Atomic Habits By James Clear

This is one of the most useful book on changing your habits, more than The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. I’d recommend this book over most books aimed at helping you get control over your life.

Summary Notes

Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat.

Goals vs. Systems

• Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results.
• Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.
• Winners and losers have the same goals.
• Achieving a goal is only a momentary change.
• Goals restrict your happiness.
• Goals are at odds with long-term progress.
• The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game.
• You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
  

Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons:

1. We try to change the wrong thing.
2. We try to change our habits in the wrong way.
   

Three Layers of Behavior Change

1. The first layer is changing your outcomes. This level is concerned with changing your results: losing weight, publishing a book, winning a championship. Most of the goals you set are associated with this level of change.
2. The second layer is changing your process. This level is concerned with changing your habits and systems: implementing a new routine at the gym, decluttering your desk for better workflow, developing a meditation practice. Most of the habits you build are associated with this level.
3. The third and deepest layer is changing your identity. This level is concerned with changing your beliefs: your worldview, your self-image, your judgments about yourself and others. Most of the beliefs, assumptions, and biases you hold are associated with this level.