Atomic Habits:

An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

By James Clear (Penguin Random House, 2018)
atomic-habits

S.O.S. (A Summary of the Summary)

The main ideas of the book:

  • This book shows you how to build better habits in life and work.
  • With four simple laws of human behavior, you can make any habit a regular part of your life.

Why I chose this book:

We all have habits we want to drop or start. For most people, having better habits makes them a better person. For school and district leaders, having better habits impacts your entire school or district. Even if it’s a personal habit like sleeping more – think of the ramifications of having a leader with a clear head to make better decisions.

With four simple laws (outlined below), and very concrete strategies, James Clear shows us how to make the types of tiny changes that will ultimately lead to those remarkable changes we hope to see.

Plus, this book is a pleasure to read. I was entertained as well as inspired by the vivid stories – the 23-year-old stockbroker who earned millions using a jar of paperclips and the author who finished a book by hiding his clothes so he couldn’t leave his desk. I’m ready to start HABIT STACKING and TEMPTATION BUNDLING!

The Scoop (In this summary you will learn…)

  •  What makes some behaviors difficult while others are effortless:

Behaviors are effortless here Behaviors are difficult here
Obvious… …Invisible
Attractive… …Unattractive
Easy… …Hard
Satisfying… …Unsatisfying
  •  The 4 laws of behavior change – each law is described on one page of the summary:

How to Build a Good Habit
1st Law (Cue) – p.3 Make it obvious. How can I make it obvious?
2nd Law (Craving) – p.4 Make it appealing. How can I make it appealing?
3rd Law (Response) – p.5 Make it easy. How can I make it easy?
4th Law (Reward) – p.6 Make it satisfying. How can I make it satisfying?
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