5 Life-Changing Lessons from Atomic Habits

I have listened to James Clear’s book – Atomic Habits on Audible more than once and I have picked up a lot of life-transforming lessons.

Atomic Habits is one of the easiest books to recommend to anyone.

Habits whether good or bad have a huge impact on how we live and who we ultimately become.

If you build good financial habits, you will become wealthy.

If you have good workout habits, you will be healthy.

If you have good reading habits, you will be wise and knowledgeable.

I have made a Habit Tracker Template in Google Sheets that I use to track my habits

Here are 5 Lessons that have impacted me:

THE LAW OF LEAST EFFORT

I have set an alarm for 7:00hrs. every morning the alarm turns on, I turn it off and go back to sleep (very bad habit).

The problem is; I sleep with my phone just beside me, so it is very easy to turn off the alarm. I decided to change this habit.

I no longer sleep with the phone nearby, it’s always very far from the bed, this way, when the alarm turns on, I have to wake up to go and turn it off.

Once I do that, I do not go back to sleep anymore,

We find it very easy to build a habit if it requires less effort. The less energy the habit requires, the more likely it is to occur.

This is why is it so easy to spend hours on social media because all you have to do is take out your phone and press an icon, booom! You are in.

If you want to build a good habit, make it as frictionless as possible.

If you want to drink a lot of water every day, make sure to always have a bottle of water with you.

If you want to watch less TV, keep the remote far from you, without batteries if possible. The time it takes to look for the remote and put batteries in can discourage you in some cases.

THE 2 MINUTES RULE

The 2 Minutes rule is a very powerful tool for building new habits.

It states that – When you start a new habit, it should take less than 2 minutes to do.

You may be wondering what habit can take 2 minutes or less.

But the idea is: A new habit should not feel like a challenge, the action that follows can be hard, but the first 2 minutes must be easy.

If you want to exercise, try it for 2 minutes.

If you want to read a book, read for just 2 minutes.

If you want to learn a new language, practice for 2 minutes.

2 minutes is easy (THE LAW OF LEAST EFFORT) and it won’t be long before you go beyond 2 minutes.

I have been learning Japanese by practicing for 2 minutes on Duolingo, I am already getting better each day.

WALK SLOWLY BUT NEVER BACKWARD

Building good habits takes time. Sometimes we are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action.

We often ask how long it takes to master a habit than we ask how many times it takes to form a habit.

Habits form based on frequency, not time. If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection.

You don’t need to figure out the best way to do it, just start doing it every day and you will find the best way.

Striving for perfection when starting a new habit can discourage you and draw you backward.

CHANGE THE ENVIRONMENT TO CHANGE A HABIT

Pages upon pages of research have shown that whatever habits are normal in your culture are among the attractive behaviors you will find.

Family, friends, and the work environment have a role in shaping our habits.

If all your friends enjoy country music, you may find yourself following suit.

If all your workmates wear suits every workday, you may find yourself budgeting for a suit.

If you want to start working out, you may find it easy to go to the gym if you hang out with friends who already go to the gym.

If you surround yourself with an environment that supports your habit growth, it will be very easy to master your habit.

If you want to build a good financial habit, you can start by surrounding yourself with finance books, podcasts, and blogs. You can even get a Financial Tracker like this one to track and plan your finances.

MAKING GOOD HABITS INEVITABLE

Making good habits inevitable requires investing in technology or one-time purchases that lock in future behavior.

For example, I wanted to develop a habit of reading books, so I decided to buy an Audible subscription.

Audible makes it easy for me to listen to books and take notes. Plus, I subscribed for an annual subscription, meaning that if I don’t read, I will waste money.

So, this single action has helped me to have access to a lot of books and ultimately build a habit of reading.

You can try Audible for free for one month and get up to 2 free audiobooks.

Atomic Habits is a comprehensive and practical guide to changing your habits. It provides a clear and concise framework for understanding how habits work and how to change them.

Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement, and small changes can lead to big results over time.

I have made a Habit Tracker Template in Google Sheets to help you track your habits.