“Tiny changes, remarkable results”- James Clear
Over the summer, I finally picked up “Atomic Habits” written by James Clear. Clear is an author as well as a regular speaker in NFL, NBA, and MLB teams. By building on ideas from psychology, biology, and neuroscience, he explains the secret to long term success. The informal tone he used throughout made it an easy book to read, but it was still packed with information from Clear’s deep academic perspectives. Here are my takeaways.
Everyone knows that breaking bad habits is difficult. No matter how small or big it is, it seems impossible to eliminate. However, the problem isn’t you. It is your system.
“Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons”, Clear says, “(1) we try to change the wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.”
This is why Clear emphasizes the importance of small habits. “Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement”. Small changes to your lifestyle may seem unnoticeable at first, but improving by one percent every day is extremely meaningful in the long run. It may seem difficult to understand at first. Studying Spanish for an hour today does not mean you have learned the language completely. The desired outcome from the changes we make don’t seem to come as quickly as we want.
This is why we form bad habits, after all. Because these changes we make on one particular day do not seem to affect your life at the moment, we tend to let things slide. For example, eating one unhealthy meal may seem insignificant at first, but repeating these things day after day leads to the toxic result of a “bad habit”.
That said, life does fluctuate and not every day will be perfect. But, what matters is “if your habits are putting you on the path towards success."
The plateau of latent potential explains this as well. “The results of our efforts are often delayed”, therefore, the small changes we make in our life will seem trivial. There is a common misconception that progress is linear, but the changes you make now will not give you your desired outcome right away. Work is not wasted, it is stored. It is not until later that we realise the value of previous efforts.
“Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. When dopamine rises, so does our motivation to act”.
Understanding the science of habits is the first step to changing them. All habitual behaviour is associated with higher levels of dopamine, such as scrolling through social media and eating junk food. When you predict the pleasure from doing these things, dopamine levels spike. The spike leads you to take the action, as the desire drives behaviour. Therefore, it is clear that habits must be attractive, because it is the anticipation of rewarding experiences which leads us to respond to the urge to give into them.
Through the consumption of the knowledge in this book, I have already been able to make a few changes in my lifestyle to help me achieve my goals and make good habits in the most efficient way. Unlike the typical self-help books, this book is packed with evidence, actionable advice, and realistic techniques that are proven to help you to actually form habits that work for you. It will change the way you live your life for the better.
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