Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

When working in your favor, automation can make your good habits inevitable and your bad habits impossible. It is the ultimate way to lock in future behavior rather than relying on willpower in the moment. By utilizing commitment devices, strategic onetime decisions, and technology, you can create an environment of inevitability—a space where good

Cravings are the second step, and they are the motivational force behind every habit.

Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) we try to change the wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way.

It’s easy to be in motion and convince yourself that you’re still making progress. You think, “I’ve got conversations going with four potential clients right now. This is good. We’re moving in the right direction.” Or, “I brainstormed some ideas for that book I want to write. This is coming together.”

More precisely, your habits are how you embody your identity. When you make your bed each day, you embody the identity of an organized person. When you write each day, you embody the identity of a creative person. When you train each day, you embody the identity of an athletic person.

Too often, we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action.

Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits.

Like the muscles of the body responding to regular weight training, particular regions of the brain adapt as they are used and atrophy as they are abandoned.

Every time you choose to perform a bad habit, it’s a vote for that identity.

Any habit can be broken down into a feedback loop that involves four steps: cue, craving, response, and reward.