Book Summary: Atomic Habits by James Clear — Part 3
How to Make a Habit Irresistible:
The 2nd Law of Behaviour Change is to make it attractive.
The more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely it is to become habit-forming.
Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. When dopamine rise, so does our motivation to act.
It is the anticipation of reward –not the fulfilment of it — that gets us to take action. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike
Temptation bundling is one way to make your habits more attractive. The strategy is to pair an action you want to do with an action you need to do.
The habit stacking + temptation bundling formula is:
1. After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [HABIT I NEED]
2. After [HABIT I NEED], I will [HABIT I WANT]
The Role of Family and Friends in Shaping Your Habits
The culture we live in determines which behaviours are attractive to us. In many ways, these social norms are the invisible rules that guide your behaviour each day.
We tend to adopt habits that are praised and approved by our culture because we have a strong desire to fit in and belong to the tribe.
We tend to initiate the habits of three social groups the close (family and friends), the many (the tribe), and the powerful (those with status and prestige)
One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where (1) your desired behaviour is the normal behaviour and (2) you already have something in common with the group
The normal behaviour of the tribe often overpowers the desired behaviour of the individual. Most days, we’d rather be wrong with the crowd than be right by ourselves.
If a behaviour can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it attractive.
How to Find and Fix the Cause of Your Bad Habits
The inversion of the 2nd Law of Behaviour Change is make it unattractive.
Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.
The cause of your habits is actually the prediction that precede them. The prediction leads to a felling.
The 3rd Law: Make It Easy
Walk Slowly but Never Backward
The best is the enemy of the good. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action.
The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning.
Focus on taking acttion, not being in motion.
Habit formation is the process by which a behavior becomes progressively more automatic through repetition.
The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of time you have performed it.
The Law of Least Effort
Human behavior follows the Law of Least Effort. We will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.
Create an environment where doing the right thing is as easy as possible.
Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors. When friction is low, habits are easy.
Increase the friction associated with bad behaviors. When friction is high, habits are difficult.
Prime your environemnt to make future actions easier.
How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule
Habits can be completed in a few seconds but continue to impact your behavior for minutes or hours afterwards.
Many habits occur at decisive moments — choices that are like a fork in the road — and either send you in the direction of a productive day or an unproductive one.
The Two-Minute Rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.”
The more you ritualize the beginning of a process, the more likely it becomes that you can slip into the state of deep focus that is required to do great things.
Standardize before you optimize. You can’t improve a habit that doesn’t exist.
How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible
The inversion of the 3rd Law of Behavior Change is make it difficult.
A commitment device is a choice you make in the present that locks in better behavior in the future.
The ultimate way to lock in future behavior is to automate your habits.
One-time choices — like buying a better mattress or enrolling in an automatic savings plan — are single actions that automate your future habits and deliver increasing returns over time.
Using technology to automate your habits is the most reliable and effective way to guarantee the right behavior.
