Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

About the Author

James Clear is an author, entrepreneur, and photographer. His work has been published in Entrepreneur magazine, Time magazine, the Wall Street Journal, and CBS This Morning.

Apart from that, he is a former athlete, a great speaker, and an avid reader steering his blog.

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones has sold more than 4 million copies globally and is his debut book. Calling himself an advocate for useful ideas, James has elucidated how to break away from bad habits and blend good ones in our life.

Atomic Habits Book Review

The book has become popular among the masses, so we decided to read and present the Atomic Habits review this for you.

Written in an informal tone, the author has done good work in depicting it as blog-like with a blend of academic knowledge in it as well. For example, the first chapter defines the idea of ‘atomic habits’ or habits the size of an atom, directing to the importance of small habits in our lives.

He explains, “An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results.”

Right from the beginning, the author knows how to keep his audience engaged in his work by combining graphs, studies, analysis deftly with explanations of his content. In addition, each chapter has a concise summary at the end– another plus point for people who are not avid readers or fail to grasp the details easily.

The book has mainly focused on four laws for developing good habits –

• Make it obvious.
• Make it attractive.
• Make it easy.
• Make it satisfying.

James Clear establishes the significance of habit as, “Habits are a double­edged sword. They can work for you or against you.”

Atomic Habits is an excellent read if you are looking for guides that have explicit dos and don’ts for you to breaking away from bad habits and building new ones. However, the book does not contain any new concepts– it has interpreted the concepts we are already familiar with but fails to think or pay more attention to them.

Major Takeaways from the Book

1. The 1% Rule

“Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long run.”

The book begins with the importance of small steps and changes in one’s life. The little things we do have the power to positively or negatively affect our lives. James defines that if you improve yourself 1 percent each day, you will be a different individual by the end of the year; however, if your bad habits make you 1 percent worse each day, you will be in a worse position than you are right now.

He explains, “If you can get 1 percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-​­seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.”

2. System Or Goals?

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”

Another vital point that James has focused on is how most people are obsessed with accomplishing their goals rather than developing the system. Goals are the outcomes you want to attain, but the system is the method that eventually helps you to reach that outcome. If your system is not evolving, you will be left with the same outcome every time. To put it simply, your goals are what helps you to drive a car, but the system you create will keep it running.

3. Environment Over Motivation

“Make the cues of good habit obvious and cues of bad habits invisible.”

Motivation may be a significant factor in steering us towards beginning with new things, but a good environment is also important. Our behaviour depends on the kind of environment we are functioning in. The world around us has a bigger influence than we understand, so is it necessary to construct an atmosphere around us so that our susceptibility to positive reminders increases.

For instance, if you plan a healthy diet– it is effective to keep healthy food nearby and junk foods out of sight. Similarly, if you want to achieve a task successfully, you need to keep encouraging cues around you.

4. 2-Minute Rule

“When you want to start a new habit, it should take less than 2 minutes to do !”

The two-minute rule lays down a way to break habits into smaller achievable goals to make it easy for us to follow and not give up in the middle.

Most of the time, we are so focused on seeking the best strategy to do something that we end up dropping it altogether. The best way to make something a habit is to concentrate on repetition rather than perfection. You cannot enhance a habit if it does not exist; hence, smaller steps are key to preparing yourself for bigger ones.