Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

The voice was a bit monotone and hard to listen to like to keep being engaged , I found myself needing the book to follow along at times but other than that was nice

Was so good I would listen to it two more times! Not currently struggling with bad habits but made me think about things I could work on.

Motivationally captivating! Clear. Concise, and organized, making it easy to understand and apply what is being taught! I appreciate the chapter reviews!

While I see how this book got so popular, I unfortunately didn't learn a lot from it that I didn't already know. However, even with having most of it put it practice already, I definitely found myself thinking more and being more intentional about my habits and plans.

My first "read" was as an audio book while I ran. I liked it enough to "re-read" in text form so I could highlight and mine it for useful ideas and to put much of the material into practice. This book taught me to establish the most basic form of a habit I want to incorporate into my life, and slowly add to it, rather than try to immediately establish a hard habit and give up after a month.

I feel like this is just a rewrite of the Habit Loop, honestly. Nothing new here, but if you need to read books about habits as a habit, maybe this is for you?

Since coming out six years ago, Atomic Habits has remained on several best seller lists, and for good reason. It’s a self-help book, yes, but it isn’t like so many self-help books that pontificate about things most people can’t control. James Clear’s observations and advice are based on solid social science and past experience. My most gratifying take away after listening to the audio version is that much of what I do already is right. More and more I kept saying to myself, “Hey, that’s exactly what I do!” I’m anxious to peruse the appendix of the book since throughout “Atomic Habits,” Clear, who is the narrator, pointed out that copies of various templates for tracking habits are available at AtomicHabits.com. I listened to the audio version of Clear’s book, and he narrated in a very effective way. I’m glad I took the time to listen to James Clear’s book, and I think there is something for just about everyone in it.

Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this on ebook from my library.

Thoughts: I liked this and it does a great job of laying out a plan for developing good habits and getting rid of bad habits. Things are laid out step by step and very simply. I like that each chapter starts out with a historical anecdote about a historical figure and their habits. This made the book very fun and easy to read.

I was surprised at how readable this was. I speed right through it. It was entertaining and insightful. Nothing in here is rocket science and there are no huge revelations. However, there is some food for thought, especially around adapting your environment to support your habits. I realized I do a lot of that already without even realizing it. Just little things like laying out an outfit the night before so I can get going early in the morning without feeling stressed. Or laying my journal on my pillow in the morning so I don't forget to write in it before I go to bed.

I think the most intriguing part of this book to me was the portion about mind set. How you need to say "I am a person who..." rather than "I would like to be a person who..." I never really thought about how that would change your mindset, so that was interesting to me.

I also liked the idea of laying out your day as a list of habits. It lets you see what you actually do in a day and analyze that in a more objective way to see which parts of your day are sabotaging habits you want to develop and which parts are enhancing habits.

There is a lot of focus on organizing your surroundings, friends, and lifestyle around habits you want to enforce. All of this makes a lot of sense and, in general, this is just good common sense to follow. I think the points made about how developing habits takes time and you need to forgive yourself if you lapse are also important ones.

I think the hard part for most people is actually putting some of these skills into action and not just forgetting about this book as they move forward in life. Sticking with something consistently and long-term is always hard. It's especially hard with something like eating or exercise where you don't get the immediate gratification of instant success. This is discussed in this book as well.

My Summary (5/5): Overall, while there is nothing really new or earth-shattering here, this does lay out an easy to follow process for developing good habits in simple steps. There are some intriguing suggestions to help you analyze your surrounds and life to pinpoint why you continue with bad habits and have trouble developing good ones. I found this to be an easy and entertaining read and I think everyone would benefit from reading this because it does really make you sit down and think about your life and how you could improve aspects of it. I find myself thinking back to this book a lot in the weeks following reading it.

Book title and author Atomic Habits An Easy & Proven Way to build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear reviewed 2-3-24

Why I picked this book up: there was an Ad for headway called Read Daily to Grow Steadily. The first, second and fourth are books I’ve already read, this book was a free version audiobook so I listed to it. He talks about how easy it is to make excuses and how to change that around for better improvement and daily habits to achieve your desired goal. He focuses more on systems.

Thoughts:
I found this book interesting. It is based on basic behaviorism and CBT.
James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, shows practical strategies that can teach how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to results.
Learn how to:
• Make time for new habits (even when life gets crazy)
• Overcome a lack of motivation and willpower
• Design your environment to make success easier
• Get back on track when you fall off course
• And much more
Atomic Habits can reshape the way you think about progress and success and gives some tools and strategies needed to transform habits.

Why I finished this read: It was interesting to basically a bx review and easy to finish.

Stars rating: 5 of 5 stars as this info is basic, laid out logically and is easy to read and implement.

This book fascinated me from the beginning to the end. It's one of those books that can help you in life; it helped me a lot because this book talks about how with small habits you can shape your path, becoming a disciplined person of great value. One advantage of this book is that you can easily find it, and it's possible that your teachers or friends will talk to you about it. (Translated from Spanish)

This is another book that I listened to after a trial period of an audiobook provider. As I mentioned before, I picked this book because I felt I would not enjoy at all listening to a novel, and I admit I had some curiosity about this book.

This book is what I call a marketing product. This book gained a lot of attention and, after reading it, I really don't understand why. It is overrated, repetitive, boring and does not give you anything new at all.

A waste of time, in my opinion.

I read this based on glowing recommendations from people I trust. Turns out it's another repetitive, drawn out self-help book I didn't need.

Atomic Habits is one of those books that is easy to read and understand. The stories are mostly relatable and inspiring. It’s easy to see why it has sold so many copies in less than three years.

The book is filled with actionable information about habits, from how and why we form them to how to break and make them.

In today's world, where productivity mixes with the desire for immediacy and the relentless urge to finish our tasks in less time, James Clear invites us to rethink our view of habits, our productivity... and to find our identity. James Clear achieved the #1 New York Times Bestseller with his book. He specializes in the formation of long-lasting habits. He is a regular speaker for Fortune 500 companies and a consultant for the NFL, NBA, and MLB; he collaborates with prominent media such as Time, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, and Lifehacker. Initially, the author provides definitions for "atomic" and "habit" and begins recounting his youth, how an experience in his adolescence marked his life, and later, his experience discovering the power of atomic habits as he writes: “and college was where I would discover the power of small habits.” Through experiences of various personalities like Victor Hugo, the Polgar sisters, known for being chess players, and Anne Thorndike, a primary care doctor at Massachusetts General Hospital, the book supports the effective results generated by atomic habits with situations that could happen to any of us in everyday life, facing a problem, an unfinished matter... the strategies used by these and other figures mentioned in the book helped combat their desires to give up on their goals and achieve their objectives. James Clear takes us on a journey to leave behind the typical belief system focused on goals rather than systems to achieve those goals. At that point, he makes a statement that leaves me pondering: Winners and losers share the same goals. This translates to the understanding that the issue lies not in the goals themselves, but in how we seek to achieve them. The system prevails because it becomes part of our identity through the habits we establish. The author also encourages us to use habits wisely, to use them to our advantage, and to become aware of how they shape our identity. He breaks down the formation and maintenance of habits into four steps: make it obvious; make it attractive; make it easy; make it satisfying. In each step, he suggests a series of strategies to establish and maintain a new habit. Similarly, the book teaches us to break bad habits using similar easy steps: make it invisible; make it unattractive; make it difficult; make it unsatisfying. From the start, I connected deeply with the narrative and expression used in the book; I found it fascinating because it demystifies some of the beliefs people have about achieving their goals; it raises awareness and helps us understand that beyond habits, it is the behaviors that shape and mold our personality that truly matter. At times, I found it arduous to read due to its structure and because it is a type of book on this topic, compared to other reads that I have taken less time to finish. However, I understand it is a book for reflection, to collectively correct behaviors, to introspect, and it is also a book that is good to “flip through” from time to time. I recommend it. More than ever, due to the lifestyle that society tends to lead: sedentary and mostly at the mercy of electronic devices. It is necessary to become aware of our actions, how we respond to them, and to be consistent in all aspects of life. This book is a great help in achieving that path. Thank you for reading the review. (Translated from Spanish)

The author makes several good points, but if I can be real with you, these are all things that I have been talking up for nearly 20 years long before I read this. This whole thing further is mostly fluff and I could have written this in half the words for sure, maybe less.

Small habits can lead to big positive changes. Make them obvious, attractive, easy & satisfying. (And do the opposite for bad habits you want to break. Has made me think more intentionally about how I go about my day.

Atomic Habits. An interesting exercise in self-reflection and awareness. It offers a practical approach, although I still think that self-help books are overrated. (Translated from Spanish)

Readers who have explored other personal growth books might not encounter dozens of “lightbulb moments” in this popular book. The author wisely notes at the start that this work is a “synthesis of the best ideas smart people figured out” in the past. Still, the author reinforces many effective tactics that have been explored in other works, offering insightful anecdotes and expanding on strategies. The takeaway is that tiny changes in habits can help all of us fulfill our potential. We often mistakenly assume that massive improvements require massive actions. But just as compound interest multiplies in the financial world, compound changes in habits – even minuscule ones — accumulate into surprisingly robust results. Put simply, meaningful change does not require radical change. I found myself jotting down a number of helpful ideas. One involves using “habit trackers” to log step-by-step progress. Trackers can have an addictive effect on making progress toward any goal because they make us feel good about incremental steps. The author also touches on the distinctions between an “immediate return” mindset and a “delayed return” mindset. I would recommend “Atomic Habits” to anyone who is interested in honing their habits to improve everyday living.

Excellent book. It has very practical examples. I recommend it. (Translated from Spanish)

The methods shared by the author are very interesting. (Translated from Spanish)

Exactly correct fundamental idea; utterly worthless, mercenary, & self-undermining detailing/execution. Thus my worst disappointment & timewaster in recent years.

(NB: Don’t fall for self-help’s familiar implicit guilt-tripping hype, “you’re a loser if you don’t read & apply this”. No. Trying to implement a system as sloppy as this will bring you one step closer to becoming a loser.)

Reflecting on the content of this book, I realize that, unfortunately, most human beings are living in an instant world; not for the moments that give life meaning, but for the rush that is stealing them away. Food is instant; communication, news, shopping, responses, relationships, everything has to be instant because if it's not, it’s useless, it doesn’t work, it’s discarded... We survive, but we lose sight of those small details that generate significant changes in our day-to-day lives, those that connect us with the life we want and deserve. I think it's great that someone, James Clear in this case, presents us with a practical and simple guide to remember what we like to do, what we would like to correct, and how to create beneficial changes. To begin living fully, it's necessary to regain awareness of what we do, what we want, and what we can modify, since with perseverance and discipline, we can achieve the success we desire. It may seem absurd for someone to tell us the steps we should take to move forward, but it's essential to regain awareness and wake up again. I believe this book can be an option to accompany us in the process of starting to enjoy again, and also to let go of our habits and stop being immersed in a mass routine. (Translated from Spanish)

It is easy to read, with useful advice for creating good habits and ending bad ones. (Spoilers) How to create a good habit? Make it obvious, make it attractive, make it simple, and make it satisfying; How to eliminate bad habits? Make it invisible, make it unattractive, make it difficult, and make it unsatisfying. The book develops these "laws" with real-life examples of their application and how to apply them daily. (Translated from Spanish)

I am really enjoying it. A book to motivate making small changes that are powerful. (Translated from Spanish)

Atomic Habits by James Clear focuses on the premise that small changes in habits can lead to significant results. The author presents a series of principles for developing habits that drive notable improvements and eliminating those that may undermine progress. The book emphasizes the importance of focusing on systems rather than goals. It proposes that by understanding and optimizing our environment and daily processes, we can use them as levers to achieve positive long-term changes. The central idea is that habits, when designed and maintained properly, can have a powerful impact on achieving goals and personal development. (Translated from Spanish)

A good book to help yourself with. Note, I did not call it a self-help book, because it is not , it is more than that. This is a good one. Read by the author himself, James Clear, has a surprisingly listen-to-able voice, reads clearly, and of course knows this topic. After reading the book and listening to the audiobook it is pretty obvious that I would highly recommend this title to anyone.

The environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior. (Translated from Spanish)

A book that practically, based on behavioral psychology, helps you to effectively establish habits. (Translated from Spanish)

I’ve heard about this book for years but didn’t have a chance to read it until recently, when I found it as an audiobook in our online library system. This is a very useful book. If you’re wanting to up your game or make some sort of progress in your life, this book could be just the thing you need. For a long time, I’ve set goals and then wallowed in uncertainty as to how to actually achieve them…but in this book, Clear gives repeatable, simple advice for how to start, how to motivate yourself, and how to make definite progress. The techniques taught in this book apply across a vast swath of our everyday lives, not just in the business world. Simple, systematic, and straightforward, this book doesn’t take too long to read, but it’s one that many would find beneficial.

There were some elements of the book that I didn’t appreciate so much—assumptions around our evolutionary ancestors, almost an “if it’s good for you, it’s good” attitude, some thoughts along the lines of “you can be whoever you want to be”, a few somewhat crude references—but leaving those aside, I appreciated the bulk of the book, and wouldn’t be surprised if I end up rereading it eventually.

Since reading the book, I’ve put some of his techniques into practice, and I’m seeing a marked improvement already. Whether what I’m doing right now is sustainable long-term or not is another question, but I feel like I’ve been given a few tools that I’ll be able to use over and over in life, and for that, I’m grateful this book was published.

Recommended for readers aged 18 on up.

A decent blog post stretched out to book length.