Atomic habits are:
The 5 Core Themes
James Clear's best selling book "Atomic Habits" is summarised excellently by Samuel Thomas Davis, and he identifies these 5 core themes:
I have read a number of reviews and summaries of James Clear's "Atomic Habits" and they focus on various aspects of the many very strong points in the book. However, my personal key takeaway is this:
In the modern world we live in a "delayed return environment" where the ability to accept deferred gratification is critical.
We live in a delayed return environment
From an evolutionary perspective, back when we were living on the plains of Africa most of our decisions had an immediate impact and thus our focus was on the present or near future - what Clear refers to as an immediate-return environment.
In life on the Savannah plains of Africa it made sense to place a premium on instant gratification. Our survival often depended on it. So, our brains evolved over time to prefer quick hits of pleasure to the kind of satisfaction one might get from long-term accomplishments.
Whereas, as Clear points out:
"In modern society, many of the choices you make today will not benefit you immediately…You live in what scientists call a delayed-return environment because you can work for years before your actions deliver the intended payoff."
But given that are brains are hardwired for instant gratification, they process and evaluate potential rewards by ascribing a higher value to the present and a discount to the future.
This is the problem we face:
“What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided...”
Therefore we have to align our behavioural changes - adopting good habits - to this reality or we fail. Clear regards this is the number rule of behavioural change.
Habits do not restrict freedom, they create it. The people who don’t have their habits handled are often the people with the least amount of freedom.
The 4-Step Process of Building a Habit (The Habit Loop)
By the time we become an adult, we rarely notice the habits that are running our lives.
The Four Laws of Behavior Change:
Invert these laws to break a bad habit:
Whenever you want to change your behavior, you can ask yourself:
Further reading:
Return from "Atomic Habits" to: Mental Models
- What if everything we think…
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