Review: Atomic Habits
I recently read the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. Most have heard of this book, everyone I’ve spoken to who has read it mentioned re-reading it because it is chock full of rich data on habits, psychology and maximizing the two for overall health and wellness. While reading it I thought the same, “Can’t wait until I come back to this one!” The most impressive research around habits has little to do with how we are wired or whether or not a person has “good” or “bad” habits. The formation of a habit and the way by which we trigger our bodies to adopt or reject habits, is the least interesting part of the read—-we all have habits, whether we know it or not, and they often provide both benefit and cost. What’s most compelling to note, is that we can augment our own patterns fairly easily, with minimal adjustment to our current lifestyle. Similarly, we can fall into new patterns that don’t serve us just as easily.
For me, another concept that resonated is the concept of living like the person you desire to be, rather than chasing a specific habit simply for the sake of the habit. Rather than, “I need to fit in that swim,” reframing to, “I am swimmer,” thus prioritizing that swim. Or, “I am an writer,” so I set aside time every day to write.
I highly recommend this read, it will help you meet personal and professional goals and think about your habits in completely different ways. Here’s a link to a video summary that illustrates key takeaways from the book and a link to buy it.
