An Atom a Day
<div style=' background:#FFFFFF;color:#000000;font-size:15px;font-family:Verdana;width:auto;padding:5px;max-height:100%;'><span>If we were to make a trip to any bookstore for a cursory glance at the books, the non-fiction<br>space is bound to have titles related to Self-Help, Motivation, Health and Fitness, Finding Joy,<br>Financial Growth, Living in Abundance, Relationship Advice, Career Planning, and more such<br>topics in almost every rack. Even as the rise of content via social media, electronic media, and<br>audio books may have reduced our visits to the bookstore, these topics continue to garner great<br>interest and demand. This is a clear indication that individuals are placing noticeable emphasis<br>on improving their outlook and creating a positive impact on their lives and on those around<br>them. It takes a great deal of commitment to bring about these improvements and our success<br>depends on our habits.<br>Many a time we are inspired to better ourselves from watching a motivational video, or from a<br>celebrity talk about handling success, overcoming challenges, facing fears etc., or from listening<br>to friends about their remarkable stories. We get that shot of adrenalin rush only to soon fizzle<br>out and fall back into our old patterns.…patting ourselves for having tried. This narrative<br>resonates with many of us.<br>Our personalities, family environment, parental upbringing, education, belief systems and even<br>faith play an important role in shaping and inculcating in us the all too powerful ‘habits’ that<br>define who we are.<br>If you are one among those for whom creating good habits and successfully integrating them<br>into your personality is a challenge, then this book is for you.<br>This article is a summary and review of a book I read and re-read (something I have not done in<br>many years) called Atomic Habits- An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break<br>Bad Ones by James Clear. The thought process, the content and the delivery style will<br>resonate with the readers who are seeking to create a system of self-improvement and a<br>healthy life atmosphere.<br>His communication style is conversational and engaging; he delivers his message about the<br>crucial aspects of habits…good and bad, explains the thought process that enhance good<br>habits and help wean away from the unwanted ones with ease.<br><br>The book starts with the definitions of an atom and a habit.<br>An atom is the smallest building block, a source of immense energy and power.<br>A habit is a routine or practice performed regularly, an automatic response to a specific<br>situation.<br>When you bring together a building block with power and energy and apply to a regular routine,<br>infinite possibilities open up bringing in remarkable and astounding results – Power of Atomic<br>Habits<br>James Clear introduces the topic sharing his personal crisis involving a horrific accident that left<br>him physically debilitated and emotionally demoralized. Accumulating small but consistent<br>habits, he fought and overcame his struggles and challenges to achieve unimaginable success<br>in academics and sports. Here are some cardinal points from the book.<span></div><div style=' background:#FFFFFF;color:#000000;font-size:15px;font-family:Verdana;width:auto;padding:5px;max-height:100%;'><span>-The basic premise of James Clear’s book is that atomic habits possess immense power ofcompounding self-improvement or self-decline. Small improvements on a consistent basis aremore meaningful in the long run. Even a 1 percent improvement can make the difference betweensuccess and failure. Conversely, a 1 percent descent will cause a steady decline washing off all theefforts down to zero. A small change in trajectory of our actions can put us on an acceleratedpath to where you want to be.-Habits are the atoms that are small but hold immense potential to create powerful systems.They can cut you down as easily as they can build you up. Repetition of the same habit, good orbad, even in small actions or quantities, multiplies over time and the impact lasts for years.-Focus on building systems instead of goals. Goals give direction but it’s only a momentarychange that can restrict and sometimes impede long term progress. Instead, spend time onsetting up a working and sustainable system that ensures that goals are automatically met.-Adopting a belief system that is pointed in the direction of change can revamp one’s personalityand behavior. For example, focus on becoming a reader rather than finishing a book; focus onbecoming a musician rather than learning an instrument. This big picture attitude will keep youmotivated to work the system and occasional slips in the goals will not demoralize you.- A set of four laws of behavior changes ensure that a habit gains weight. The four laws tocreate a good habit are (1) Make it obvious (2) Make it attractive, (3) Make it easy and (4) Makeit satisfyingJames Clear goes into sufficient depth explaining these concepts dedicating a chapter for each,giving relevant everyday examples that we can relate to instantly. He uses science, physiologyand psychology to develop the concepts. He employs simple yet effective language making it aneasy read without getting the reader bogged down by too many facts and figures, or making ittoo academic.Towards the end of the book, James talks about The Goldilocks Rule – how to stay right at theoptimum peak level to stay motivated. If you remember the story, Goldilocks makes choices thatare ‘just right’- not too hot, not too cold; not too hard, not too soft.Some other points from the book to ponder upon:- One great challenge we face in forming right habits is breaking the boredom; a pitfall thatcan take us towards failure. As James Clear says ‘Fall in love with boredom.’- To find ways to keep going when everyone gives up, makes all the difference between amaster and an amateur. As Bruce Lee quoted “I am not afraid of him who knows 10,000kicks. I am afraid of him who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.”- Not getting pigeonholed into a set identity and leaving some breathing space forimprovement is the key.- Choose habits that fit into your personality and individual situation and not because theyare popular. Strategize on your actions, your resistance/acceptance to change and yourpriority area(s) of change.- Final word from the book: Keep your good habit schedule dynamic, interesting, easy andsatisfying.There are a number of interesting and compelling points about habits made by theauthor that will surely motivate you to make a start. Maybe the first good habit to make isto read the book!The English language has interesting idioms on habits that start with a ‘kick’ and go allthe way to ‘die’.- Kick a habit- Knock a habit- Fall into a habit- Force of habit- Break a habit- Creature of habit- Get into the habitAnd finally…. Old habits Die hard<span></div>
