I don’t usually review two non-fiction works in a row, but this month I’m reviewing Atomic Habits by James Clear.
Clear is an author and motivational speaker who focuses on habits, decision-making, and ongoing improvement.
I’m usually skeptical of any book in the “self-help” genre. Most of the ones I’ve read give sound advice delivered in platitudes. “If I can do it, so can you.” “How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time.”
With the exception of some Indigenous communities who eat whales as part of their cultural and subsistence practices, most of us are left asking, “Who wants to eat a whale?” even though we understand the speaker is telling us to break tasks into smaller more manageable pieces.
This book is different because this author is different. Clear was a talented baseball player. In his sophomore year of high school, he was hit in the face with a baseball bat that slipped out of the batter’s hands while he was taking a full swing. Despite the seriousness of his injuries, Clear eventually returned to the sport he loved. Six years after being placed in a medically induced coma he was selected as the top male athlete at Denison University and named to the ESPN Academic All-American Team.
These weren’t goals Clear set for himself and worked with laser focus to achieve. According to Clear, what he achieved was the result of tiny incremental improvements and behavioral changes over time. The title of this book relates to the importance of small changes. Atoms are incredibly tiny, and they are the basic building blocks of matter. Atoms are also the source of immense energy or power. Tiny habits form larger habits which eventually shape behavior and build character.
We are all creatures of habit. Most of us thrive on routine, but are we stuck in the same routine even if it’s good? Could it be better with a bit of tweaking? Can we get up fifteen minutes earlier, so we don’t have to rush through our morning? Will this allow us to be more mindful? If we get up 30 minutes earlier, can we add a few stretches or some meditation? If we’re getting up earlier, should we try to go to bed a few minutes earlier, so we aren’t cheating our bodies of the opportunity to rest and repair?
How long do we have to make these adjustments until they become habits? According to Google it takes 66 days on average for a new behavior to become a habit. There’s a range of 18 days to 254 days depending on the complexity of the habit. Clear suggests we develop habits through repetition, but we keep them if we can see the benefit(s) of these new habits. Life doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Something will disrupt our routine. The key is to not let the disruption happen more than once in a row. If it does, we’ve begun the journey to a less desirable habit.
He addresses good habits, better habits, and bad habits. A good habit serves you well, but a better habit keeps you moving forward. This applies to study habits, work habits, fitness, and personal relationships. Have you ever hit a weight-loss or fitness plateau? Instead of losing more weight, gaining more muscle, or increasing flexibility, you stay the same. Eventually you will begin to gain weight, lose muscle, or flexibility unless you change your routine.
Clear recommends continuing to make tiny improvements to good habits. Conversely he recommends making bad habits more undesirable. It’s great to stop smoking or drinking, but you must continue to reinforce your decision to stop. Build on your decisions and understand why you make them.
These are only a few of the many takeaways from this book. The most important thing I learned was about adjusting goals to be realistic and continually moving the goalposts to achieve even bigger goals than we imagined possible. You may interpret his suggestions differently, and that’s okay. What helps me may not help you in the same way, but reading this book will help.
James Clear’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, and on CBS This Morning.
Several MLB, NBA, and NFL teams and Fortune 500 companies use his methods.
Clear created the official Atomic Habits app, Atoms. In addition, he writes a popular weekly email newsletter called 3-2-1 featuring three short ideas from him, two quotes from others, and a question to think about during the week.
Visit his website www.jamesclear.com for more information.
Photo Credits:
By James Clear - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=35973825
Photo of Book Jacket taken from www.jamesclear.com with no intent of copyright infringement.