Atomic Habits- Book Summary

Each and every human on this planet has an intrinsic desire to excel at some thing or the other. However, not all know about the process, time and hard work that goes behind achieving success. Behind every successful person there are months and years of small changes in habits and attitude which ultimately accumulate to form a desirable result. The good news is that if they want, everyone can follow the procedure to reach the above said goal. Atomic Habits is a book which teaches us how to develop these habits in a simple and doable format.

This article will focus on converting the details given in the book to a lucid format which may help the readers save the time of reading the book, at the same time briefing them about the ways and methods of habit transformation.

Before moving to the principles of habit transformation, one needs to know the importance of small beneficial changes in one’s life. The word ‘transformation’ immediately transports our human brain to a glorious vision of success. However, habit transformation won’t take you to your goal immediately. It requires patience. “Small habits lead to a big change.” Many people commit the mistake of focusing on the end goal while working for the same which is wrong. The key is to focus on the system and the process which one is following to reach that particular goal. The inputs which go into the process matter more. When you achieve a goal and look back, it is these inputs which define your success and not the end result. It is similar to differentiating between a person who owns a lavish home because of years of hard work in his workplace and a person who own a similar home because of wealth he has inherited from his family. The end result remains the same while the former person is respected for his commendable job and the inputs he put in to reach there.

Moving on to the principles- the author talks about four rules of behavior change which help in forming good habits and removing bad ones. These rules are:

MAKE IT OBVIOUS:

It often happens that we begin practicing a particular habit but after following it for a few days we lose the consistency due to different reasons concerning our personal schedule. This behavior might seem abnormal but is very common and happens with everyone. To eliminate the risk of inconsistency, one has to make the presence of a habit obvious in one’s environment. To do this, we can form cues in our environment by a process known as habit stacking or simply by designing our own environment which is favorable for our personal goals.

Habit stacking includes combining a pre-established habit with another one which needs to be developed. For example, if one wants to develop a habit of reading newspaper every morning, the habit of newspaper can be stacked with the habit of drinking tea- which is already established. It will look like- “I will read newspaper for 5 minutes after I drink my tea.” The previous habit reminds one of performing the habit succeeding it.

The other and much simpler way is to design your own environment. It is a very common ritual to get rid of the television in the house when a child is going through his/her 10th or 12th grade. The reason behind doing so is to reduce distractions. This is nothing but a creation of a new environment. The child then tends to develop a habit of restraining from watching television. This method can be applied to develop many more habits for even bigger goals. It simply asks us to be our own designers.

MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE:

Habits are difficult to adapt when they fail to interest or excite us. How many times have you given up an activity because it was boring? When a behavior engages with our dopamine level, thereby increasing it, it is likely to be repeated. Thus the rule of making a habit attractive comes into focus. For one to inculcate a habit into their routine, the habit should be made attractive like other routine activities pursued by the person. The process for doing this is known as temptation bundling.

Temptation bundling refers to combining what you want to do with what you need to do. The former forms the portion which is already attractive for a person while the latter is the one to be developed. One attractive activity tends to make the following activity enjoyable. For example, one can decide, “I will do 20 push-ups while listening to my favorite playlist.” Thus the activity of exercising and reducing weight seems attractive due to the songs which are paired with it. Gradually exercising is associated with listening to songs and is developed as a successful habit.

MAKE IT EASY:

The heading would have been enough for you readers to guess the implication of this principle. 🙂

We always love things when they are easy, pose no challenges and are smooth enough for us to pursue daily. Humans tend to take the path of least effort. Its the most common desire of every human- to make life easy. Now, what if someone tells you that this desire can be an added advantage to the process of habit transformation? This rule simply asks us to make our habits easy for ourselves.

Reduce the friction while performing an activity. Here, friction refers to the hurdles faced while wanting to perform something. If spending time in travelling to a gym is a hurdle, one can go to a gym nearby to their office, right after office hours on the way back home. Time saved, habit made easy! Another way to make things easy is to follow the two-minute rule. Set small goals for the next two minutes and not the next two years. We often set high goals and fail to fulfill them due to lack of time, vision or motivation. A plan for the next two minutes is easier to follow and it can be gradually increased as and when one gains confidence. An example of this rule would be to write one sentence each day to inculcate a habit of improving writing skills. It will be surprising to know how this practice gradually leads one to effortlessly write articles followed by books if that is what one aims for.

MAKE IT SATISFYING:

This rule is an extension of the second rule. As mentioned earlier, some habits tend to get boring as we proceed. Along with excitement, human mind also craves for instant gratification. Now, it is obvious that we cannot receive appreciation and recognition from other people for every action. We need to remain self motivated. In the process of habit formation particularly, one way to achieve the same is to track our progress. We all have seen people maintaining a diary or a journal to note down their tasks or jot down their emotions. Jotting down of tasks helps one to keep a record of the activities planned and activities achieved. Similarly if one keeps a track of habits, one’s progress can be easily recorded. The mind becomes elated after noticing the tick marks beside each activity at the end of the day. Thus, we remain motivated and the habits continue to move in the right direction.

I talked about formation of good habits by defining the four rules. Similarly, bad habits can be removed through inversion of the same rules mentioned above. Make it invisible, make it unattractive, make it difficult and make it unsatisfying. While we create a favorable environment for a good habit, we can create an unfavourable one for a bad habit. We can also make a bad habit unsatisfying and demotivating for us to pursue.

The principle of operant conditioning given by the psychologist B.F Skinner is highly relevant in the process of habit formation. We are required to treat ourselves with a reward for repetition of a behavior and a punishment for removal of a behavior. Human mind is a tool which can be dangerous if left untrained but highly productive if trained to make the best out of it and that is exactly what Atomic Habits teach us. We can be masters of ourselves if we learn and embark on the right path. All that is required is motivation, patience and faith.

The book talks about all the principles in great detail with attractive examples. It is a must read for those who are on a journey of a huge transformation or achieving a personal goal. For those who are looking for brief notes to inculcate small useful habits in daily lives, I hope this article was helpful and insightful.