Atomic Habits by James Clear is a book I recommend to anyone seeking to understand more about themselves and life. It gives you a new perspective. The book seeks to question, “how do we live?” before we try and answer the question of “what do we want to accomplish?”. While we may differ in what we consider is meaningful and important, we are all faced with the same question of how we go about accomplishing what we want out of life.
James Clear argues that our successes are due to the formation of good habits. He argues that remarkable results are due to the many small habits, the tiny routines that comprise our lives, instead of any single life-changing event. He argues that long term success is the result of compounding growth from the seemingly insignificant habits that we do on a daily basis.
The Book’s Key Argument
The fundamental points that James Clear makes can be summarized by the following short paragraphs from chapter 1, page 27:
You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change.
Many if not all of us have wanted to build better habits at some point in our lives. Some of us study more. Others eat better. Maybe start a new hobby. And more. Yet, many times we don’t achieve our goals. So why don’t we?
This is why James clear asks us to re-evaluate the systems that we live by on a daily basis. He asks us to look at our environment and question if it gives rise to systems that help us form good habits. For example, if we want to read more, how do we go about doing it? Do we keep a hard physical copy by our bedsides to read every night before bed? Do we read through Amazon Kindle on our phones? If the goal is reading more, what is the system that we put ourselves in to achieve that goal?
Conclusion: Take Action
Atomic Habits by James Clear is a book that has a wealth of useful information relevant to everyone. It’s a book you should have on your bookshelf so that you can revisit it and refer to it whenever you need it. I wholeheartedly recommend it as a book that anyone should read. Whether your old or young. No matter if your a parent or not. Whether you’re in school or work. It’s a book to help you get started on the path of thinking again.
In future posts, I will go into further detail on the key takeaways of the book. I will also talk about real actions we can take to improve our lives. For example, see my previous post about one way you can take action immediately to form a habit to improve your sleep.
For other books I have recommended, please see my books recommended page. Reading is a great way to develop yourself. Please leave a comment below if you have any books you would like to share that have helped you in your life.
Get the Book Yourself
Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones
