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Atomic Habits

:::info Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones :::

2019/06/01 Traditional Chinese Version Published!

Author: James Clear

• Founded "Habits Academy", an online training platform
• Focus on researching habit formation, decision making

This book teaches not psychological techniques of "self-motivation" or "strengthening willpower", but how to still achieve your goals when willpower is insufficient.

Modern people should think no longer about "willpower", "self-motivation", but how to correctly cognize how society, environment we live in, and everything around allow us to make decisions, how habits themselves are established, and dominate our lives.

Through this book, will be able to answer:

1. How habits affect our lives
2. How good habits are formed, how bad habits are eliminated
3. How to make good use of power of "technology" to help yourself

How Habits Affect Our Lives?

:::info Success is product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations. :::

We tend to overestimate importance of a decisive moment, and underestimate huge value some small changes can produce.

• Decisive moment: Ambitiously setting annual plan at beginning of year, determined to complete goals not achieved last year
• Small changes every day: Drink one less cup of beverage

But why are we like this?

• Results didn't come fast enough, so we slowly gave up
  • Continue example of drinking beverage: drink one less cup of beverage every day, won't become thin immediately; study English for one hour today, won't master English immediately
  • Even if we know importance of "accumulation" well, but process of accumulation we need "strong willpower"

Example of melting ice

• Start to melt only when heated from 26 degrees to 32 degrees
• Compare to effort, this distance to reach appearance of results is "Valley of Disappointment"
• All efforts are meaningful, just happen at 32 degrees

Fallacy of Goal-oriented, System is Truth

Goals are results you want to achieve. Systems are processes letting you achieve those results.

1. Winners and losers have same goals

• Goal-oriented is affected by "survivorship bias"
• If winners and losers have same goals, then difference between the two doesn't lie in "goals"

2. Goals can only bring short-term changes

• Example of organizing room
• You can only continuously pursue same results, because you didn't change system behind, this is ==treating symptoms but not root cause==.

3. Goals limit your happiness

• Behind any goal implies such assumption: "Once achieve goal, I will be happy."
• Problem of goal-first mindset lies in you will keep delaying happiness until after next milestone.
• ==Happiness has always been something exclusively for future me to enjoy.==

Goals created a conflict of "Either A or B"

• If not achieve goal and succeed, then fail and disappointing.
• You frame yourself in narrow happiness in heart. This is biased.
• Real life journey is unlikely to be exactly same as expectation at start.

System lets you enjoy process

• When you fall in love with process, not product, don't have to wait until getting own permission to be happy.
• As long as system is operating, you can feel satisfied anytime.
• Moreover, ==system can succeed in many forms, not limited to the one you envisioned at beginning.==

4. Goals and long-term progress contradict each other: "Yo-yo Effect"

• Why many athletes deteriorate after winning awards?
• When all your efforts focus on a specific goal, what can push you forward after achieving goal?
• Purpose of setting goals is to win game. Purpose of building system is to continue staying in game.

True long-term thinking is thinking disregarding goals

• Point lies not in any single achievement, but in cycle of continuous refining and improvement.
• Essential condition for progress is investment in process.

Changing Habits Starts from Changing "Identity"

:::info Shift focus from "What I want to achieve" to "What kind of person I hope to become". :::

• Take two answers of people quitting smoking facing smoking as example
  1. "No thanks, I am quitting smoking"
  2. "No thanks, I don't smoke"
• Former's identity is "I am a person who smokes, just I am quitting smoking now". Still recognize that smoking self in heart, therefore hard to quit.
• While latter is changing identity from root. He no longer feels he is a person who smokes. Quitting smoking thus happens naturally.

Why Changing Habits is Hard to Achieve:

1. Wrong things changed
2. Wrong ways changed

• Outcomes: Goals
• Process: Habits and Systems
• Identity: Beliefs, Worldview, Self-image

Two Steps to Change Identity

1. Decide what kind of person you want to become
2. Prove to yourself through small wins in life

• Every experience in life will modify your self-image. But unlikely to consider self as football player just by kicking ball once. Also unlikely to consider self as artist just by drawing a picture casually.
• However, when you repeatedly execute these actions, evidence accumulates gradually, your self-image also starts to transform.
• Take reading club as example. Meet every week to listen to everyone talking about books. Self also slowly reading. Will gradually consider self as a person who loves reading and knowledge.

Focus should always be placed on becoming a certain kind of person, not getting a certain kind of result.

• ==Every habit is like a suggestion: "Hey, maybe I am this kind of person."==

Seriously Talk About "Habit"

:::info So-called habit, is behavior repeated enough times to be automated. :::

• Whenever you encounter a new situation in life, brain must make a decision: How should I respond?
  • Feedback loop: Try, fail, learn

Habits Can Make You Free Up Time Needed for Free Thinking and Creativity!

• When habits are created, degree of activity in brain decreases accordingly. You learn to focus on cues that can bring success, block other noises out.
• Encountering similar situations in future, you know exactly what should seek. Need to analyze situation from every angle no longer exists.

On above basis, speak more precisely:

• ==So-called habit, is a set of automated solutions for regular problems and stress==

Habits Won't Limit Freedom, Habits will Create Freedom

Seeing here, my question is: Is such me still myself? Will I become just an efficiency robot?

• Answer is no. You will only be more at ease and relaxed when letting yourself go to do things really want to do.
• ❌ Before: While reading manga, I would think "When will I start exercising?"
• ⭕️ Now: Automate exercise into a habit executed regularly. When I am reading manga or doing other things, don't need to consider problem of exercise anymore. Can be in the moment more at ease.

Ultimate goal of habits

:::info Solve problems in life with "least energy and effort". :::

Four Steps of Habit Functioning

1. Cue: Something reminds you to do that thing

• Your mind constantly analyzes internal and external environment, looking for various hints where rewards are located. Because cue is our first indicator approaching reward, naturally brings craving

Improvement Way: Law (1) Make it Obvious

2. Craving: Inner desire stimulated by cue

• Craving is second step, also motivation behind all habits.
• Lacking certain degree of motivation or desire -- lacking craving for change -- have no reason to act.
• What you crave is "not only" habit itself, but state change brought by habit
  • What motivates you to brush teeth is not behavior itself, but refreshing feeling of mouth
  • Example of own manga: Not want to read manga, what you want is entertainment

Cue and Craving rely on context of person involved

• Gambler hearing sound of slot machine, dancer hearing music
• Before interpretation and decoding, cue has no meaning. Transforming cue into craving are thoughts, feelings and emotions of observer.

Improvement Way: Law (2) Make it Attractive

3. Response: Thoughts generated or actions taken based on craving

• Response is habit you actually execute, might present in way of thought or behavior.
• Whether response happens depends on how much stimulation you received, and how much resistance linked to behavior.
• If physical or mental effort required for a certain behavior exceeds amount you are willing to pay, you will not do it.

Improvement Way: Law (3) Make it Easy

4. Reward: Result obtained after responding to craving (action)

• Ultimate goal of every habit
  • Cue is about noticing reward, Craving is about wanting reward, Response is about obtaining reward

Purpose of Reward

1. Satisfy craving
2. Teach us which behaviors are worth remembering in future

Improvement Way: Law (4) Make it Satisfying

Four Aspects Indispensable

• Missing first three steps, behavior won't happen; missing fourth step, behavior won't be repeated

Habit Loop

• Cue triggers craving, craving stimulates response, response provides reward, reward satisfies craving, looping around, connects with cue again

Four Laws of Habit Formation

Law 1: Make it Obvious

Process of behavior change starts from awareness

:::info As psychologist Jung said: "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate." :::

• There are too many things we do subconsciously in our daily life, for example: picking up phone

Pointing and Calling

• Japan Subway

  • Pointing and calling reduced errors by 85%, and avoided accidents by 30%.

• New York Subway

  • Adopted modified "Point Only" version. Within less than two years of implementation, occurrence rate of subway trains not stopping properly dropped by 57%.

• Own example: Slogan before going out

Habits Scorecard

:::info Good Habit(+): Helpful to become "kind of person you want to become" Bad Habit(-): Conversely, harmful. Normal Habit(=): Helpful nor harmful things. :::

• Don't need to make changes first, just know actual behaviors happening in own daily life first

Two Most Common Cues: Time and Location

People who make exact plan on when and where to execute a new habit are more likely to really execute.

• Many people think they lack motivation, actually what they lack is ==clarity==.
• Time and location to take action are not always obvious. Some people spent whole life waiting for correct timing to improve self.

==Secret: I will perform [behavior] at [time] in [location].==

• Own case: I will write thesis at Rebirth at 7:30 after work.

Habit Stacking

:::info Bind wanted behavior with things already doing :::

Diderot Effect: Obtaining a new possession often brings chain reaction of consumption, adding extra shopping.

• No behavior happens alone. Every behavior becomes cue triggering next behavior.
• ❌ Pair new habit with specific time and location
• ⭕️ Pair new habit with current habit.
• Key: Find correct cue triggering habit

==Secret: After finishing [current habit], I will execute [new habit].==

• Basic version: After brushing teeth every morning, I will drink a cup of warm water.

Habit stacking allows you to create a set of simple rules guiding future behaviors, as if you always have execution plan for what to do next.

• Advanced version: Want to cultivate habit of reading more every night:
  • Wake up → Make bed → Put a book on pillow → Shower.

Motivation is Overestimated, Environment Often More Important

People choose products often not because "what makes" product, but "where is" product

Habit change depends on space located, and cues in front.

Most common form of change is not internal, but external: We are changed by things around us. Every habit depends on context.

Visual Cue is Strongest Catalyst for Humans

• Our reliance on vision is far higher than other senses Creating obvious visual cues can draw your attention to habit you want

Want to let habit become a big part of life, let cue become a big part of environment.

Make sure to make best choice become most obvious. When cue of good habit is right in front of your eyes, making better decision becomes relaxed and natural.

Environment design lets you take back control, become architect of life. Don't be just a customer of world you are in, also become its designer.

What defines behavior is not objects in environment, but our relationship with objects

:::info Environment is not full of objects, but full of relationships. :::

• New environment easier to change habits
  • Don't need to deal with cues of old environment
• One space, one use
  • When cues of environment overlap, winner is often easier side
  • Own example: Management of digital space
• Want to make behavior stable and predictable, need stable and predictable environment

Secret of Self-control

Example: Heroin addiction of US military in Vietnam

:::info So-called "disciplined people" are just good at constructing life, so that themselves don't need to show extraordinary willpower and self-control. :::

People with most self-control are usually people using self-control least. When you don't need to use self-control very often, easier to restrain self.

Persistence, grit and willpower are necessary conditions for success. And ways to strengthen these qualities:

• ❌ Pray for self to become a more disciplined person
• ⭕️ Build a more disciplined environment.

Reverse Law 1 (Make Cue Invisible) to Eliminate Bad Habits

Once habit is established, as long as cue in environment appears again, craving for action follows

:::info If cue is not handled carefully, will instead trigger behavior you want to stop :::

Bad habit is self-catalyzing. Bad habit promotes emotions it attempts to numb

• Crazy binge-watching makes you lethargic, spent too much time again. But you continue watching because having no time and energy to do other things.
• You are anxious because smoking is harmful to health. But seeing disgusting photo on cigarette pack generates more anxiety. Thus smoked another cigarette to relieve anxiety.

"Cue-induced Wanting"

• An external stimulus caused a compulsive craving wanting to repeat bad habit. ==Once noticed something, you start to want==
• One of most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to reduce exposure to cues stimulating this bad habit.
  • Like binge-watching: Don't install drama watching APP in phone, don't put in web bookmarks.

:::info In short term, you can use willpower to overpower temptation; in long run, we remain product of environment we live in. Put bluntly, I haven't seen anyone can always maintain positive habits in negative environment. :::

• Self-control is a short-term strategy, not applicable to long term. You might be able to resist temptation once or twice, but unlikely to let willpower override desire every time. Rather than drumming up willpower every time wanting to do right thing, better use energy to optimize environment located.

==This is secret of self-control: Make cues of good habits obvious, make cues of bad habits invisible.==

Law 2: Make Habit Attractive

• Bliss Point of Food

  • Example: Habit of overeating

• Supernormal Stimulus

  • Like: Social media (likes count), satisfy craving for "recognition"

Dopamine Feedback Loop

• Rat experiment
  • Still "like" sugar, but without dopamine, no longer "want"
• What makes us take action is expectation of reward, not realization of reward.
• Reward system activated in brain when receiving reward is same as system activated when expecting reward
• Neural circuits your brain allocates to wanting reward are far more than allocated to liking reward

Temptation Bundling

Case: Connect Relax with TV Program

• If you drink red wine with popcorn every Thursday at 8 PM, then in the end, "Thursday 8 PM" represents relaxation and entertainment. Reward connects with cue, habit of turning on TV thus becomes more attractive

• Bind things "want" to do with things "must" do

  • Binge-watching + Running

:::info

1. After finishing [current habit], I will execute [habit I need].
2. After finishing [habit I need], I will execute [habit I want].

Concept: Strengthen desire through Supernormal Stimulus, then execute through habit stacking. :::

⚠️ Situation: Want to scroll Facebook, also need to exercise more

1. After taking out phone, will do ten burpees (need)
2. After jumping, browse Facebook feed (want)

Cultural Environment (Family and Friends)

• Example: Chess prodigy family

:::info Habits considered normal in culture located are most attractive behaviors. :::

• Our earliest habits didn't come from choice, but imitation.
• "In life, we are swept by social customs and habits" — Montaigne

Objects of imitation

1. People close to you (Sense of belonging)
   • Join a culture considering behavior you want as normal. In there...
     1. Behavior you want is normal
     2. You originally have some common points with this group (Sense of belonging strengthens attraction)
2. Majority (Bandwagon effect)
   • When not sure what to do, we rely on group behavior
   • When changing habit means challenging group, change is less attractive; means getting into group, then conversely.
3. Powerful people
   • After getting in, we will figure out way to stand out.
   • We will care very much about habits of successful people or people admired, and try to imitate them
     • "If it were XXX" what would do?

Craving is just specific manifestation of deep underlying motive

• In process of evolution, human brain didn't have desires for smoking, checking Instagram or playing video games; at deeper level, you just want to reduce uncertainty and relieve anxiety, want to win social acceptance and recognition, or want to obtain status
  • Craving: Smoking, social media, playing video games
  • Deep underlying motive: Relieve anxiety, obtain sense of recognition

Life feels like reactive, but actually predictive

• We are always reading hints from environment, but only act when predicting "changing state will make self better", and this is "craving"

Reprogram Brain (Adjust mindset)

• Focus on benefits, not drawbacks. Make habit more attractive / unattractive

:::info Change two words, not "Have to", but "Get to" :::

Motivation Ritual

Practice associating habit you want to cultivate with something you enjoy. Later when need motivation, this cue can be used.

• Own case: Putting on headphones (don't need to play music) enters focused state.

Law 3: Make Action Easy

Repeat Execution > Pursue Perfection

:::info "The best is the enemy of the good" :::

Start-up (Prepare perfect plan) vs Action (Actual execution)

• People always in start-up state but start no action is usually wanting to delay failure
• Worse is, start-up makes you feel you are doing things.

:::info "Nothing else, but familiarity of hand" :::

• Long-term potentiation: More times repeating a behavior, brain structure will change to execute that behavior more efficiently.
• Hebb's Law: "Neurons that fire together wire together."

Establishing new habit, point lies in: ❌ How long spent ⭕️ How many times spent

• Flow of time has no magical power, what's important is proportion of executing that behavior.

Principle of Least Effort

:::info If you really want, maybe will really do. But our real motivation is being lazy, then find convenient things to do. :::

• Human energy in a day is limited. Brain setting is to save energy as much as possible.
  • Every action consumes energy. More energy required, lower probability to happen.

"Multiplication effect of subtraction": Remove resistance consuming time and energy, can achieve more with less effort.

• Best thing popular products good at is also this, like: food delivery apps, dating apps, ride-sharing services, communication apps

Reduce energy consumption through environment design

:::info ⚠️ ==Create an environment making right things as easy as possible== :::

Reduce resistance related to good habits in environment. Increase trouble related to bad habits.

• Good habits like: Exercise next day, sleep in sportswear. Want to read before sleep, press with a book after folding quilt when waking up.
  • When you organize a space for its original use, acts as preparing to make next use easy.
• Bad habits like: Unplug after watching TV (Increase trouble for next time)
  • → Change task, make violating good habit spends more effort than starting to execute good habit
  • Counter example: Netflix's auto-play service

Two-minute Rule, Stop Procrastinating!

Master daily "decisive moment". Habit is starting point, not end point.

• Starting point of wanting to exercise is transportation tool, not gym

Gateway Habit

• Condense new habit to establish into "two minutes". ==Point lies in making habit easy to start as much as possible==
  • Like: Read before sleep, read just one page; want to run, run just two minutes.
• New habit shouldn't be like a challenge. Follow-up can be challenge, but ==must be easy when starting==
  • Echo: Repeat>Pursue perfection. Do continuously first. == "Standardize before optimize."==

Law 4: Make Reward Satisfying

:::info When experience is satisfying, we are likely to repeat a behavior :::

Immediate Reward vs Delayed Reward

• People tend to do things "effective immediately". Therefore need to let good habit get "feedback" immediately
  • Example: Toothpaste added mint
• Getting salary, exercising to lose weight, saving money etc. are all "delayed rewards", thus hard to achieve.

Price of good habit is in moment (bitter first sweet later). Price of bad habit is in future (sweet first bitter later).

Habit Tracker

Basic type: Record items on To-Do, check after finishing.

1. Obvious

• Recording previous action can create factor triggering next action.
  • Evidence put in front of eyes, less easy to deceive self.

2. Attractive

• Every check is small win, is small win towards identity. And small wins time after time feed your craving for victory
  • Even provide visual proof, hinting whether you did it.

3. Satisfying

• Every small win can bring satisfaction.
  • No longer obsessed with building muscle, but obsessed with continuing record. Become "person who never misses fitness"

Paradox: Before trying to form habit, you need to form habit of recording this habit first.

• Minimize, automate tracking process.
• Habit stacking: After finishing "current habit", I will "track that habit".

What to do after Habit Interrupted?

1. Never miss twice

• What destroys you won't be first mistake, but subsequent mistakes again and again.

2. Still need to continue habit when state is bad

• Damage of missed habit days > Benefit of successfully executed habit days.
• 100 + 50% = 150 ; 150 - 33% = 100
  • Avoid 33% loss = 50% profit
• ==Point lies not in that thing itself, but become person who won't miss that thing==

Habit tracking is tracking purpose behind data, not data itself alone.

• Only focus on number on scale, might go astray just to reduce number.
• ==Goodhart's Law: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."==
• Measurement is useful only when guiding you, helping you see big picture clearly, not consuming mind!

Habit Contract

:::info Knowing someone is watching will be a powerful motivation. :::

Advanced Optimization Ways, From "A" To "A+"

Influence of Genes

:::info Open question: Is talent important? :::

• Increase probability of success: Choose right battlefield (Everyone born with different abilities)

Genes determine not your fate, but in which field you have opportunity

• Can determine tendency in advance, but can't determine fate.

How to know which field is favorable?

1. Start from understanding own personality

• "Build habits matching personality"
• "Choose habit suits you best, not most popular habit"

2. Exploit and Explore

• Goal is trying multiple possibilities, researching wide range of methods
• Focus lies in "finding optimal solution", and occasionally find some small experiments to test self
  • Effective, continue to exploit
  • Ineffective, continue to explore new methods
• Conclusion
  • Same 80/20 Rule
  • 80% time invest in optimal solution currently found
  • 20% time continue to explore new methods
  • Example: Google employees spend 80% time doing business, 20% time choosing projects they want to do

3. Other psychological indicators

• "Judging whether you suit doing a thing, is not depending on whether you love it, but depending on ==whether you can handle pain brought by this thing more effortlessly than most people==."
• "What makes you forget time"
• "What makes me get more harvest than others"
  • Speed of learning things, growth rate of self-media fans etc.
• "What is natural to me"

What if unable to find favorable playing field?

• After all being able to find own talent actually still relies on luck quite a bit.

But when you can't win by "better", can win by "different".

Inspirational metaphor:

• Boiling water makes potato soft, but makes egg hard. You can't control whether born as potato or egg. But you can decide to compete hardness, or softness. If able to find more favorable environment, can reverse conditions originally unfavorable to you.

Real case:

• Animator Youtuber Onion: Painter + Sense of humor
  • Painting not top level, can't make living by painting
  • Sense of humor also not strong enough to host talk show

Genes won't eliminate necessity of effort, but make direction of effort clear.

Genes tell us what to work hard on.

• Innate limitations have nothing to do with whether you exert your ability to limit.
  • People too obsessed with "having limitations", so that rarely really try best to approach those limits.
• If you didn't invest equal amount of training, impossible to be sure whether cards you got in genes are better or worse

Goldilocks Rule

:::info Key to maintaining motivation and reaching highest point of desire: Execute tasks of "just right difficulty" :::

• Once habit established, need is ==Maintain progress (small doesn't matter) + New challenge==
• If able to stay in Goldilocks Zone, easy to enter "Flow State".
• Progress needs a delicate balance.
  • You must constantly search for challenges pushing yourself to limit, at same time also continue achieving enough progress to keep yourself motivated.
  • To maintain attractiveness and continue bring satisfaction, behavior must remain fresh.

Biggest Threat to Success is Not Failure, But Boredom

• From A to A+ needs to be able to endure boredom in day-to-day behavior followed after habit executed to a stage.
  • On journey of self-improvement, upon certain time point, everyone will face same challenge: ==You must fall in love with boredom==.
  • We all have goals want to achieve, dreams want to realize. But no matter which aspect you attempt to improve in, ==if only work hard when convenient or excited, never unable to get extraordinary results==

Disadvantages of Building Good Habits

1. Automation makes us easy to ignore errors

   • Echo: Pointing and Calling
   • Need to establish == "System of Reflection and Review"==
     • Most afraid we are just strengthening automation of habit, not improving.
   • Like: Decision Journal, Annual Review etc.

2. "Identity" gives us motivation to do things, but also hinders us entering next step (Pride).

   • ==Don't let any single aspect of identity determine who you are.==
   • Otherwise, when that identity (usually profession) disappears, you also lose self along.
   • When identity lost, have to redefine self
     • ❌ I am a CEO
     • ⭕️ I am a person creating and building things

==Lack of self-awareness is poison. Reflection and review are antidote.==

Conclusion: From A To A+

Everything is impermanent. Life is always changing. So must periodically review whether old habits and beliefs are still useful to self.

:::info Habit (Automation) + Deliberate Practice (Review) = Mastery :::