Atomic Habits

Most of the people who know me, know me for my positivity and high spirit. They even ask me a reason or funda for being so cheerful all the time. Sincerely speaking, I don't consider myself to be a high spirited one. But when something new comes up, I am ready to take it and treat it as a challenge. & This feeling of being busy or engaged works like a charm for me, at least. But recently, I have been facing little low time. Because of Corona, we all are stuck at our homes. At first, there was a sense of relief and peace but gradually it turned into boredom. My routine became totally monotonous than ever. That is why, I decided to give a self help book a try. 

Up until now, I have read many classics, peotry, short stories , dramas etc. But I never treated psychological or self help books as a serious literary genre. So initially I was totally hesitant to go ahead with this idea, mainly because of my lack of knowledge or reading experience. This confusion went on for many days and suddenly I came to know about Atomic Habits by James Clear. This name was mentioned somewhere in UPSC topper Anudeep Durishetty's interview in his current reading list. So I decided to read this book and here is my review.

Atomic Habits by James Clear

The people around you are always enthusiastic, when it comes to assess you and categorize you as a particular type of person like lazy, punctual, sincere, or even doodle. Now you might wonder, how can they put such a unique label on someone. Here is a simple answer. Even though you treat your actions as spontaneous ones, the fact is that they are pre-determined. Not by someone else, but by yourself. We condition or program our actions in such a way, that they become more automatic, fixed. We don't even treat some actions consciously as a matter of choice, we follow them like a routine. This conditioned actions are known as habits. These little habits collectively structure our identity as an individual. If it is my habit to complete my each and every task on time, then I am sincere or reliable. If I procrastinate my activities, then I am lazy one. It is totally fine, if you are satisfied with whatever label is put on you by someone else. But if it is not so, then the real problem starts. Here you need some conscious, deliberate attempts to alter the smallest part of your behaviour, i.e your habits.

As Socrates said, " The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." But what makes this entire process of change complicated? For us, real problem is not "what" to do, but "how" to do. Here, the book solves this eternal and universal dilemma. Let me admit it without any hesitation, that talking about change is very easy and totally effortless. But at the back of our mind, we know that well, how hard it could be to bring even a tiny change in our own routine. So, here you can find an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. This book tries to present you a blueprint of tiny changes with remarkable results. 

At first, you can find author's own journey and his own learning & understanding of habits. This introductory part is well written, as it clears what to expect from this book. The first unit is wholly dedicated to the fundamentals of atomic(an extremely small amount of thing) habits. It is a fascinating experience to read a well detailed, obsorbing description of habits. Three layers of behaviour change, the two steps process to change your identity etc. is something that is normally never-heard of. Not only the content, but also the structure of writing gives immense pleasure to a structure- freak like me. You can find a bullet point summary at the end of each chapter. So a hint for readers - there is a content, that's why it needs summarisation. Just a word play can't be captured in a summary, right? 

From here onwards, you can read how to build good habits in 4 simple steps. In the exact words of an author, it is actually a framework of the four laws of behaviour change. You can simply refer to this framework, when you want to build a good habit and break a bad one. Afterwards, an author elaborates on all four steps with a separate chapter for each law. 

As it is a revision for me too, to recall what I have learned from this book so far, so let me explain it with an example. Let's say that, I want to develop one good habit, and want to get rid of one bad habit. (this number is for the sake of convenience, my habits, both good and bad, are uncountable!😀)

First of all, you need to be aware of your own habits. For that, you can create your own habit scoreboard. You can find it in this book itself.

The four laws apply for good as well as bad habits. You just need to make an inversion, means make them positive in case of good habits, and negative in case of bad habits. 

Good Habit: I want to learn a new language, Japanese

Bad Habit: I want to control my cell phone usage. 

* First Law: MAKE IT OBVIOUS

+I will (behaviour) at (time) in (location)

After(current habit), I will(new habit)

This two steps are two formulas, the implementation intention and habit stacking, respectively. 

(+ Good habit, - bad habit)

+ I will complete one chapter on Duolingo in the morning, in my bedroom. After reading economy book, I will solve one chapter on Duolingo. 

- I will keep my cellphone away from me in the evening, may be in hall, and I'll sit in my own room and read. After my evening tea at four, I'll keep my cellphone away for 3 hours at least and read a book or do anything else. 

________

* second Law: MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE

After (current habit), I'll (habit I need).

After (habit I need), I'll ( habit I want).

+ After having lunch, I'll watch one Japanese short film or music video. I'll note down new words in notebook, then I'll watch 1 FRIENDS episode. 

- I'll have my evening snacks at four, then I'll keep my phone away. At seven, I'll check my Facebook account.

(you can involve your family and friends in these activities for better implementation.)

________

*Third law: MAKE IT EASY

(+/- friction, +/- steps, prepare environment, two minutes rule, automatizing habits)

+ I'll keep Duolingo and other apps on my cellphone lock screen. I'll print Kana & Kanji chart and hang or paste it on the wall of my studyroom. I'll start with goal of one chapter a day, hardly takes two minutes to finish. 

- I'll keep my cellphone away in drawer of cupboard, that is in hall. & I'll lock the drawer and keep the keys in keyholder. I'll set an alarm for 4 PM on cellphone itself with a very weird and scary tone. Within two minutes, I'll keep my phone in drawer & sit in my bedroom for study.

________

Fourth Law: MAKE IT SATISFYING

Use inforcement, make 'doing nothing' enjoyable in case of bad habit, use habit tracker, never miss twice.

+I'll keep Melody chocolates box on my study table. After each session on Duolingo, I'll eat one chocolate. (But I'll make sure, that number of sessions and chocolates are same. No need to build bad habit of eating too many chocolates 😀). I'll make a weekly chart of my Duolingo sessions. I'll mark + on calender, when I complete one session. I'll mark --, if I miss one session. I'll make a contract with my parents, they can ask me on every Sunday, how many sessions I have completed. If number if 6-7, then I'll buy something online. 

- I'll ask my brother or anyone who is always near me to take my phone away after 4, if I still haven't kept it away. Even a WhatsApp status 'not available in the evening' can be effective. I'll tell my parents to ask me everyday at dinner, what new I have learnt today . As a major embarrassement, if I use my cellphone between 4-7 twice a week, I'll have to cancel my shopping order. 

________

This entire framework is like a tried and tested mathematical formula. Just put your numbers in it, do right steps and you'll have the answer. After this detailed discussion on habit framework, an author makes you aware about subjective part of the story i.e. role of your talent, your personality. What I find interesting, is that he presents both the sides with same conviction. You'll read the downside of good habits too. Imagine this book as four layered Cake. Above mentioned framework are actual four layers. Then second last chapter of advanced tactics, where an author explains Goldilocks rule, how to stick to good habits, how to find an accountability partner is fine, sweet icing. And the last but not the least part- Appendix is cherry or whatever type of chocolate you like the on top of the cake.

Appendix contains little lessons from the four laws, downloadable chapters on how to apply these laws to business, parenting as well as templates for habit scoreboard, habit stalking, habit tracking, habit contract, personal journal and most importantly links of personality tests like Big 5, HEXACO-PI-R, IPIP-NIO (both original, shortened new version). As I read this book on Kindle, I could use all these links and see exciting results. 

I would definitely recommend this book, as it is no-nonsense, practical, detailed, relatable and very easy to understand and apply, helpful in a long run. If you are searching some new, unique writing for your next read, this is undoubtedly a great option for you. 

At this point, I must say, that this book is not for one time read or one big solution to all your problems. Don't consider it to be a well build, furnished flat ready for possession! Consider it as bricks, use them as per your choice and convenience to "rebuild" yourself. 

#definitely_worth_of_reading

©Neha Jyoti Pradip Joshi. 

(18/10/2020)