Atomic Habits (James Clear)
★★★★★
💭 Thoughts
Quite outstanding. Def in the top 2 of "self help" books I've ever read. I feel as if no word in this book is actually wasted. The stories are great, but not long enough to be boring or drag on and on, and the practicality of the application of this book is so good.
👀 Who Should Read It?
EVERYONE
🧠 How the Book Changed Me
This book has really allowed me to truly understand the profound nature of what habits really are and how they control our lives (whether we realize it or not). It has sparked a lot of ideas that I will be using (especially over 2021), to implement changes in my life - I want to get rid of a couple bad habits and establish 2 new ones in particular
📜 The Book in 3 (ish) Sentences
Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you're willing to stick with them for years (the 1 percent rule)
True behavioral change starts with identity change
There are 4 basic steps to the formation of a habit loop: Cue, Craving, Response, Reward
If you want to establish a good habit
How can I make it obvious?
How can I make it attractive?
How can I make it easy?
How can I make it satisfying?
If you want to break a bad habit
How can I make it invisible?
How can I make it unattractive?
How can I make it difficult?
How can I make it unsatisfying
A habit must be established before it can be fine tuned. Whatever habit you're trying to build, focus on showing up every day rather than the results
Missing once is okay, but never miss twice. Missing twice is the establishment of a new habit
❝ ❞ My Top Quotes
“Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress.”
“The process of building habits is actually the process of becoming yourself.”
“Meaningful change does not require radical change. Small habits can make a meaningful difference by providing evidence of a new identity. And if a change is meaningful, it's actually big.”
“Habits are not about having something, but are about becoming someone.”
“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
“Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.”
“One space, one use.”
“Habits form based on frequency not on time.”
“The cost of your good habits are in the present. The cost of your bad habits are in the future.”
“Competence is highly dependent on context.”
“Our genes do not eliminate the need for hard work, but rather they clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.”
“The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over. You have to fall in love with boredom.”
📒 Summary + Notes
Introduction
Changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you're willing to stick with them for years
Chapter 1: The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits
Too often we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action
The one percent rule
Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits
Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits
One degree shifts can have a huge impact overall (crossing that critical threshold).
Ice cube - a room at 25 degrees heated up by 1 degree increments, nothing happens to the ice cube until 32 degrees. A one degree shift, seemingly no different from the temperature increases before it, has unlocked a huge change
Cancer - spends 80% of its life undetectable, then takes over the body in months
Bamboo - barely seen for the first 5 years to build its extensive root system, then explodes 90 feet in the air within a 6 week timeframe
The most powerful outcomes are delayed
Plateau of latent potential: If you find yourself struggling to build a good habit or break a bad one, it is not because you have lost your ability to improve. It is often because you have not crossed the plateau of latent potential. Complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining about an ice cube not melting when you heated it from 25 to 31°. Your work was not wasted; it is just being stored. All the action happens at 32°
When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps 100 times without as much is a crack showing in it. Yet at the 101st blow it was split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.
Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. If you completely ignored goals and soley focused on systems, you would still succeed
Musician goal - play a new piece of music
Musician system - How often you practice, how you break down and tackle difficult measures etc
Problem #1 Winners and Losers Have the Same Goals
Goal-setting suffers from a serious case of survivorship bias
Problem #2 Achieving a Goal Only Changes Your Life for the Moment
We think we need to change our results, but the results are not the problem. But we really need to change are the systems that caused those results. Fix the inputs in the outputs will fix themselves
Problem #3 Goals Restrict Your Happiness
When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don't have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy
Problem #4 Goals are at Odds with Long-Term Progress
The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress
Bad habits repeat themselves again and again not because you don't want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems
Chapter 2: How You Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)
Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons
We try to change the wrong thing
We try to change our habits in the wrong way
3 layers of behavioral change: outcomes, processes, identity
None of these three layers are better than the other, but the problem is that we need to change the IDENTITY first instead of the OUTCOMES first
It's one thing to say I'm the type of person who wants this. It's something different to say on the type of person who is this
True behavior change is identity change
He gives the example of someone trying to quit smoking
"No thanks, I'm trying to quit" vs. "No thanks, I'm not a smoker" - subtle, but profound difference
Your behaviors are usually a reflection of your identity, therefore, it is extremely important to monitor what you tell yourself
Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity
Every belief, including those about yourself, is learned and conditioned through experience. The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior. Your identity is literally your "repeated beingness"
The process of building habits is actually the process of becoming yourself
The Paradox of Small Improvements
Meaningful change does not require radical change. Small habits can make a meaningful difference by providing evidence of a new identity. And if a change is meaningful, it's actually big
Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become
The 2-step process of changing your identity
Decide the type of person you want to be
If I wanted to write a book. "Who is the type of person that could write a book?" It's probably someone who is consistent and reliable. Now the focus SHIFTS from writing a book (outcome based) to being the type of person who is consistent and reliable (identity based)
Prove it to yourself with small wins
Feedback loop: your identity shapes your habit and vice versa. It's a two way street
You MUST ask yourself: "Are you becoming the type of person you want to be?" and then all the habits surround this concept. The first step is not what or how, but who.
Chapter 3: How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps
A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic
Whenever you face a problem repeatedly, your brain begins to automate the process of solving it
Habits reduce cognitive load and free up mental capacity, so you can allocate our attention to other tasks
The Science of Habits
Cue—> Craving—> Response—> Reward
Cue
Initiates your brain to begin a behavior. It is a bit of info that predicts a reward
Every habit is initiated by a cue, and we are more likely to notice cues that stand out
If you want to make a habit a big part of your life, make the cue a big part of your environment
Craving
Without some level of motivation or desire, without craving a change, we have no reason to act. What you crave is not the habit itself, but the change in state it delivers. You don't crave smoking a cigarette, you crave the feeling of relief it provides. Cues are meaningless until they are interpreted
Response
The actual habit you perform, which can take form of a thought or action. If a particular action requires more physical or mental effort than you are willing to spend, then you won't do it
Reward
Everything centralizes around the reward. The cue is about noticing the reward. The craving is about wanting the reward. The response is about obtaining the reward. We chase rewards because they serve two major purposes:
Satisfy us (our cravings)
Teach us (which actions are worth remembering)
Summary - If a behavior is insufficient in any of the four stages, it will not become a habit
Eliminate the cue and your habit will never start
Rduce the craving and you won't experience enough motivation to act
Make the behavior difficult and you won't be able to do it
If the reward fails to satisfy your desire, then you'll have no reason to do it again
It's funny reading this when Clear talks about recognizing feelings of pleasure and disappointment as a means to fall back on different habits, where Goggins flips this ideology on its head and describes seeking discomfort as a way to create the habit of being uncomfortable. Very interesting dichotomy. I guess not so much a dichotomy, but rather a different spin using similar fundamental principles
Problem phase: Cue + Craving
The purpose of every habit is to solve the problems you face (good or bad). You realize that something needs to change
Solution phase: Response + Reward
Take action to achieve the desired change
See page 52-53 for examples
Four Laws of Behavior Change
If you want to change a behavior you can simply ask yourself
How can I make it obvious?
How can I make it attractive?
How can I make it easy?
How can I make it satisfying?
The 1st Law: Make It Obvious!
Chapter 4: The Man Who Didn't Look Right
One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing
The Habit Scorecard
A simple exercise used in order to become more aware of your behavior
Pointing and Calling system used for subways in Japan
Transferring the unconscious to the conscious
A more practical way of this technique is before every time you leave the house, call out all the items on your packing list
Make a list of all your habits in a day and put either "-" for bad, "=" for neutral, and "+" for good next to each of these
This is a bit of a misnomer. There are no such thing as good or bad habits. Only effective habits useful for solving problems. Categorize these habits in terms of how they will benefit you in the long run
Say things like "Does this behavior help me become the type of person I wish to be? Does this habit cast a vote for or against my desired identity?"
One of the simplest ways to recognize your bad habits is to utilize the point and call method. For example "I'm about to eat this cookie, but I don't need it. Eating it will cause me to gain weight and hurt my overall health."
Chapter 5: The Best Way to Start a New Habit
He discusses the interesting findings of a British study done in the early 2000s about the group using the "implementation intention"
Plan you make beforehand about when and where to act. That is, how you intend to implement a particular habit. People who make a specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are more likely to follow through
The two most common cues are time and location. Implementation intention leverages both of these cutes
"When situation X arises, I will perform response Y"
Many people believe they lack motivation when what they really lack is clarity
The goal is to make the time and location so obvious that, with enough repetition, you get an urge to do the right thing at the right time even if you can't say why
The Diderot Effect - obtaining a new possession often creates a spiral of consumption that leads to additional purchases
Important because you often decide what to do next based on what you have just finished doing. Each action becomes a cue that triggers the next behavior
Habit Stacking
Identify a current habit you already do each day, then stack your new behavior on top
Examples of Habit Stacking Behaviors
Exercise. When I see a set of stairs, I will take them instead of using the elevator
Social skills. When I walk into a party, I will introduce myself to someone I don't know yet
Finances. When I want to buy something over $100, I will wait 24 hours before purchasing
Healthy eating. When I serve myself a meal, I will always put vegetables on my plate first
Minimalism. When I buy a new item, I will give something away (One in, one out)
Mood. When the phone rings, I will take one deep breath and smile before answering
Forgetfulness. When I leave a public place, I will check the table and chairs to make sure I don't leave anything behind
How to layer these together with proper lists:
Write out all the things you do each day without fail - Get out of bed, shower, eat breakfast etc
Write out all the things that happen to you each day without fail - The sun rises, the song you're listening to ends, the sun sets etc
You can then figure out the best times and instances to layer in new habits
Chapter 6: Motivation is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More
The story of the PCP who changed eating habits based on location of items
People often choose products not because of what they are, but because of where they are
Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior
Designing Your Environment For Success
If you want to make a habit a big part of your life, make the cue a big part of your environment
Examples on pg 86 - If you want to drink more water, fill up a few water bottles each morning and place them in common locations around the house
The Context is the Cue
Stop thinking about your environment as filed with objects. Start thinking about it as filled with relationships
Go to new places in order to create new habits
One space, one use
It's easier to build new habits in a new environment because you are not fighting against old cues
Design spaces for different tasks
Space for work only
Space for relaxation only
Chapter 7: The Secret to Self-Control
"Disciplined" people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self-control. In other words, they spend less time in tempting situations
It's easier to practice self restraint when you don't have to use it very often
Behavior techniques can backfire depending on the cues presented
Shaming obese people with weight loss presentations can make them feel stressed, and as a result many people return to their favorite coping strategy: overeating
Showing pictures of blackened lungs to smokers leads to higher levels of anxiety, which drives many people to reach for a cig
Cue-Induced Wanting
An external trigger causes a compulsive craving to repeat a bad habit
Non conscious process—> showing cocaine to addicts for 30 ms, which is OUTSIDE conscious recognition leads to intense cravings
Worrying about your health makes you anxious, so you go smoke because it eases your anxiety, which makes your health even worse and soon you feel even more anxious
You feel bad, so you eat food. Because you're eating more food, you feel bad
The 2nd Law: Make It Attractive!
Chapter 8: How To Make Habits Irresistible
Supernormal Stimuli
Heightened versions of reality that increase our desire to take action
The ideas of junk food
We were hunter and gatherers for a long time and didn't know when or where your next meal was coming from. So, eating as much as possible is an excellent strategy for survival.
Contrast this to today where food is abundant, but your brain continues to crave it like it is scarce. Placing a high value on salt, sugar, and fat is no longer advantageous to our health, but the craving persists because the brain's reward pathway centers have no changed for approximately 50K years. The modern food industry relies on stretching our Paleolithic instincts beyond their evolutionary purpose
Making habits more attractive (2nd law) is around us today
Mannequins with exaggerated features
Social media receiving more "likes" and praise in just a few minutes than we could ever get in the office or at home
Advertisements with the use of photoshop
Dopamine-Driven Feedback Loop
Dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it
Cocaine addicts get the surge when they see the powder, not after they take it
Gambling addicts get the surge right before they place a bet, not after they win
Your brain has far more neural circuitry allocated for wanting rewards than for actually liking them
Wanting/craving/desire centers (Hedonic Hot Spots): brain stem, nucleus accumbens, VTA, dorsal striatum, amygdala, and portions of the pre-frontal cortex
Temptation Bundling
One way to create a heightened version of any habit by connecting it with something you already want
Way to make your habits more attractive (the 2nd law might be the most important?)
Works by linking an action you want to do with an action you need to do
Applying Premack's Principle
More probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors
Basically, even if you really don't want to do something, you'll become conditioned to do it if it means you get to do something you really want to along the way
Habit Stacking + Temptation Bundling
Chapter 9: The Role of Family and Friends in Shaping Your Habits
Pg 113-114 about the chess playing Polgar sisters - SO INTERESTING
We imitate habits of those closest around us to fit in
The close
The powerful
The many
Imitating the Close
One prospective study of 32 years indicated a person's chances of becoming obese increases by 57% if he or she has a friend that becomes obese. This also works in the opposite direction
The higher your closest friends IQ at age 11, the higher your IQ will be at age 15 even after controlling for natural levels of intelligence
Join a culture where
Your desired behavior is the normal behavior
Already have something in common with the group
Imitating the Many
Tremendous internal pressure to conform with the norms of society even if it's not the most efficient way
The famous Solomon Asch social conformity experiment in the 1950s on line lengths
Imitating the Powerful
High-status people enjoy the approval, respect, and praise of others. And that means if a behavior can get us approval, respect, and praise, we find it attractive and are more likely to do it
Chapter 10: How to Find and Fix the Causes of Your Bad Habits
Where Cravings Come From
Your habits are modern day solutions to ancient desires
Conserve energy
Obtain food and water
Find love and reproduce
Connect and bond with others
Win social acceptance and approval —> Posting on IG
Reduce uncertainty —> Searching Google
Achieve status and prestige —> playing video games
Interpretation and prediction are important for creating or breaking habits
Two people can see the same cig, but one has the desire to smoke it and the other is repulsed by it
Habits are attractive when we associate them with positive feelings
How to Reprogram Your Brain - Enjoy Hard Habits
Exchanging the word "have to" with "get to"
The guy with the wheelchair...when asked if it was difficult being confined, he responded I'm not confined to my wheelchair, I am liberated by it. If it wasn't for my wheelchair, I would be bed bound and never able to leave my house
Reframing your habits to highlight their benefits rather than their drawbacks is a fast and lightweight way to reprogram your mind and make a habit seem more attractive
Exercise—> instead of saying I need to go for a run this morning, say it's time to build endurance and get fast
Finance—> Saving money is not sacrifice, it's freeing because the money you save this month increases your purchasing power next month
Meditation—> Distraction is a good thing because you need it to practice meditation
Motivation Ritual
Associate your habits with something you enjoy
Say you want to feel happier in general. Find something that truly makes you happy every time, then create a short routine that you perform every time before you do the thing you love. Maybe it's take 3 deep breaths and smile. Eventually, you'll associate the breath and smile routine with being in a good mood. It becomes a cue that means feeling happy, even without actually doing the thing that does make you happy
The 3rd Law: Make It Easy!
Chapter 11: Walk Slowly, But Never Backward
Have to get your reps in
How Long Does It Take For a New Habit to Form?
Long-term potentiation
Hebb's Law: Neurons that fire together wire together
Automaticity
Habits going from effortful practice to automatic behavior
Learning Curves - habits form based on frequency not on time
Chapter 12: The Law of Least Effort
Analogous to the principle of least action in physics (or physiology, biology etc), that any process requiring energy will take the least energy intensive path
Prime The Environment for Future Use
"Resetting the room"
Being proactively lazy
This works both ways
If you want to exercise more, set out workout clothes, shoes, gym bag, and water bottles ahead of time
If you want to watch TV less unplug it after each use. Only plug it back in when you can say out loud the name of the show you want to watch
The greater the friction, the less likely the habit and vice versa
Chapter 13: How to Stop Procrastination by Using the Two Minute Rule
Decisive moments - "If I change clothes, I know the workout will happen"
The Two Minute Rule
Breaking things down into very manageable tasks
For more details, see Mini Habits by Stephen Guise
I remember a quote from Clear in an interview once saying "you have to actually establish a habit before you can build upon it" —> this is exactly what the two minute rule accomplishes: building a habit
"You have to standardize before you can optimize"
Fights trying to do too much too soon
A new habit should not be challenging. The actions that follow can be, but the first two minutes should be easy
IF the two minute rule feels forced, trying doing the task for two minutes then forcing yourself to stop everytime. Go for a run, but you must stop after 2 minutes etc
Habit Shaping
Showing up to the gym 5 days in a row is continually casting votes as the type of person that doesn't miss workouts. You're not worried about getting in shape, you're creating the new identity of you
Chapter 14: How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible
Opens this chapter with the story of Victor Hugo writing the huncback of notre dame (so cool) - LOCK YOUR CLOTHES AWAY
Sometimes success is less about making good habits easy and more about making bad habits hard
Commitment Device
AKA Ulysses pact/contract from The Odyssey
Choice you make in the present that controls your actions in the future
The outlet timer (he talks about this in his other podcasts)
These allow you to take advantage of good intentions before you can fall victim to temptation
How To Automate a Habit and Never Think About It Again
One time 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
The 4th Law: Make It Satisfying!
Chapter 15: The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change
Wrigley chewing gum making the taste of gum enjoyable
The Mismatch Between Immediate and Delayed Rewards
Time Inconsistency or Hyperbolic Discounting —> The way your brain evaluates rewards is inconsistent across time
Consequences of bad habits are delayed while the rewards are immediate
Bad habits: the immediate outcome feels good, but the delayed outcome feels bad
Good habits: the immediate outcome feels bad, but the delayed outcome feels good
The cost of your good habits are in the present. The cost of your bad habits are in the future
A general rule: the more immediate pleasure you get from an action, the more strongly you should question whether it aligns with your long term goals
How To Turn Instant Gratification To Your Advantage
Make avoidance visible
Saving for a purchase —> label it with what you want then every time you pass on a purchase, transfer the money into that account
These "instant gratifications" of you habit should be used to align with your identity and not against it
Chapter 16: How to Stick with Good Habits Every Day
Make the progress tangible and evident using something of a habit tracker
How To Keep Your Habits on Track
Ben Franklin did this to track his "13 virtues"
Benefit #1: Habit tracking is obvious
Study of 16000 people saw those who kept a food log less TWICE as much weight as those who did not
Benefit #2: Habit tracking is attractive
Proof of your hard work you've already accomplished
Benefit #3: Habit tracking is satisfying
Creates visual cue that can remind you to act
Inherently motivating because you see the progress you are making and don't want to lose it
Feels satisfying whenever you record another successful instance of your habit
Record each measurement immediately after the habit occurs
After I finish each set at the gym, I will record it in my workout journal
How To Quickly Recover When Your Habits Break Down
Never miss twice (his famous rule he talks about)
Can't be perfect, but can avoid a second lapse
Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit
This is the concept of successful people: anyone can have a bad performance, bad workout, or bad day at work. When successful people fail, they rebound very quickly
Most people think if you can't do something perfectly, the you shouldn't do it at all
If you start with $100, then a 50 percent gain will take you to $150. But you only need a 33 percent loss to take you back to where you started at $100. Avoiding a 33 percent loss is just as valuable as achieving a 50 percent gain
Show up on your bad or off days is actually more important than the achievements on your good ones/motivating days. Plus it helps re-affirm your identity
Know When (And When Not) To Track a Habit
Goodhart's Law: when a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure
Measurement is only useful when it guides you and adds context to a larger picture, not when it consumes you
Chapter 17: How an Accountability Partner Can Change Everything
To reduce bad habits, increase the speed of the punishment associated with the behavior. There can't be a gap between the action and the consequences
Habit Contract
Create the desirable actions and the consequences if you don't come through, then sign this with 1-2 other witnesses
Advanced Tactics
Chapter 18: The Truth About Talent (When Genes Matter and When They Don't)
Competence is highly dependent on context
Genes do not determine your destiny; they determine your area of opportunity
"Genes can predispose, but they can't pre-determine"
How Your Personality Influences Your Habits
"The Big Five" - I really need to look more into this myself as this has been backed by the most legitimate science
How To Find a Game Where the Odds Are In Your Favor
Trial and error using a modified version known as explore/exploit trade off
Cast a wide net at first and see what happens
If you're winning, exploit
If you're not winning, explore
80/20 exploitation to exploration especially once found the most desirable habit to pursue for you
Important things to consider
What feels like fun to me, but work to others?
Whether you can handle the pain of the task easier than most. The work that hurts you less than it hurts others is the work you were made to do
What makes me lose track of time?
Flow state can be achieved
Where do I get greater returns than the average person?
What comes naturally to me?
What feels natural to me?
When have I felt alive?
When have I felt like the real me?
Anyone can be the top 25% in something if they put enough effort into that. Find out where you can be top 25% in different areas, then combine them—> rarity and success
Boiling water will soften a potato but harden an egg. You can't control whether you're a potato or an egg, but you can decide to play a game where it's better to be hard or soft
How To Get The Most Out of Your Genes
Our genes do not eliminate the need for hard work, but rather they clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on
Chapter 19: The Goldilocks Rule: How to Stay Motivated in Life and Work
The story of Steven Martin and where he started to where he ended
"10 years learning, 4 years refining, and 4 years as a wild success"
The challenge of just manageable difficult = Goldilocks Rule
Humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that re right on the edge of their current abilities. Not too hard, not too easy, just right
Flow State
Task must be roughly 4 percent beyond your current ability
Syncing the conscious and non-conscious
How To Stay Focused When You Get Bored Working on Your Goals
"At some point it comes down to who can handle the boringness and mundanity of the same reps every day"
Variable rewards
Discovered by BF Skinner intermittently giving food pellets to rats didn't decrease behavior but actually increased it
Slot machines
50/50 split is sort of the sweet spot
The only way to become excellent is to be endlessly fascinated by doing the same thing over and over. You have to fall in love with boredom
Chapter 20: The Downside of Creating Good Habits
Habits + Deliberate Practice = Mastery
How To Review Your Habits and Make Adjustments
Decision journal
Annual Review, which is the perfect time to implement this..lol check it out on his website and compare
What went well this year
What didn't go so well
What did I learn?
I have a few ideas/ways to modify this for myself each year that I would like to start doing this year
Integrity Report in the summers
What are the core values that drive my life and work
How am I living and working with integrity right now
How can I set a higher standard in the future
I think personally it would be important to reflect maybe monthly as well in some sort of scaled down version of this. Weekly would be overkill because not much really changes, especially as habits are concerned, week to week
How to Break Beliefs that Hold You Back
The more sacred an idea is to us - that is, the more deeply it is tied to our identity - the more strongly we will defend it against criticism
Don't let your identity become overly attached to one specific thing
I'm an athlete—> I'm the type of person who is mentally tough and loves a physical challenge
I'm a great soldier —> I'm the type of person who id disciplined, reliable, and great on a team
I'm the CEO—> I'm the type of person who builds and creates things
Conclusion: The Secret to Results that Last
Ancient Greek parable - Sorites Paradox (derived from the Greek word soros, which means heap or pile)
Can one coin make a person rich? If you give a person a pile of ten coins, you wouldn't claim that he or she is rich. But what if you add another? And another? And another? At some point, you will have to admit that no one can be rich unless one coin can make him or her so
Same concept of atomic habits—> At some point, you will have to admit that your life was transformed by one small change
Little Lessons from the 4 Laws
Cue—>Craving—>Response—> Reward
Awareness comes before desire
Craving can only occur after you have noticed an opportunity
Happiness is simply the absence of desire
It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state
It is the idea of pleasure that we chase
Happiness cannot be pursued, it must ensue
With a big enough why you can overcome any how
Being curious is better than being smart
The trick to doing anything is first cultivating a desire for it
Emotions drive behavior
This is why craving comes before response. The feeling comes first, then the behavior
We can only be rational and logical after we have been emotional
The primary mode of the brain is to feel; the secondary mode is to think
Our first response is optimized for feeling and anticipating whereas the second response is the slow conscious portion
System 1 (feelings and rapid judgement) vs System 2 (rational analysis)
Suffering drives progress
Your actions reveal how badly you want something
Your actions reveal your true motivations
Our expectations determine out satisfaction
If you expect to get $10, but get $100, you feel great and are more likely to repeat the experience. The opposite is true
Satisfaction = Liking - Wanting
Seneca "Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more"
