Bookworm: Atomic Habits

James Clear explains how we can harness the power of habits to ensure we make the best of our time – and ourselves.

What's this book about?

Embedding positive habits: those small, helpful behaviours we proactively develop that save us from our worst selves and get us closer to living the way we want to live.

Good habits are hard to create, though. What’s the secret?

Habits, good and bad, are formed by a four-step process according to the book's author James Clear (who's a prolific and successful writer of self-help books and a well-known speaker on the subject).

Cue – Craving – Response – Reward

For example, walking into a dark room (the cue),  makes us crave light to enable us to see. The  response is to switch on the light; the reward is the comfort of being able to see again.

When we understand this formula, we can use it to ‘hack’ our way to better habits.

If it’s simple, why is it so hard to cultivate and maintain good habits?

The things we tend to strive for, such as good health and fitness and financial security, all involve delayed rewards. If we’re a little out of shape, going for a jog today won’t make us fit by tomorrow. Saving a few quid each month by shopping at a cheaper supermarket won’t make us significantly better off any time soon.

Unfortunately, our brains are wired for immediate gratification, which is why we so easily forget our long-term goals and sack off the jog or treat ourselves at Waitrose.

How can I retrain my brain to remember my long-term goals?

Clear gives a whole host of tactics which we’ll go through later, but one foundational suggestion is that we rethink what it is we want to achieve in the first place.

We should think about our ambitions in terms of personal attributes, or our identity, rather than in terms of specific outcomes.

So, instead of saying “I want to run a marathon in less than four hours”, we might say, “I want to run three times a week, even if it’s raining or I really don’t feel like it”.

The outcome matters less than the virtue (here, it’s perseverance) that we want to embody. This shift, coupled with the deployment of some of Clear’s more practical advice, should give us the immediate reward we need to make positive behaviours habitual.

That makes sense. So what are the tactics?

The first one is to “make it obvious”. Don’t leave any room for doubt about when you’re going to practise the behaviour.

If we want to improve our Mandarin, we should block out time in our diary; leave our books in the middle of the room, set an alarm. We must remove the distractions that will tempt us away from sticking to the plan. For example, we might witch off our phone or put the TV remote in another room. 

So, I have to be my own drill sergeant?

Yes. But it’s not all sticks; there are carrots, too.

Phew. Tell me more about the carrots…

The second tip is to “make it attractive”. Clear states that desire is the engine that drives behaviour.

This means bundling up the action we want to turn into a habit (exercising, for example) with something we already enjoy, such as listening to a serial podcast. Over time, we’ll feel the dopamine spike at the very thought of going for a run and hearing the next instalment of our chosen thriller.

How would I bundle pleasure with saving money, or learning a tricky new language?

Literally reward yourself! Open a savings account called ‘future holidays’ (or even 'avoiding financial anxiety' if you're struggling with costs) and every time you choose the budget supermarket, estimate the savings and put it into this account. Watch the balance grow and feel urge to continue with it.

Or, for every three pages you complete in your Mandarin textbook, treat yourself to an hour of your favourite TV programme. Whatever pleases you! 

So, I don’t have to be a purist and devote myself to my new habits, forsaking all others?

Quite the opposite. Let yourself off the hook. Set yourself manageable goals (do whatever it is you want to do for just two minutes each day, is Clear’s suggestion) and you’re much more likely to succeed.

What am I most likely to say after reading this book?

“You are what you do.”

What am I least likely to say after reading this book?

“It’s all or nothing.”