"2018-10-25T13:37:49","modified_gmt":"2018-10-25T20:37:49","slug":"book-recommendation-atomic-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scotthyoung.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/18\/book-recommendation-atomic-habits\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Recommendation: Atomic Habits"},"content":{"rendered":"

Habits are the invisible foundation that underline everything you\u2019ll ever do, experience or achieve.<\/p>\n

Any effort for self-improvement needs to start by looking at what you actually do every day. If a goal doesn\u2019t cause you to change your habits, then there\u2019s not much point of actually setting one.<\/p>\n

Although there\u2019s been many books and guides written about creating habits (including my own), I want to recommend a particularly good one: Atomic Habits, by James Clear<\/a>.<\/p>\n

James Clear, if you haven\u2019t already subscribed to his newsletter<\/a>, is one of the few writers who is both smart without being difficult to read. This book compresses down a huge swath of research, stories and insights into a four-step process for thinking about changing your behaviors.<\/p>\n

A Habit-Driven Approach to Success<\/h3>\n

The title of Clear\u2019s book refers to a different philosophy towards success. Rather than basing success on grand ambitions or overwhelming efforts, he sees it as being cultivated from thousands of small, atomic habits.<\/p>\n

This is a view I\u2019m sympathetic towards. For starters, it\u2019s a lot more approachable than one which relies on extreme intensity. Not everyone can finish heroically difficult projects. Everyone can make simple changes to the habits that run their lives.<\/p>\n

Second, despite the approachability, major changes are possible by slowly replacing the atomic building blocks of your behaviors. Change a dozen or so major habits\u2014eat healthier, exercise more, wake up early, read every day, meditate, stop procrastinating, etc. and it\u2019s not just that you become more effective, you become a different person.<\/p>\n

This latter view, of changing one\u2019s fundamental identity (\u201cI\u2019m the kind of person who eats healthy.\u201d) rather than simply changing a behavior is a big part of Clear\u2019s approach.<\/p>\n

We all feel the weight of the person we are, that sometimes we\u2019d like to change. Although we\u2019re not infinitely flexible, investing in the process of changing habits can give you the freedom to become a lot closer to the person you\u2019d like to be.<\/p>\n

I experienced a similar kind of transformation the first time I seriously studied habit-changing, as I wrote about here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Clear\u2019s Four Laws of Behavior Change<\/h3>\n

Clear organizes his habit-changing framework into four \u201claws\u201d of behavior change. They are:<\/p>\n