Atomic Habits by James Clear 

This book lays out the fundamentals of habit formation. Having read the book, I wanted to share some valuable insights with you specifically tailoring it towards health and fitness. 

If you are thinking about changing your life, whether that be in terms of wealth, health, relationships etc, you are often told to ‘think big’. But what if it was easier, what if we could make significant changes with just a few small tweaks to our daily routine.

We will often overestimate the value of single actions believing they will make the biggest changes, and at the same time underestimate the power of small improvements over a longer period of time. 

The book outlines 4 key insights…

• The 1% rule 
• Screw Goals 
• Identities Rather than outcomes 
• 4 Fundamental Laws of Behavior Change

The 1% Rule 

Self improvement is the compound of lots of small habits. The easiest way to explain this is to use maths, here’s how it works. If you were to improve at one thing by just 1% per day every day for the whole year, you would be 37 times better at that thing. 

The same principle however works in the opposing way, if you were to get worse at something by just 1% each day, by the end of the year you would be at pretty much zero. 

Lets use body weight as an example. Your body weight is the long term compound of your current eating habits, and time magnifies this. 

Here is a direct quote from the book “Time magnifies the margin between success and failure. It will multiply whatever you feed it. Good habits make time your ally. Bad habits make time your enemy.”

Goal Setting

In the book James identifies 4 main problems with goal setting. 

1. Winners and losers have the same goals 

Two people might both have the same goal ‘win 100m race’ however both of them aren’t going to be winners. Therefore it is not the goal that is going to differentiate them, but the process. 

2. Achieving a goal is only a monetary change

The goal may be to go to eat healthily, and for a week you may pluck up the motivation to do so, however this is only a momentary change. It would be a lot more beneficial if you addressed the systems that cause unhealthy eating in the first place. 

3. Goals restrict happiness

There is an assumption that when we reach our goals, we will be happy. So we endlessly put off happiness until we achieve that next milestone, which keeps on getting further away.

4. Goals are at odds with long term progress

“The purpose of setting goals is to win the game, the purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game” – James Clear 

With weight loss people will often set a goal, however you can’t ‘win’ at weight loss. You won’t be happier when the scales read a specific number. Surely it would be more beneficial if you made the process of weight loss sustainable and enjoyable. 

If you are consistently doing the right things, weight loss will take care of itself.

Identities Rather than Outcomes

There are three layers of behavior change; A change in your outcomes, a change in your processes or a change in your identity. 

With outcome based habits the focus is on what you want to achieve. With identity based habits, the focus is on who you wish to become. 

This is a simple two step process, decide who the person is who you want to be, then prove it to yourself with a series of small wins. 

Example, you now identify as a healthy person, to prove this to yourself you need to achieve a number of small wins by reaching a daily step count, exercising daily, consistently staying hydrated etc. 

4 Rules of Behvaior Change

There are three layers of behavior change; A change in your outcomes, a change in your processes or a change in your identity. 

With outcome based habits the focus is on what you want to achieve. With identity based habits, the focus is on who you wish to become. 

This is a simple two step process, decide who the person is who you want to be, then prove it to yourself with a series of small wins. 

Example, you now identify as a healthy person, to prove this to yourself you need to achieve a number of small wins by reaching a daily step count, exercising daily, consistently staying hydrated etc. 

4 Rules of behavior change

When it comes to creating a new habit ask yourself these following questions… 

1. How can I make it obvious? 

Taking supplements should be easy, however often we forget. Put them somewhere it is impossible to avoid or to forget about them, somewhere you often find yourself each day, in the bathroom brushing your teeth for example. 

2. How can I make it attractive?

This relates to the craving aspect of the habit loop. We are all motivated by the anticipation of reward, so making habits attractive makes us stick to them. 

Identify something you enjoy, listening to an audio book for example, and only allow yourself to listen to them whilst you are out walking. You will therefore create a position association with walking and enjoying yourself.

3. How can I make it easy? 

Design our environment around our cues. You want to become healthier, put your walking shoes, headphones and a bottle of water by the front door. This makes it obvious and easier to fulfil the habit.

You want to put fewer steps between you and the good behaviors and more steps in between you and the bad behaviors.

4. How can I make it satisfying?

What is immediately rewarded is repeated. 

What is immediately punished is avoided. 

Attaching some form of immediate gratification makes the habit desirable. For example, after you have been to the gym why not reward yourself with your favourite low calorie drink, 15 minutes of meditation, visit the sauna etc. Start making your habits more fun in some way or another. 

Here is the ‘habit loop’… 

• The cue triggers the brain to initiate an action. 
• The craving provides the motivational force 
• The response is the action of habit we perform 
• The reward is the end goal

Summary

So there was my short summary of the book ‘Atomic Habits by James Clear’. The book obviously offers a considerably deeper explanation and understanding of the processes i’ve summarized today; however hopefully this blog post has highlighted the importance of concentrating on the process instead of the end goal.