1 The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits (Location 206)
It is so easy to overestimate the importance of one defining moment and underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis. (Location 237)
FORGET ABOUT GOALS, FOCUS ON SYSTEMS INSTEAD (Location 342)
The goal is not to read a book, the goal is to become a reader. The goal is not to run a marathon, the goal is to become a runner. The goal is not to learn an instrument, the goal is to become a musician. Your behaviors are usually a reflection of your identity. (Location 486)
The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do. (Location 544)
feedback loops. Your habits shape your identity, and your identity shapes your habits. It’s a two-way street. (Location 575)
3 How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps (Location 600)
Cue: You hit a stumbling block on a project at work. 2. Craving: You feel stuck and want to relieve your frustration. Solution phase 3. Response: You pull out your phone and check social media. 4. Reward: You satisfy your craving to feel relieved. Checking social media becomes associated with feeling stalled at work. (Location 746)
The 1st law (Cue): Make it obvious. The 2nd law (Craving): Make it attractive. The 3rd law (Response): Make it easy. The 4th law (Reward): Make it satisfying. (Location 768)
THE 1ST LAW Make It Obvious (Location 799)
5 The Best Way to Start a New Habit (Location 930)
Many people think they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity. It is not always obvious when and where to take action. Some people spend their entire lives waiting for the time to be right to make an improvement. (Location 959)
The simple way to apply this strategy to your habits is to fill out this sentence: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]. (Location 963)
FIGURE 7: Habit stacking increases the likelihood that you’ll stick with a habit by stacking your new behavior on top of an old one. (Location 1019)
The implementation intention formula is: I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]. (Location 1090)
The habit stacking formula is: After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]. (Location 1093)
Motivation Is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More (Location 1096)
It’s easy not to take your vitamins when they are out of sight in the pantry. When the cues that spark a habit are subtle or hidden, they are easy to ignore. (Location 1152)
If you want to practice guitar more frequently, place your guitar stand in the middle of the living room. (Location 1165)
If you want to make a habit a big part of your life, make the cue a big part of your environment. (Location 1169)
Our behavior is not defined by the objects in the environment but by our relationship to them. In fact, this is a useful way to think about the influence of the environment on your behavior. (Location 1184)
Want to think more creatively? Move to a bigger room, a rooftop patio, or a building with expansive architecture. Take a break from the space where you do your daily work, which is also linked to your current thought patterns. (Location 1199)
I know a writer who uses his computer only for writing, his tablet only for reading, and his phone only for social media and texting. Every habit should have a home. (Location 1217)
Bad habits are autocatalytic: the process feeds itself. They foster the feelings they try to numb. You feel bad, so you eat junk food. (Location 1268)
To put it bluntly, I have never seen someone consistently stick to positive habits in a negative environment. (Location 1280)
This is the secret to self-control. Make the cues of your good habits obvious and the cues of your bad habits invisible. (Location 1294)
Self-control is a short-term strategy, not a long-term one. (Location 1302)
THE 2ND LAW Make It Attractive (Location 1331)
We begin by examining a biological signature that all habits share—the dopamine spike. THE DOPAMINE-DRIVEN FEEDBACK LOOP (Location 1387)
When it comes to habits, the key takeaway is this: dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it. Gambling addicts have a dopamine spike right before they place a bet, not after they win. (Location 1405)
We imitate the habits of three groups in particular: The close. The many. The powerful. (Location 1528)
As a general rule, the closer we are to someone, the more likely we are to imitate some of their habits. (Location 1539)
Join a culture where (1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and (2) you already have something in common with the group. (Location 1553)
Whenever we are unsure how to act, we look to the group to guide our behavior. We are constantly scanning our environment and wondering, “What is everyone else doing?” (Location 1586)
THE 3RD LAW Make It Easy (Location 1785)
One of the most common questions I hear is, “How long does it take to build a new habit?” But what people really should be asking is, “How many does it take to form a new habit?” That is, how many repetitions are required to make a habit automatic? (Location 1852)
Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you’d actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient. (Location 1894)
How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule (Location 2003)
Researchers estimate that 40 to 50 percent of our actions on any given day are done out of habit. (Location 2014)
The idea is to make your habits as easy as possible to start. Anyone can meditate for one minute, read one page, or put one item of clothing away. (Location 2051)
Your goal might be to run a marathon, but your gateway habit is to put on your running shoes. That’s how you follow the Two-Minute Rule. (Location 2057)
The truth is, a habit must be established before it can be improved. If you can’t learn the basic skill of showing up, then you have little hope of mastering the finer details. (Location 2081)
Greg McKeown, a leadership consultant from the United Kingdom, built a daily journaling habit by specifically writing less than he felt like. (Location 2100)
The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things. (Location 2143)
Ask service providers to lower your bills. Of course, there are many ways to automate good habits and eliminate bad ones. Typically, they involve putting technology to work for you. Technology can transform actions that were once hard, annoying, and complicated into behaviors that are easy, painless, and simple. It is the most reliable and effective way to guarantee the right behavior. This is particularly useful for behaviors that happen too infrequently to become habitual. Things you have to do monthly or yearly—like rebalancing your investment portfolio—are never repeated frequently enough to become a habit, so they benefit in particular from technology “remembering” to do them for you. Other examples include: Medicine: Prescriptions can be automatically refilled. Personal finance: Employees can save for retirement with an automatic wage deduction. Cooking: Meal-delivery services can do your grocery shopping. Productivity: Social media browsing can be cut off with a website blocker. When (Location 2215)
When you automate as much of your life as possible, you can spend your effort on the tasks machines cannot do yet. (Location 2226)
THE 4TH LAW Make It Satisfying (Location 2293)
Dyrsmid began each morning with two jars on his desk. One was filled with 120 paper clips. The other was empty. As soon as he settled in each day, he would make a sales call. Immediately after, he would move one paper clip from the full jar to the empty jar and the process would begin again. (Location 2447)
I like to refer to this technique as the Paper Clip Strategy (Location 2452)
But perhaps the best way to measure your progress is with a habit tracker. HOW (Location 2457)
Research has shown that people who track their progress on goals like losing weight, quitting smoking, and lowering blood pressure are all more likely to improve than those who don’t. (Location 2473)
perfectly, then you shouldn’t do it at all. You don’t realize how valuable it is to just show up on your bad (or busy) days. Lost days hurt you more than successful days help you. (Location 2529)
Knowing that someone else is watching you can be a powerful motivator. (Location 2660)
ADVANCED TACTICS How to Go from Being Merely Good to Being Truly Great (Location 2702)
You don’t have to build the habits everyone tells you to build. Choose the habit that best suits you, not the one that is most popular. (Location 2777)
Pick the right habit and progress is easy. Pick the wrong habit and life is a struggle. (Location 2787)
The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right. (Location 2891)
Once a habit has been established, however, it’s important to continue to advance in small ways. These little improvements and new challenges keep you engaged. And if you hit the Goldilocks Zone just right, you can achieve a flow state. (Location 2902)
Whenever you’re looking to improve, you can rotate through the Four Laws of Behavior Change until you find the next bottleneck. Make it obvious. Make it attractive. Make it easy. Make it satisfying. Round and round. Always looking for the next way to get 1 percent better. (Location 3157)
How to Apply These Ideas to Business (Location 3255)
You can download this chapter at: atomichabits.com/business (Location 3259)
How to Apply These Ideas to Parenting (Location 3261)
You can download this chapter at: atomichabits.com/parenting (Location 3266)