As a self-help book, Atomic Habits is straightforward, neatly written and insightful. Most similar genre didn’t stick with me because of their meandering storyline and unstructured arguments. I was glad to have discovered one that is both succinct and persuasive. Each chapter offers something new, starting with a sweet and concise biography seamlessly connected to habit-formation. This not only made me a more convincible reader, but also got me thinking, if I were to write a self-help manual, I would go for a clean style like this.
Atomic Habits promotes systematic thinking on habits. Divided into three sections, it discusses why we should value the impact of habits, how to develop good habits and criteria to selecting the right habits and tips for mindful improvement. Habits automate our behaviours to make life streamlined. But they are more than an internalised process: a habit not only impacts our productivity for minutes and hours afterwards, but also creates and strengthens an individual identity. Eventually, we are the person of previous accumulation of good and bad habits. What we did has defined who we are, and what we do will define who we will be.
Here is a summary of the Four Laws Clear suggested to nudge our way closer to our potential and a better-organised life:
Law One: Make it Obvious. Formed habits are unlikely to go away. Design an environment that fosters cues to positive habits and avoid exposure that creates temptation for unwanted behaviours.
Law Two: Make it Attractive. Reinforce hard habits under attractive activities. Perform them in an environment that gives praise, respect and approval. Find out the underlying causes of bad habits (a feeling, or a need) and rephrase them negatively to make it seem unappealing.
Law Three: Make it Easy. Focus on performing a habit with repetition and stop excessive planning. Start a habit that requires little time and easy efforts and in an environment that make it feel effortless.
Law Four: Make it Satisfying. Reward yourself in small ways immediately after performing a good habit. Use a habit tracker for a hard habit to be visually satisfying and make it a rule to never miss twice. Make a bad habit unsatisfying by devising a punitive accountability system.
Advanced Tips: Look at Habits Critically. Everyone is born with special talents and tendencies; pick habits that feel natural to stick to and play to your strengths. A habit will inevitably become less interesting over time, but stick to the routine regardless. Incorporate a review and reflection cycle to improve performance.
We can become complacent the more we achieve in life: praise and achievements saturate our self-awareness and blunt our ability to see blind spots. We forget that there is always room for improvement, even for things we do well. This book reminds me that imperfection is a given, and the goal is not to be perfect, but to be 1% better every day.
Siming Lan 