It has been 3 years since I read the book Atomic Habits. As I plan to start re-reading it, I wanted to share my summary/notes of the book from the last time. 

So, here it goes.

Atomic habits are little habits that are part of a large system. Same way atoms are building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are build blocks of remarkable results. The main idea of the book is to make good habits easier (by micronizing them), and bad habits harder (by increasing friction).

In the beginning the writer talks about his accident where he had half of his face crushed by a baseball bat. While this affected his progress in baseball he never quit, and kept building on micro habits in his life, which brought him to success.

Why good habits are better than bad habits

I think it is important to think about this. Why not just pursue pleasure and live life without any greater goal. Because it is harder, although it seems easier. Usually, after finishing high school, for the first time in our lives, we experience being lost. Without purpose or a goal we are wondering ourselves and try figuring things out. 

Everything starts with an individual. Not learning from failures will make you bitter and resentful, you will give yourself to pleasure and instant gratification ideas. With good habits you will be more satisfied with yourself, which will lead you to contribute to society.

Change is slow and breakthrough moments are result of lengthy previous actions

Our daily actions are the greatest predictor of what we can achieve. The most powerful outcomes are delayed. The daily effort we put in is stored. And the work we did is never wasted. Jacob Riis said: "Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before." When you are in a good spot, don't rest. 

Four step process for building good habits is:

1. Make it obvious

2. Make it attractive

3. Make it easy

4. Make it satisfying

Adjust your identity towards your beingness 

What you live is who you are. For example you become a writer through your habits of writing, which changes your self image, allowing you to identify as a writer. Happiness is not something only future you can enjoy, happiness is in the process. 

Too often we are too busy with lists and goal setting, yet we do not even know what we want to be. This is highly inefficient way, of going through life. Our identity is a part of our habits. If we believe we are a reader we will read books, if we say we are a football player we will play football. 

What are you trying to change?

Don't get stuck on changing the outcome. Focus on changing your processes,... or even better, focus on changing your identity. Identify who you wish to become. The more proudful you are of certain part of your identity the more you will be motivated to keep the good habits associated with it. "If you are proud of your knowledge you will develop all sorts of habits to keep improving and maintaining it."

Identity link: Become something rather than do something.** I don't want to just read a book, I want to become a reader.

Who influences our habits. We copy three types of people: 

1. The close ones.

2. The many.

3. The powerful.

We copy our parents. The ways they handle problems. Our peers, and how our co-workers get results. When friends smoke, we give it a try too. We are drawn to what brings us respect, approval, admiration and status. We imitate people we envy.

Scaling

We are lazy because energy is precious therefore we follow the law of the least effort. That's why motivation kicks in the beginning but gets lost along the way. This is why we need to set minimal goals, as it is easier to stick with them. By doing so we can gradually increase. One push up per day. One sentence per day. One paragraph per day to one page per day. At some point it comes down to who can deal with boredom better. 

2 minute rule

Any new habit should take less than 2 minutes to do. When you minimize it, you make it achievable, and that stacks.

Variable reward

Many habit-forming products like social media offer endless amounts of novelty. Porn provides sexual novelty, junk food culinary. It is constant surprise. Variable reward is not knowing when you will score the next time. This hypes you up, like in slot machines. Be wary.