Many self-help books encourage complete changes in lifestyle. While these can be helpful for some, many find it overwhelming, and often do not know where to start.
The book Atomic Habits by James Clear defines atomic as “an extremely small amount of a thing.” Unlike other books, the author emphasizes small changes to make big differences.
In the opening of the book, James Clear describes how he overcame his extremely painful baseball injury by improving his habits. Eventually, he started publishing online articles and launched his “Habits Academy” training program. The combination of his extensive background and inspirational journey build his credibility.
Clear often explains the false assumptions made about habits. One of my favorite ideas he presented was the “Plateau of Latent Potential.” He explains that many expect progress to be linear, but in reality, results will not appear until a breakthrough occurs. He uses analogies and illustrations to better help the reader understand.
Another one of my favorite ideas presented was making habits easy. He explains that relying on motivation will make it difficult to complete your goals on harder days.
Explains that making habits easier will “reduce the friction”. Preparing your environment by laying out everything you need beforehand is a great way to make things simpler.
Other helpful techniques include habit stacking, making scorecards, and using habit trackers.
In addition, the author explains that you have to change and reinforce your identity. This way, habits will be less focused on what you want to do, and more on what you want to become. This also involves surrounding yourself with a culture/community with similar goals.
Not only does Clear explain how to build new habits, but also how to break bad ones. He uses many of the same ideas, but in the opposite manner. Some methods of breaking bad habits include increasing friction, reducing your exposure, and finding an accountability partner.
Moreover, the author includes a chart of the 4 Laws of Habits. The chart slowly fills up as you progress through the book. The final version of the chart is shown to the left.
Finally, Clear provides insightful summaries and key take aways at end of the chapter. This makes it easy to refresh on older concepts.
Overall, this book is much more accessible to a general audience and makes the process of building habits less overwhelming. Summaries, analogies, and graphs/illustrations, make the book more interesting,
Atomic Habits by James Clear is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.
Mission Viejo Library Teen Voice 