Bad habits surround us in our day-to-day lives. Scratching open old cuts as they are trying to heal, being on your phone while you should be doing homework, or even getting up and going to the gym, Atomic Habits explores these little details in life to guide you to have a better routine while also learning something new about yourself. After all, it is a self-help book that’s the purpose, right?

After finishing this book, I can confidently say that I have started to think of everyday things in my life differently. Other reviews of this book have said it’s life-changing and I can completely understand why. James Clear (2018) provokes you to use your brain to critically think about things you may not have thought about before. One example is when you have a big goal you want to achieve. Instead of thinking “I want to be fit,” he chooses to go a different direction. The author will instead say to tell yourself “I will go on a 30-minute walk”. This isn’t putting off the goal at all, but instead doing about 1% to get started. After that, and when you become more comfortable, that small 1% can become larger. By thinking about doing 1% a day the goal doesn’t feel so overwhelming anymore. I found Atomic Habits to be a different kind of self-help book than what I have read in the past. Other books will give you advice and inspiration, but Clear takes a different approach by being more motivational. For example, when you don’t have the motivation to do something, use the two-minute rule, which means if you can do a task in two minutes do it now and implement it into your routine. 

The Four “Laws”

Clear likes to break down four major points to successfully make or break your habits. These different “laws,” are supposed to guide you through habits you have in your life and how to improve upon them. These four “laws” are:

1. Make it obvious

2. Make it attractive

3. Make it easy

4. Make it satisfying

Now, with these laws, you can use them in almost any context, good or bad. For eliminating bad habits, just do the reverse. Don’t make the habit satisfying or easy to do.

Through these different sections of the book, he dives deep into personal stories he has gone through and why these laws have worked for him.To break down the four laws even further, he goes on to talk about cues, cravings, responses, and rewards. These are a little easier to understand from an example standpoint and are very useful for day-to-day life. The cue would be you walk into a dark room, the craving would be what you want to see, the response would be to turn on the light, and lastly, the reward would be having the light on to see. This goes for habits too, when you want to change something in your routine. Changing the response would create a different reward. 

Trying it out

I decided while reading as well as after I finished the book to try some of these different tactics out in my own life. Coming from someone who is very much addicted to social media, I wanted to control my bad habit and get it to a place where it wasn’t completely taking over my life. One of the first things I tried out was to not go on my phone for 15-30 minutes after waking up. It’s hard when I have to wake up early and all I want to do is scroll on my phone until the last possible moment, but this is where the four laws take place. First is the cue. I took cue as I turned off my alarm when I woke up. The craving would be to pick up my phone after turning off the alarm, but instead, I got up out of bed. Because of that decision, I chose to focus my attention on something else, something more productive. The response would then be to make my bed, and the reward would be a made bed and no phone! Obviously, this doesn’t happen every morning, but the mornings I do this I end up getting ready for work a lot faster and have time left over before leaving my house than if I stayed in my bed until the last minute. 

Trying out a different method Clear talked about, I am starting the 1% of something every day to complete a goal. Although my big and final “goal” is not complete, implementing this 1% into my daily life has changed things. My big goal is to teach myself how to run. I’ve never been able to run for more than about 30 seconds at a time without feeling like my lungs are about to collapse and I am determined to complete the Cooper Bridge Run in a few months. I’m not going for a specific time, but I would like to run a portion of it. My 1% each day is to go on a walk. If I am on that walk, try to run for 30 seconds at a time and see how it feels. By doing this 1% each time, I’ve built up more resistance in my lungs, and it’s made a difference in how long I can run at one time. I personally love this method and will continue to do it. 

Overall…

I  enjoyed this book a lot. I’ve recommended it to a couple of people so far and will continue to do so. There are definitely some parts that are life-changing, it does get you to think “Why can’t I do this?”. You think a lot more about how you can end up doing more, as well as make or break some habits along the way. I think the word ‘habit’ has a negative connotation, but after reading I think James Clear was able to make the word in a more positive light.