My summary of Atomic Habits - part#2

This is the second part of my summary. You can find the first part here. Please read it if you haven't already. So lets continue.

A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic". Once we perform an action several hundred times, our brain's neutrons/ cells realign to make that action automatic. Once this is done, we require the slightest of effort to do it again (thus, making it automatic).

-James Clear

For every action to become a habit, it has to satisfy the four laws of habit formation.

Law 1: Make it Obvious

The first law requires us to be "aware" of our habits. This involves listing down the habits and marking them as either good or bad. Now that we are aware of what are the things we'd been doing unknowingly, we must take steps to follow the regime of good habits.

It turns out that we work most efficiently once we have a plan laid out in front of ourselves about how we will perform something. Writing down the implementation details removes the possibility of us avoiding it altogether.

For example, Writing down the following:

"After I brush my teeth, I will work out in the society garden."

has increased chances of succeeding than just creating a mental map of working out.?This helps, as?associating (stacking) a habit we want to develop (working out) with a habit we already possess (brushing our teeth) and has more chances of succeeding.

Also, cues help us getting things done. For example, keep a book near the bed so it becomes easy and "obvious" to pick up and read before sleeping. Conversely, reducing exposure to the cue is the most practical way to eliminate a bad habit.

Law 2: Make it Attractive

This law involves?temptation bundling. "Attractive"?actions are more likely to become a habit. When we expect a reward from an action, our brain releases the happiness hormone (dopamine) and hence we are triggered to repeat such actions. Temptation bundling involves pairing an action that we want to perform with an action that we need to do.

Eating salads (need to do) while bingeing our favorite series (want to do) would help to associate eating salad with being happy.

Also, being part of a community where our desired action is normal behavior would motivate us to repeat them. This is based on our?tendency to "fit in". We start liking a behavior that helps us get along with the group. Similarly, to reduce an action trying to make it unattractive will help. This can be done by listing the "benefits" of not doing that activity and associating them with negative feelings.

Law 3: Make it Easy

Any habit/ activity can be mastered with sheer hard work and practice (repetitions).

Repetitions lead to perfection.

The more time we spend practicing the action, the more automatic it becomes. But, there's a catch. If we try to perform 100 push-ups, 100 burpees and, 100 jumping jacks on the very first day (as we are pumped up, we might be able to get it done), it is most likely that we will lose all our motivation for the next day. The key here is to start with "Atomic" steps and make these repetitions as easy as possible at the beginning

Running a full marathon is hard but running 500m is easy.

Running 500m a day and restricting ourselves to this specific length initially can help fuel the motivation as we find these actions accomplishable. Once this habit is firm, it can be increased slowly.

The opposite of this is to?Make it difficult. Increasing the steps between the action that has to be avoided helps to drop it altogether. Uninstalling social media apps or using a firewall to block their access when trying to get rid of them can act as starting points.

Law 4: Make it Satisfying

Results of most of our good actions are usually delayed, whereas the instant results of the activities that are not good for us generally make us feel elated.

The instant result of a HIIT workout is feeling dead with fatigue, whereas the result we are aiming for (losing fat/ increasing metabolism) is delayed. Conversely, eating sugar-loaded sweets proves to be an instant stress buster.

Therefore, we stick to bad habits more than we stick to good habits. To reverse this, we have to make the instant results of our good practices "satisfying" and the instant results of our bad habits "unsatisfying" For example, putting aside the amount we'd spent on fast food whenever we cook ourselves can work wonders. We can use these savings for a dream we always had, like buying a bike or going for an exquisite vacation.

Contracts can also help keep us on track. Telling our friends that we'd pay them 100 bucks every time we miss a workout will motivate us never to miss a workout.

Moreover, simply marking our progress on a calendar motivates us not to break that streak when we feel low.

An essential factor in habit formation which most of us tend to ignore is listening to ourselves. Our habits have to help us grow and they can vary for different individuals. Some people might love running while others might prefer cycling.

Finding activities that come naturally to us should be the first step of habit formation. Also, setting targets that are too simple/ too hard can make us lose motivation. We react best to challenges that we are "just" able to achieve.

Main Takeaways

1. “Small habits don’t add up. They compound.” – James Clear
2. Habits are really about identity change. Behaviour change is simply the means to get there (feedback loop).
3. The reward that closes the habit loop is often the satisfaction of the craving. We don’t desire external behaviour. We want the sensations that come with it.
4. Stop trying to be a hero. (“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behaviour.” – James Clear)
5. The goal is not to fill your day with meaningless lifehacks. Focus on the?big rocks?and learn to embody your values/identity with small wins. “Standardize before you optimize” – James Clear
6. “Sometimes success is less about making good habits easy and more about making bad habits hard.” – James Clear
7. Focus on the decisive moments. Which habit/decision has a domino effect on the rest of your day?
8. Track process metrics over outcome metrics. We can’t control the outcomes. Identify with showing up.
9. Commitment devices are a powerful tool when combined with social accountability. Design your social environment.
10. “Genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work on.” – James Clear