Hi! This is a thread where we can all share our thoughts, insights and feedback on Atomic Habits by James Clear. I’d love to know how you might apply his lessons on habit forming and habit breaking to any habits (work or personal) that you want to work on over the summer? And we can hold each other gently accountable too. You can stay anon if you would like!
To kick us off, share the habit you’re working on and one tiny change or improvement you can make to kickstart your journey (linked with chapter one The Fundamentals).
I’m going to be working on two this summer 1) Reducing my sugar consumption and 2) Building in more recreational time into my life beyond work and house chores! I could do with some advice on both, but partic reducing sugar!
This is great, Louise. I have been reading this book intermittently since 2023. However, with accountability from this club, I want to not only complete Atomic Habits but also implement the knowledge gained from it...I am working on three 1) I want to be a reader, 2) Journal consistently and 3) Improve my communication skills
Wonderful stuff Zephon, thank you for sharing! From the prompts in the chapter on the Fundamentals, what systems might you need to put in place in order to make and track the small changes consistently? And how will you know it's working? AKA what does success in these goals look like to you?
Thank you for setting up this club. I only started reading the book last week. I only read about Law 1 - Make it obvious - so obvious.... just make it visible - First thing on the list - to make a list of all my habits
Thanks for setting up this book club. I started reading Atomic Habits this week, but will be ready for chapter 1 in a week. Enjoyable read so far. I mostly read ebooks so I can carry a lot of books with me and my highlights and notes are always available to me. I've managed to get a little lazy the last few years when it comes to working out, but I like the concept of small changes that add up over time. Any positive change is better than nothing. Yesterday I created a small spreadsheet to track several health habits. My thoughts for now are to challenge myself for roughly a month with an increased health goal. Here's an example goal: 400+ push-ups per week for July. Breaking that down a little further: that's 100+ push-ups broken up into three sets during the day for four days each week. Then depending on how I feel as I get near the end of the month, kick the number up a notch.
Hi Anthony, thanks for joining! I agree, the idea of small changes, building up over time, is really appealing to me - makes it seem more achievable and crucially for me, more sustainable. That's great fitness habit there - still seems like a lot to me, but you know you! How might you overcome any challenges or "life" getting in the way of those x3 reps a day?
Each rep (30-35 pushups) takes about 2 minutes to complete. I can find that six minutes a day, plus I only do that 4 days a week. Ah, but time will tell…
Law 1: Make it obvious was good. Habit stacking was the concept that appealed the most to me but I also see how changing my environment is rather key to discreetly letting go of bad habits and developing better habits. I do like a lot of the systems thinking/dynamics concepts that are bubbling up. I haven’t read about the two minute rule yet (looks like that is in chapter 13 as part of the 3rd law: Make it easy) but I realize my two minutes sets of push-ups falls right in line with it.
It does! I use the two minute rule a lot to get me started with something (feels way less overwhelming and more achievable) Also a huge fan of adjusting my environment, for example, my probiotic drink is the first thing i see in my fridge in the morning and I have to move it to get to the milk i put in my coffee, so a great reminder and nudge to take that first!
I’m going to be working on two this summer 1) Reducing my sugar consumption and 2) Building in more recreational time into my life beyond work and house chores! I could do with some advice on both, but partic reducing sugar!
This is great, Louise. I have been reading this book intermittently since 2023. However, with accountability from this club, I want to not only complete Atomic Habits but also implement the knowledge gained from it...I am working on three 1) I want to be a reader, 2) Journal consistently and 3) Improve my communication skills
Wonderful stuff Zephon, thank you for sharing! From the prompts in the chapter on the Fundamentals, what systems might you need to put in place in order to make and track the small changes consistently? And how will you know it's working? AKA what does success in these goals look like to you?
Thank you for setting up this club. I only started reading the book last week. I only read about Law 1 - Make it obvious - so obvious.... just make it visible - First thing on the list - to make a list of all my habits
Visual cues really work for me!
Thanks for setting up this book club. I started reading Atomic Habits this week, but will be ready for chapter 1 in a week. Enjoyable read so far. I mostly read ebooks so I can carry a lot of books with me and my highlights and notes are always available to me. I've managed to get a little lazy the last few years when it comes to working out, but I like the concept of small changes that add up over time. Any positive change is better than nothing. Yesterday I created a small spreadsheet to track several health habits. My thoughts for now are to challenge myself for roughly a month with an increased health goal. Here's an example goal: 400+ push-ups per week for July. Breaking that down a little further: that's 100+ push-ups broken up into three sets during the day for four days each week. Then depending on how I feel as I get near the end of the month, kick the number up a notch.
Hi Anthony, thanks for joining! I agree, the idea of small changes, building up over time, is really appealing to me - makes it seem more achievable and crucially for me, more sustainable. That's great fitness habit there - still seems like a lot to me, but you know you! How might you overcome any challenges or "life" getting in the way of those x3 reps a day?
Each rep (30-35 pushups) takes about 2 minutes to complete. I can find that six minutes a day, plus I only do that 4 days a week. Ah, but time will tell…
I'm here for you!
Should have said “set” instead of “rep.”
Law 1: Make it obvious was good. Habit stacking was the concept that appealed the most to me but I also see how changing my environment is rather key to discreetly letting go of bad habits and developing better habits. I do like a lot of the systems thinking/dynamics concepts that are bubbling up. I haven’t read about the two minute rule yet (looks like that is in chapter 13 as part of the 3rd law: Make it easy) but I realize my two minutes sets of push-ups falls right in line with it.
It does! I use the two minute rule a lot to get me started with something (feels way less overwhelming and more achievable) Also a huge fan of adjusting my environment, for example, my probiotic drink is the first thing i see in my fridge in the morning and I have to move it to get to the milk i put in my coffee, so a great reminder and nudge to take that first!