Book Summary of Atomic habits

Atomic habit is a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do, but it’s
also the source of incredible power. A component of the system of compound growth. So
forget about setting goals and focus on your systems first.

What are Habits?

Habits are behaviors that we perform automatically, with little or no thought. Habits are
powerful so if repeated daily, even the smallest actions can have a huge effect.
But positive change requires patience. You can be confident that good habits are keeping
you on the right trajectory, even if you don’t see immediate results

“You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current
results.” 
Making big changes in your life doesn’t require major upheaval – often, tiny changes to
your behavior are enough to lead to the desired results.
“Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single
instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of
your new identity.” 
Why is it Hard to Build Habits?
Now the question is how are habits formed? Behaviors that result in satisfying
consequences tend to get repeated until they become automatic.
It’s very easy to underestimate the value of making small improvements on a daily basis.
Too often we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action.

“Some people spend their entire lives waiting for the time to be right to make an
improvement.”
Why should we try and get a little better each day? Because if you can get just 1% better
each day over the next year you will be 37 times better by the time you’re done.

According to atomic habits, habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. The
same way that money multiplies to compound interest, the effect of your habits multiplies
as you repeat them. They seem to make little or even no difference on any given day, but
the impact they deliver over months or years can be enormous.
Bad habits compound too; putting off a project to tomorrow seems to make no difference,
but when you repeat this type of 1% error day after day these tiny errors can be
compounded into toxic results.

“Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement”  

Success is the product of daily habits not once in a lifetime transformations. Would be
aware that your outcomes will lag behind your habits.
Habits appear to make no difference until we cross a threshold and unlock a new level of
performance. The plateau of latent potential shows us why it can be hard to build habits.
Habits need to persist long enough to break through this plateau and that’s going to take
time.

Forget about Goals, Concentrate on Systems

Goals are the results that you want to achieve, and systems are about the processes that
lead to those results.
“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” 
Atomic habits states that if you focus on the system, the goal will take care of itself.  Why
is this?
1- Because winners and losers have the same goals; so every Olympian wants to win a
gold medal and every entrepreneur wants to be successful. Thus it’s the system of the
winners that gets them those results and not the goals, because everyone shares the
same goal.
 2- Because achieving a goal is only a momentary change. Also, goals restrict your
happiness. Our implicit assumption is once I reach my goal then I’ll be happy, but that sets
us up to fail; because either you achieve your goal but you don’t feel fulfilled or you fail to
achieve your goal and that makes you feel unhappy.
3- Because goals are at odds with long-term progress.

If you were having trouble changing your habits the problem isn’t you, the problem is your
system focusing on the overall system rather than a single goal.
 It is one of the core themes of Atomic habits; you do not rise to the level of your goals
instead you fall to the level of your system. So it’s all about the system, not goals.

“Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.”  

The Three Layers of Behavior Change

You can think about outcomes as being about what you get, processes are about what you
do and identity is about what you believe. So when people set out to improve, they’re
thinking about the outcome and then thinking about the process they need to follow to
achieve that outcome.
It’s hard to change your habits if you don’t change your underlying beliefs that led to your
previous behavior.
You might start a habit because of motivation, but the only reason you stick with one is
that it becomes part of your identity.
Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become; no single
instance will transform your beliefs. But as the votes build-up, does the evidence of your
new identity.

Here’s a simple two-step process for change

1. Besides the type of person, you want to be.
2. Prove it to yourself with small wins small atomic habits.
“The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you
will be to maintain the habits associated with it. If you’re proud of how your hair looks,
you’ll develop all sorts of habits to care for and maintain it. If you’re proud of the size of
your biceps, you’ll make sure you never skip an upper-body workout. If you’re proud of
the scarves you knit, you’ll be more likely to spend hours knitting each week. Once your
pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits.” 
“When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different.”

Habit Loops
Habits work like this:
First, there is the cue, the cue triggers your brain to initiate your behavior because it
predicts a reward. Next, you have the craving. What you crave is not the habit itself but
the change in the stage it delivers. The response is the actual habit you perform, and this
can be a thought or an action and finally, the response delivers a reward.

For Example about the Morning coffee, here is the habit loop:
Cue = waking up
Craving = feeling alert
Action = drinking coffee
Reward = feeling alert

The Habit Loop

The four steps together form a neurological feedback loop cue – craving – response –
reward ultimately allows you to create automatic habits.
The more you practice this habit loop with any particular habits the more it becomes
automatic.
Step 1: The Cue – Make it Obvious
For good habits, we want to make the cue obvious and for bad habits we want them to be
invisible. For example, if you want to get better at playing guitar we need something that
triggers us to remind us to play guitar. One way of doing this is by putting the guitar in the
middle of the living room so that your brain gets triggered more often.
Another great way to introduce new cues is by creating a habit stack. Habit stack is simply
the act of adding habits before and after each other.
“The cue triggers your brain to initiate a behavior. It is a bit of information that predicts a
reward.”
Step 2: The Craving – Make it Attractive
To make the habit stick it’s good to get positive feedback, a good way of doing this is by
temptation bundling.
Temptation bundling basically says that you’re more likely to find a behavior attractive if
you get to do one of your favorite things at the same time.
The second method you could use to make craving more attractive is by joining a culture,
where your desired behavior is normal behavior.
If you want to become more well-read and you could join a book club this will hold you
accountable and it will be way more fun and of course if you want to break bad habits you
want to do the inverse by joining a culture that doesn’t endorse your bad habits.
“A craving is the sense that something is missing. It is a desire to change your internal
state. This gap between your current state and your desired state provides a reason to
act.” 
Step 3: The Response – Make it Easy
Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to change a habit. If we just want it
enough then we will change but the truth is that human behavior follows the law of the
lease efforts. We naturally gravitate towards the option that requires the least amount of
work, we can use this to our advantage by creating an environment we are doing the right
thing is as easy as possible.
For good behaviors you should reduce friction, if you want to get fit you could join a gym
that is on your route to work. You can also get your gym bag organized and ready the
night before.
For bad behaviors, you should increase friction. If you want to watch less television only
turn on the TV as you say out loud the name of the program you want to watch. This will
stop mindless viewing and switching channels.
Step 4: The Rewards – Make it Satisfying
As humans, it can be hard to pick up new habits. This is because the beginning of a new
habit is mostly sacrificing without any rewards. You go to the gym a few times in a week
and nothing really changes, it takes months to see real results.
So if you want to get the habit to stick you need to figure out a way to give yourself an
immediate reward. One technique you can use when the reward is long term is to set up a
loyalty system for yourself.
For example imagine if you want to give up alcohol, on its own, there is no satisfaction in
simply abstaining; but what if you transfer $25 to your holiday bank accounts every week
it went without alcohol? You’ll be immediately rewarding yourself for your new habit.
“The cue is about noticing the reward. The craving is about wanting the reward. The
response is about obtaining the reward.” 
“Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.”  

How to Form Good Habits

Certain stimuli can trigger habitual behavior. Once you understand that, you can use this
knowledge to change your habits.
1. Encourage better habits by changing your environment. Make your cues as obvious as
possible, and you’ll be more likely to respond to them! For example, you want to eat
healthier snacks? Leave them out on the counter, rather than hiding them in the salad
drawer.
2. Use implementation intentions. Don’t make vague statements such as “I will eat
better”. Instead, create a clear plan of action, and set out when and where you will carry
out the habit you want to cultivate.
3. Build temptation. Humans are motivated by the ANTICIPATION of reward. Our brain not
only releases dopamine (the feel-good hormone) when we do pleasurable things but also
when we anticipate them.
Note that making habits attractive will help you stick to them. Link the habit you want to
form (but are not enjoying) with a behavior that you’re drawn to. For example, allow
yourself to watch episodes of your favorite show while you’re cycling at the gym.
4. Make the habit as easy to adopt as possible. Reduce friction for good habits, increase
friction for bad habits.
5. Use the two-minute rule. Make any new activity feel manageable by only committing to
two-minutes of it. This is a way to build easily achievable habits, and those can lead you
on to greater things.  Simply getting started is the most important step!
6. Make your habits immediately satisfying. When you’re pursuing habits with a delayed
return, try to attach an immediate gratification to them.

How to Keep Your Habits on Track

Option 1: Habit Tracker
For example: Use a calendar or diary to create a habit tracker. Also, cross off every day
that you manage to stick to your good habit. Habit tracking itself is an attractive, satisfying
habit, which is why it is so effective.
Option 2: Contract
Develop a habit contract that imposes negative consequences if you fail to stay on track.
Try to involve other people, so simply knowing that someone is watching you can be a
powerful incentive to keep going.