Feb 21, 2020
Atomic Habits in 320 Words
“Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line to cross. It is a system to improve, an endless process to refine.”
How does one condense decades of research inside an international bestseller into a 320-word article? Simple. Write one sentence.
Humans are complex.
Thankfully, James Clear’s Laws of Behavioral Change are simple.
- Make the Cue Obvious
- Make the Craving Attractive
- Make the Response Easy
- Make the Reward Satisfying
Here’s the thing: Humans are really lazy. We value immediate gratification over delayed. More of our brain lights up in anticipation of a reward than the actual receiving. We live and die by the Law of Least Effort.
Accept it. Get over it. Take action.
Awareness, then automation. Standardize, then optimize. Bull, then shit.
Above the book’s mountain of trites, there is a message being broadcasted:
“If you’re having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn’t you. The problem is your system. Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.”
We are equipped with 200,000-year-old hardware trying to download 21st-century software. Put simply: You and I don’t stand a chance.
Don’t fight with nature, instead, direct your focus towards what you can control: your system. This is what Olympic gold medalists do and also what you and I could do with the right structure in place. Anyone can fulfill their true potential.
- Decide who you want to be.
- Design a system that votes for your intended identity to become a reality.
- Remember the secret to lasting results: Understanding there is no end.
It all comes down to mindset. Think, “I don’t have to do this. I get to do this.” It’s a one-word difference and every single word counts for something.
