Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Avery (2018), Edition: Illustrated, 320 pages
Description
Business. Psychology. Self-Improvement. Nonfiction. HTML:The #1 New York Times bestseller. Over 4 million copies sold! Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results No matter your goals, Atomic Habits offers a proven framework for improving�??every day. James Clear, one of the world's leading experts on habit formation, reveals practical strategies that will teach you exactly how to form good habits, break bad ones, and master the tiny behaviors that lead to remarkable results. If you're having trouble changing your habits, the problem isn't you. The problem is your system. 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. Here, you'll get a proven system that can take you to new heights. Clear is known for his ability to distill complex topics into simple behaviors that can be easily applied to daily life and work. Here, he draws on the most proven ideas from biology, psychology, and neuroscience to create an easy-to-understand guide for making good habits inevitable and bad habits impossible. Along the way, readers will be inspired and entertained with true stories from Olympic gold medalists, award-winning artists, business leaders, life-saving physicians, and star comedians who have used the science of small habits to master their craft and vault to the top of their field. 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 will reshape the way you think about progress and success, and give you the tools and strategies you need to transform your habits�??whether you are a team looking to win a championship, an organization hoping to redefine an industry, or simply an individual who wishes to quit smoking, lose weight, reduce stress, or achieve any other… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member polusvijet
A decent blog post stretched out to book length.
LibraryThing member jbaty
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.
LibraryThing member Jared_Runck
As I believe I’ve mentioned in other reviews, I have a deep aversion to most books that fall within the “self-help” genre, largely for theological reasons that are too difficult to explain here. That and the fact that most books in this genre seem boring, repetitive, and, at the end of the
Obviously, a book on the power of habit to shape our lives and how to shape our habits is not plowing any new ground in the “self-help” world. In fact, throughout the book, Clear gives credit to his forebears in the field, showing both how he builds on and moves beyond others’ work. (At the end of the book, he helpfully provides a “For Further Reading” section.) The unique strength of Clear’s work is his combination of behavioral modification and cognitive psychology approaches. He does a very good job of not simply explaining how habits work but why habits work in that way. One thing that I particularly appreciated (given my research interests in other areas) was the way that he accounts for the role of emotion in our decision-making processes.
The core insight is obvious. True and lasting improvement happens not all at once but in dozens, hundreds—even thousands—of incremental steps. Our daily habits are the “atoms” of our life and identity. Clear’s goal is to prove that the goal is not RADICAL change but MEANINGFUL change, change that moves you closer to the person that you desire to be.
Perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed this work more than others is that it was a fast read. Let’s just say that Clear’s style lives up to his name. His prose is easy; each brief chapter follows the same template; he keeps lists to four items or less; he maintains a near-perfect balance between “fact/idea” and “meaning/application.” He includes fascinating details from the burgeoning field of neuroscience and brain studies as well as providing helpful illustrations (many of them personal).
As a theologian/working pastor, I couldn’t help but make continual applications to Christian spiritual formation. The so-called “spiritual disciplines” (e.g., prayer, meditation, fasting, etc) are, at the end of day, habits. Discipleship is really a process of developing spiritual habits. However, this similarity highlights one HUGE difference between Clear’s approach and a Christian view. I reject Clear’s claim that the pursuit of good habits is rooted in our PRIDE in our identity. For Christians, our pursuit of good habits must be ultimately rooted in our humble pursuit of being identified with Christ. We are not trying to develop our OWN identity but to assume HIS identity.
As surprised as I am to say this (given some of my earlier unrecorded comments while passing through the “Self-Help” section of my local Barnes & Noble), this was a genuinely good book. Perhaps not quite a great book but genuinely informative, enlightening, and helpful. In fact, it was good enough that I’ve added a “Personal Growth” section to my own annual reading log; Clear helped me recognize that this category of writing, when done with the level of skill and relevance he demonstrates throughout, is valuable. Reading books like his is a habit I need to develop.
Show More
day, not all that helpful. However, I feel that Clear’s book proves to be an exception to all those objections. It was enjoyable, fresh, and above all truly helpful. Obviously, a book on the power of habit to shape our lives and how to shape our habits is not plowing any new ground in the “self-help” world. In fact, throughout the book, Clear gives credit to his forebears in the field, showing both how he builds on and moves beyond others’ work. (At the end of the book, he helpfully provides a “For Further Reading” section.) The unique strength of Clear’s work is his combination of behavioral modification and cognitive psychology approaches. He does a very good job of not simply explaining how habits work but why habits work in that way. One thing that I particularly appreciated (given my research interests in other areas) was the way that he accounts for the role of emotion in our decision-making processes.
The core insight is obvious. True and lasting improvement happens not all at once but in dozens, hundreds—even thousands—of incremental steps. Our daily habits are the “atoms” of our life and identity. Clear’s goal is to prove that the goal is not RADICAL change but MEANINGFUL change, change that moves you closer to the person that you desire to be.
Perhaps one of the reasons I enjoyed this work more than others is that it was a fast read. Let’s just say that Clear’s style lives up to his name. His prose is easy; each brief chapter follows the same template; he keeps lists to four items or less; he maintains a near-perfect balance between “fact/idea” and “meaning/application.” He includes fascinating details from the burgeoning field of neuroscience and brain studies as well as providing helpful illustrations (many of them personal).
As a theologian/working pastor, I couldn’t help but make continual applications to Christian spiritual formation. The so-called “spiritual disciplines” (e.g., prayer, meditation, fasting, etc) are, at the end of day, habits. Discipleship is really a process of developing spiritual habits. However, this similarity highlights one HUGE difference between Clear’s approach and a Christian view. I reject Clear’s claim that the pursuit of good habits is rooted in our PRIDE in our identity. For Christians, our pursuit of good habits must be ultimately rooted in our humble pursuit of being identified with Christ. We are not trying to develop our OWN identity but to assume HIS identity.
As surprised as I am to say this (given some of my earlier unrecorded comments while passing through the “Self-Help” section of my local Barnes & Noble), this was a genuinely good book. Perhaps not quite a great book but genuinely informative, enlightening, and helpful. In fact, it was good enough that I’ve added a “Personal Growth” section to my own annual reading log; Clear helped me recognize that this category of writing, when done with the level of skill and relevance he demonstrates throughout, is valuable. Reading books like his is a habit I need to develop.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jscape2000
Nothing new here, but a simple and straight forward approach to the psychological work of habit building. Very Malcolm Gladwell lite. If someone is looking for a self-help book that doesn't require joining a cult, you could do much worse than recommending this.
LibraryThing member Bookish59
Chock full of logical explanations of the psychology of habits. Lots of terminology describing how and why they take control of us. And detailed strategies of how we can take control back. BUT...I felt this was more of a reference book that was smart, made good sense, and could be helpful to some.
I just didn't feel it. And because many habits have emotional components that run deep, brainy reasoning may not work on many others.
Changing cues, environment, motivation as well as making it inconvenient to prevent our acting on our habits are all good ideas. But people and habits can be stubborn and resistant. I know I need something that appeals more to my feelings to get me to just stop my bad habits.
Book is well-written and includes excellent summaries at the end of each chapter. For those people who are practical and logical Atomic Habits may just be the habit-breaking read you need.
Show More
I just didn't feel it. And because many habits have emotional components that run deep, brainy reasoning may not work on many others.
Changing cues, environment, motivation as well as making it inconvenient to prevent our acting on our habits are all good ideas. But people and habits can be stubborn and resistant. I know I need something that appeals more to my feelings to get me to just stop my bad habits.
Book is well-written and includes excellent summaries at the end of each chapter. For those people who are practical and logical Atomic Habits may just be the habit-breaking read you need.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mplantenga11
Atomic Habits gives 4 simple laws for making an action become a habit (or oppositely making a bad habit stop). These 4 laws are: 1. make it obvious (invisible), 2. make it attractive (unattractive), 3. make it easy (difficult), and 4. make it satisfying (unsatisfying). These laws correlate with the
Overall, I found this book very informative. It had a good blend of scientific research and anecdotal examples of people making changes using atomic habits. There were some points in the book where I read some of his tips and thought "duh that's such an obvious thing to do when forming a habit" but after reflecting I realized that I have been actively working toward building better habits so I already had a pretty wide foundation. With that being said, this book would be excellent for people who are just starting out on their habit-building journey and for those who have already started trying to actively forming habits.
Show More
habit feedback loop of cue, craving, response, and reward.Overall, I found this book very informative. It had a good blend of scientific research and anecdotal examples of people making changes using atomic habits. There were some points in the book where I read some of his tips and thought "duh that's such an obvious thing to do when forming a habit" but after reflecting I realized that I have been actively working toward building better habits so I already had a pretty wide foundation. With that being said, this book would be excellent for people who are just starting out on their habit-building journey and for those who have already started trying to actively forming habits.
Show Less
LibraryThing member bookworm12
This book blew me away! I don’t love self-help books, but something about his structure and tangible takeaways was just perfect. I loved learning more about habit stacking, environmental cues, and temptation bundling.
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to
“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?”
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to
Show More
become.”“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?”
Show Less
LibraryThing member RajivC
Overall, I would say that this is a good book.
I like the first sections the most. The most critical insight that I got from the book is the one where James Clear asks the reader to change the narrative if he – or she – wants to change. He gave the example of a smoker trying to quit smoking. He
The methodology that he has suggested to adopt a good habit – or give up a bad one – is excellent.
From there on, the book tends to become repetitive. The repetition detracts from the value of the book.
It is a book that is worth reading.
I like the first sections the most. The most critical insight that I got from the book is the one where James Clear asks the reader to change the narrative if he – or she – wants to change. He gave the example of a smoker trying to quit smoking. He
Show More
suggested that a smoker should say that he is not a smoker and not that he is trying to leave the habit. This example provides us with a powerful insight. The methodology that he has suggested to adopt a good habit – or give up a bad one – is excellent.
From there on, the book tends to become repetitive. The repetition detracts from the value of the book.
It is a book that is worth reading.
Show Less
LibraryThing member KamGeb
A self help book where you learn how to set up your environment and your time in order to establish good habits and eliminate bad habits. It had some good ideas and was easy to understand. It's definitely not a book to sit and read at one time. Rather its a book that you want to read a little. Try
Show More
some ideas. And then pick up again later. I probably will look at it again in a few months. Show Less
LibraryThing member Daniel.Estes
References other books I also liked such as Blink by Malcolm Gladwell, How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big by Scott Adams and The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg.
LibraryThing member ericlee
As I write this, Atomic Habits has spent 85 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list in the category ‘Advice, How-To and Miscellaneous’. This is extraordinary, and out of curiosity I decided to try it.
James Clear is not a scientist, though he’s a self-declared expert on habits, and my
He writes well, he cites good sources (all footnoted), he sums up his main points at the end of every (very short) chapter, and the book makes sense.
The basic point – made by him and others who write about this field – seems to be to make small changes, be consistent, and over time you’ll get results.
If you’re struggling with the examples he frequently cites — you want to lose weight, read more books, do better in your profession, etc. — this book is not a bad place to start.
James Clear is not a scientist, though he’s a self-declared expert on habits, and my
Show More
first impression of the book as I read about a childhood accident he had, his experience as a baseball player and businessman, was not a good one. But the book grew on me.He writes well, he cites good sources (all footnoted), he sums up his main points at the end of every (very short) chapter, and the book makes sense.
The basic point – made by him and others who write about this field – seems to be to make small changes, be consistent, and over time you’ll get results.
If you’re struggling with the examples he frequently cites — you want to lose weight, read more books, do better in your profession, etc. — this book is not a bad place to start.
Show Less
LibraryThing member jpsnow
The author’s story is so personal and the outcome so effective that you’re drawn to learn the secret. There are other books about habits. I found this one especially relatable and straightforward.
LibraryThing member out-and-about
Good summary of the science behind habit building, including a solid bibliography. Not much new here, but a nice summary of the known work in the area.
LibraryThing member Schneider
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.
LibraryThing member nmarun
The book starts with a highly effective way of building habits - aggregation of marginal gains - start small habits (accomplish within 2 mins), but do them for quite some time. There's a simple math showing how improving by 1% every day gets us to be about 37 times better by the end of the
Author suggests to change your identity of being someone better - I'm not someone who smokes - seems to stick with you for much longer. I've started using this to get rid of one of my bad habits. Let's see if I'll successfully quit that.
I could relate 'forget about goals' to 'focus on your commitment not on progress' that I have read in Essential Scrum by Kenneth Rubin. The book has quite a few such practical steps to get us started and keep us moving.
The cue-craving-response-reward process is very clearly illustrated. Understand how our brain drives us to do most of the things helps us to reason out our actions to us and others.
One other book I was reminded while reading this was Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. On the whole, I deeply enjoyed reading this book.
Show More
year.Author suggests to change your identity of being someone better - I'm not someone who smokes - seems to stick with you for much longer. I've started using this to get rid of one of my bad habits. Let's see if I'll successfully quit that.
I could relate 'forget about goals' to 'focus on your commitment not on progress' that I have read in Essential Scrum by Kenneth Rubin. The book has quite a few such practical steps to get us started and keep us moving.
The cue-craving-response-reward process is very clearly illustrated. Understand how our brain drives us to do most of the things helps us to reason out our actions to us and others.
One other book I was reminded while reading this was Switch by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. On the whole, I deeply enjoyed reading this book.
Show Less
LibraryThing member lachlanp
Good advice, will need to read it again to make use of it.
LibraryThing member jmoncton
This book has so many good tips in it -- it's a great read if you want to jumpstart some good habits or possibly steer away from bad ones. Clear's style of writing is entertaining and he provides lots of good examples that both encourage and inspire.
LibraryThing member spinsterrevival
I’m trying to figure out the massive popularity of this book when it felt like a rehash of things I’ve read before in other books. I got some benefit from some concepts but unfortunately don’t think my life has been changed; oh well.
Also apparently my new thing is trigger warning people who
Also apparently my new thing is trigger warning people who
Show More
might suffer from disordered eating as yikes here to that and the fat phobia. I really wish habit books would quit talking about people getting “healthier” by losing weight as if they know anything that they’re talking about; every single chapter mentions some sort of dieting so be forewarned. Show Less
LibraryThing member JRlibrary
Definitely contains some worthwhile nuggets such as information about the importance of making habits attractive and obvious. Trying to implement the advice now. :-)
LibraryThing member rynk
Habits aren't hard to understand. They're things you keep doing. James Clear tries to make them complex with graphs showing "results" on a curve. There's no evidence that self-improvement is anything but linear, but no matter. His tenets are simple: Make a routine easy, obvious, attractive and
Show More
satisfying and it becomes habit-forming. Chain simple things together to do a complex thing; find an immediate payoff and you'll stick with it. All useful in finding discipline or making good things happen. Show Less
LibraryThing member Lynsey2
One of the most useful books i've ever read. I only wish i had read it 20 years ago!
LibraryThing member BoundTogetherForGood
Becoming 1% better in anything really adds up. Small changes make big difference, but they take time. You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fail to the level of your systems.
Example of mindset changes: the goal is not to treat a book;the goal is to be a reader.
Change old habits to begin
Connect new habits with old habits.
Self control is really about structure. If you don't have to use willpower
because your environment doesn't demand it, you'll do better.
Realize that the things you need to do are not things you HAVE to do; they are has you are blessed to get to do.
Matter the smallest version of a new habit, as frequently as possible. Add the next smallest step to the habit, each time. Eventually you will ingrain the habit into your daily routine.
Make your changes visible, by creating a way to see the reward of your changes. If saving money for a very large goal, reward yourself with a small thing, such as a trip out for ice cream after certain levels have been attained. This will help with motivation.
Choose the way you identify yourself. Do not identify yourself by your career because someday you will likely no longer work that career. Instead, identify yourself by the character traits that make you a good worker.
Example of mindset changes: the goal is not to treat a book;the goal is to be a reader.
Change old habits to begin
Show More
better ones. Connect new habits with old habits.
Self control is really about structure. If you don't have to use willpower
because your environment doesn't demand it, you'll do better.
Realize that the things you need to do are not things you HAVE to do; they are has you are blessed to get to do.
Matter the smallest version of a new habit, as frequently as possible. Add the next smallest step to the habit, each time. Eventually you will ingrain the habit into your daily routine.
Make your changes visible, by creating a way to see the reward of your changes. If saving money for a very large goal, reward yourself with a small thing, such as a trip out for ice cream after certain levels have been attained. This will help with motivation.
Choose the way you identify yourself. Do not identify yourself by your career because someday you will likely no longer work that career. Instead, identify yourself by the character traits that make you a good worker.
Show Less
LibraryThing member libraryhead
Not much that was new here if you've read other habits books like Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before, but it is presented in a way that seems actionable and possibly a little easier to remember. Would have appreciated more emphasis on how to eliminate bad habits, since some of the strategies seem
Show More
only partially applicable in that respect. Reminded me of Tim Ferriss in parts -- hack your life, optimize everything and you can win the day! -- but not so obnoxious, I won this book for Librarything Early Reviewers but never received my copy, so I checked it out from the library instead. Show Less
LibraryThing member JoniMFisher
I wish this book had been available when I was much younger. As is, I learned how to make small, meaningful changes to make my habits work for me.
LibraryThing member Neale
A new book that covers how you can make small incremental changes over time that lead to large results.
Atomic means small, as in atoms.
I have followed James's Blog (link below) for a number of years and this book covers topics from the blog plus new material.
His back story is interesting and
It is a practical book and he provides ideas to increase your good habits and reduce your bad habits - useful strategies to do both are included.
Habits are automatic and many times unconscious, so the more automated and intentional you make your habits the more time you have for other important things.
You may need to read it a couple of times to get the most out of all his suggestions.
Highly recommend.
Atomic means small, as in atoms.
I have followed James's Blog (link below) for a number of years and this book covers topics from the blog plus new material.
His back story is interesting and
Show More
inspiring.It is a practical book and he provides ideas to increase your good habits and reduce your bad habits - useful strategies to do both are included.
Habits are automatic and many times unconscious, so the more automated and intentional you make your habits the more time you have for other important things.
You may need to read it a couple of times to get the most out of all his suggestions.
Highly recommend.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018
Physical description
320 p.; 9.27 inches
ISBN
0735211299 / 9780735211292
Similar in this library
The Now Habit: A Strategic Program for Overcoming Procrastination and Enjoying Guilt-Free Play by Neil Fiore
Organizing from the Inside Out, Second Edition: The Foolproof System For Organizing Your Home, Your Office and Your Life by Julie Morgenstern
The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal