Atomic Habits - Book Summary - Part1

I’m reading this book for the second time after a span of a few years. This time, I find myself connecting with its content more deeply than I did the first time. As we step into the new year, a perfect time for fresh starts, I’d like to summarize this book and share insights that might support your efforts to build a new habit or let go of an old one.

In today's article we will discuss the following 3 topics from this book.

• The surprising power of atomic habits
• Changing a habit needs change of identity
• The habit loop

The surprising power of Atomic Habits

Atomic habit is the smallest piece of action we take each day over many years. In any skill, if we become 1% better each day for a year, we will be 37 times better than where we started . The same way, if we become 1% worse each day, we will be down to near zero in an year.

If a flight from Los Angeles to New York turns south by just 3.5 degrees at the takeoff, it will end up in Washington DC instead of New York. The small degree of deviation at the start is not noticeable but when it is extrapolated for the distance across the USA, it will end up hundreds of miles apart from intended destination.

The power of atomic habits will be surprising when compounded over long period of time. We might not notice the results of atomic habit in a day, week, or a month. But over the years it makes all the difference.

Changing a habit needs change of identify

Many of us can quit a bad habit for a short period of time, only to fall back into it. The main reason is often trying to change the wrong thing. For example, if you want to reduce weight, you can use willpower for a few days to eat less and work out. Here, you’re trying to change the outcome, which will likely be short-lived.

The second method is to identify the existing systems and processes causing the problem. What is the reason for being overweight? Pinpoint factors like eating junk food, sitting for long periods, or lacking daily exercise. Then, address the systems and processes leading to these habits. For instance, if you take a cab to work every day, can you switch to riding a bike instead? If you have a desk job, can you use a standing desk and incorporate light stretches while working? These changes, combined with daily exercise, can lead to longer-lasting results.

The third method is identity change. Start behaving like a healthy and lean person. In every situation, ask yourself: What would a healthy and lean person do in this case? Would they choose a salad or a cheese pizza? Would they take the stairs or the elevator? Gradually, begin aligning your behavior with this new identity. The more often you identify yourself as a healthy and lean person, the more the change will take hold. Combining identity change with systems and processes will result in a long-lasting transformation.

The habit loop

There are 4 steps in performing a habit

1. Cue - This step involves identifying a signal in the environment in anticipation of a reward.
2. Craving - This step is the desire to change your internal state.
3. Response - This step is the actual action we perform to get the reward.
4. Reward - This step fulfills our desire.

Why is it called a loop? The reward reinforces the cue for the future. Let’s take an example: You wake up in the morning and want to feel alive. You drink coffee. The cue here is waking up and wanting to feel alive. The craving is the desire to change your internal state from drowsy to alert. The action is drinking coffee, and the reward is feeling alive. When this happens daily, your mind begins to associate drinking coffee with waking up, and a habit forms. You’ll want to drink coffee every day after waking up. Once a habit is formed, the mind processes these four steps in split seconds.

In the upcoming articles, we’ll explore how to apply certain laws to each step of this habit loop to achieve the desired results.

That’s a wrap for this week. Happy learning!