Atomic Habits

I just finished this great work by James Clear. Small changes can really lead to a huge result. I got few takeaways from this book.

In this book, there are four rules that you can follow to keep good habits.

Rule No.1: Make it Obvious

The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. Increase more cues and the right environment to cultivate your new good habits. Be more specific, like saying out loud of what you gonna do and when you gonna do even where you gonna do it.

I will (BEHAVIOR) at (TIME) in (LOCATION).

I will jog an hour at 10 a.m. in the gym every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

On the other hand, make bad habit invisible.

I log out my social media account just to spend more quality time on my studies.

Rule No.2 : Make it Attractive

The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming.

The Dopamine theory: A neurotransmitter called dopamine. Dopamine is one chemical that influences our habits. An interesting experiment which scientists blocked the release of dopamine of rats. To the surprise of the scientists, the rats lost all will to live. They wouldn't eat or have sex. They didn't craving anything. Within a few days, the rats died of thirst.

Without dopamine, desire died. And without desire, action stopped. Habits are dopamine-driven feedback loop. Every habit that is highly habit-forming-taking drugs, eating junk food, playing video games, browsing social media- is associated with high levels of dopamine.

Dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it. Actually, researchers have found that 100 percent of the nucleus accumbens is activated during wanting. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of the structure is activated during liking.

In other words, we want junk food more than experience the taste the food itself.

So, make the rewards more attractive and more desirable.

Rule No.3 : Make it Easy

The less energy a habit requires, the more likely it is to occur. Make your habits small and approachable. Simply the step and make it easier. If reading a book a month is hard for you, why not read a brief article instead.

Rule No.4 : Make it Satisfying

What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided. However, what benefits us the most is the delaying gratification which against human nature. Therefore, the best way to do it is to add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run and a little bit of immediate pain to ones that don't.

To practice my Spanish well, I should give myself a bit credit after every lesson and enjoy the pleasure of this beautiful language. Even though it is really complex especially the grammar.

All in all, I do enjoy this book and hope that these techniques would help you. Share with me what is your best habit and what is the worst you want to get rid of.

Thanks for reading. Ciao~

#Atomichabits #books #JamesClear