Atomic Habits - James Clear

Amazing. If I had to choose only 1 book to read for the summer, it would be this one. I've never read a book where I literally wanted to bookmark almost every page. 

Content: This book talks about habits - how we can start good habits and kick bad ones. For example, to build better habits, Clear talked about making it obvious so that we can remember to do it, making it attractive to make us want to do it, make it easy to lower the resistance/procrastination, and to make it satisfying so that we want to do it again. Conversely, by flipping it around, we find that it helps us to stop bad habits - by making them obscure, unattractive, difficult to do and unsatisfying.

Estimated reading time needed: 5h

Key takeaways: 
1) The power of compounding doesn't apply only to finance. It applies to everything we do. By repeating 1% errors day after day, making poor decisions, duplicating mistakes, rationalising excuses, it compounds into toxic results. On the other hand, if we improve 1% each day, we will get a significant increase when we put them together.

2) Progress is not linear. We may think that we should be getting better at what we do each day, and habits may seem to make no difference until we cross "a critical threshold and unlock a new level of performance". We will encounter many "Valley of Disappointments". However, progress is a long-term thing, and we should always "zoom out" to look at our progress and push on.

3) "Goals are good for setting direction, but systems are best for making progress". A peculiar statement Clear made was that winners and losers have the same goals. We need to change our system, our processes that can enable us to get to the results we want. We need to fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves. 

4) The 3 levels of change we need to unravel as we think about our habits. Once we've decided about the habits we want to build/stop, we need to change our outcomes - what do we want to achieve at the end of the day? Second, change our process - what in our daily lives should we change, or what am I doing that could better help me attain the goals I want? Third, change our identity - our beliefs, assumptions and biases. This is the core and possibly the hardest level. However, once we can achieve this, the habits we set out to do for reasons we have are now a part of us. To help visualise this, let's say you want to be good at playing the piano. You start to practice everyday (habit), tweak your methods of practising (process), and ultimately you start to become a pianist (identity). 

5) The costs of your good habits are paid now. But the costs of your bad habits are paid in the future.

6) This process is continuous. We never stop creating who we are - we never stop making decisions that shape our identity. There is no end and no permanent solution. 

Recommendation: Needless to say, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and will definitely be reading it once a year as a reminder to making sure that my daily habits are true to my identity. Clear and concise - this book spares no extra words. If you truly want to change yourself, read this book and start changing yourself through small wins. A must-read for everybody!