Atomic Habits
Atomic - An extremely small amount of a thing, the single irreducible unit of a larger system. The source of immense energy or power
Habit - A routine or practice performed regularly as an automatic response to a specific situation
Chapter 1 - Suprising power of Atomic Habits
Improve One percent everyday to improve by a higher margin. What starts as a small win or a minor setback accumulates into something much more.
Habits are the compound interest of self improvement.
When we repeat 1 percent errors everyday, by replicating poor decisions, duplicating tiny mistakes and rationalizing little excuses. Our small changes compound to toxic results.
A slight change in your daily habits can guide your life into a completely different direction. The small changes in a moment, make up a lifetime and they can decide who you are or what you can be.
Success is a product of daily habits - not once in a lifetime transformation.
It doesn't matter how successful or unsuccessful you are, what matters is if your habits are putting you on a path towards success.
Outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Net worth is a lagging measure of financial habits. Weight is a lagging measure of eating habits. Knowledge is a lagging measure of learning habits. Clutter is a lagging measure of cleaning habits.
You get what you repeat.
Habits are a double edged sword - Bad habits can cut you down as easily as good habits can build you up. You should know how habits work.
Productivity compounds, Knowledge compounds, Relationships compound, Stress Compounds, Negative thoughts compound, Outrage Compounds.
Habits appear to make no difference until you reach a critical threshold and unlock a new level of performance.
The hallmark of the compounding process : The most powerful outcomes are delayed.
Mastery requires patience.
"When nothing seems to help, I go look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two and I know it was not that last blow that did it - but all that had gone before"
Create a system and not a goal.
Goal is about the outcome, system is about the process.
"The score takes care of itself"
Goals are for setting direction, Systems are for making progress.
- Problem 1: Winners and losers have the same goals: Survivorship Bias
- Problem 2: Achieving a goal is only a momentary change: To improve for good, you need to solve problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the outputs fix themselves.
- Problem 3: Goals restrict your happiness: You mentally box yourself in a narrow version of happiness that is misguided. A systems first mentality is an antidote, Be happy whenever the system is working and you'll be happy every time. A system can be successful in different forms and not the form that you envisioned.
- Problem 4: Goals are at odds with long term progress: It's about the endless cycle of refinement and continuous improvement.
A system of Atomic Habits.
If you have trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you, its the system.
Summary
- Habits are the compound interest of self improvement. Getting 1 percent better everyday counts for a lot in the long run.
- Habits are a double edged sword. They can work for you as well as against you which is why understanding the details is essential.
- Small changes 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.
- An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results.
- If you want better results, then forget about setting goals. Focus on your system instead.
- You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.