Atomic Habits Notes

Reading atomic habits now and the core insight is that small actions compound. Just like your interest, doing something small day after day will result in phenomenal progress. 1% progress per day will make you 37 times better at the thing after one year. That’s wild. Anyway, here are the some of the best chapter notes I took.

Fundamentals

1. Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient. Just like your weight is a lagging indicator of your diet, the same goes for results you’re looking for.
2. If you want better results, forget about goals, set a system instead.
3. You do not rise to the levels of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.

Identity & Habits

1. There are three levels of change: outcome change, process change, and identity change.
2. The most most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.
3. Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
4. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity.

How to Build Better Habits: Overview

1. Every habit can be broken up into a feedback loop that includes 4 steps. Cue; Craving; Response; Reward.
2. The four laws of behavior are:
   1. make it obvious
   2. make it attractive
   3. make it easy
   4. make it satisfying

Habit Stacking

1. The most common cues are time and place. Own these.
2. “As soon as I take off my work shoes I will put on my exercise shoes.” Formula for habit stacking is: [After current habit] I will [current habit].

Make it Obvious (Cues)

1. Change your environment to result in large changes in behavior over time
2. Make the cues for good habits in your environment.
3. It’s easier to avoid temptation than resist it.
4. To create a good habit make it visible. To break a bad habit, make it invisible.

Make it Attractive (Dopamine is a hell of a drug)

1. It is the anticipation of the reward, not the fulfillment of the reward, that creates the desire to act. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike.
2. Bundle actions you want to do, with actions you need to do. (emphasis mine)
3. We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved of by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.
4. We imitate the habits of three social groups. The close, the many, the powerful.
5. One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where 1) your desired behavior is the normal behavior and 2) you already have something in common with the group.
6. To break bad habits invert the second rule and make them unattractive.
7. Every behavior has a surface level craving and a deeper underlying motive.

Make it Easy (Never Go Backwards, Go Slowly)

1. The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.
2. Focus on taking action, not being in motion.
3. The amount of time you spend performing something is not as important as the number of times you have performed it. (emphasis mine)
4. You will gravitate to the option that requires the least amount of work.
5. Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low, habits are easy.
6. Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high, habits are difficult.
7. Use the two minute rule. Write one line of code -> write ten -> write a program. But just tell yourself you will only write one to start it.
   1. When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.
8. The inversion of rule three is Make it Difficult.
9. Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and effective way to guarantee the right behavior.

Make it Satisfying (Again with the Dopamine)

1. What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is delayed.
2. Making progress is one of the most satisfying ways to reward yourself. Create a habit tracker.
3. Don’t break the chain.
4. Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try get back on the next day.

Finally

1. Pick the habits that will make you great.
2. Fit your growth to your personality!