Abigail’s Book Chat: Atomic Habits
Thinking about your New Year's resolutions or your goals for 2025 yet? Atomic Habits by James Clear is the perfect way to help you understand the process of habit-building and the behaviors behind creating good habits that last while breaking bad ones for good.
In the pages of this book, James Clear lays out how tiny and attainable changes to our behaviors can bring about remarkable and grand results by splitting his book into four laws: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. Within the following chapters of each law, Clear illustrates the importance and specific ways in which each law supports the formation of a new habit and breaks the cycle of a bad one.
First Law: MAKE IT OBVIOUS
Our brains are constantly working and attempting to make sense of the world around us. The first step to changing a habit is to become aware of your current habits and the cues that trigger them. To make creating habits easier, make cues obvious for habits and implement a clear plan for when and where to take action.
He uses this as a template for implementation strategy: “I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION].”
Example: “I will meditate for one minute at 7 a.m. in my kitchen.”
Clear explains that one of the best ways to build a new habit is to connect it with a habit you are already doing. He calls this habit stacking and it is a specific form of an implementation intention.
He uses this as a template for habit stacking: “After I [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT].”
Example: “After I pour my cup of coffee each morning, I will meditate for one minute.”
Since each behavior is initiated by a cue, we greatly benefit from making cues of good habits obvious in our environment. This means reducing exposure and cues to bad habits will help break them. Instead of keeping the sweet treats on your counter to leisurely grab as you walk through your kitchen, tuck them away and out of your sight. If you wish to have a sweet treat, it will be a more conscious decision to open your pantry or cupboard in order to get it. As the book interestingly illustrates, individuals with seemingly high willpower tend not to place themselves in tempting situations. It is less about self-control and more about the environment that matters.
Second Law: MAKE IT ATTRACTIVE
We are wired to seek comfort and the path of least resistance. When this idea is used in the context of forming habits, the more attractive an opportunity is, the more likely we are to engage. Dopamine plays a key role in motivation; the greater the anticipation of a reward, the greater the dopamine spike. So, it is the anticipation of the reward–not its fulfillment of it–that prompts us to take action.
This may not seem like a new concept, but our friends, family, and those closest to us really play a role in our daily habits. Clear says we imitate the behavior of three groups in particular: the close, the many, and the powerful.
The close: friends, family, close peers
The many: We tend to look at groups for advice and to guide us in a behavior. This could come in the form of checking reviews and social media to see “what everyone else is doing.” As humans, we want to get along with others and belong. Due to our innate desire to want to feel accepted, changing our habits becomes more attractive when it fits in with the group we want to be associated with.
The powerful: We love learning about the habits of highly effective people. We want to know what they do in a day, what they watch, what they eat, and how they manage their time. Then, we try to emulate exactly what they do in hopes of becoming as successful as them. Either consciously or unconsciously, many of our habits are rooted in the behavior of those we admire.
One way to make habits more attractive from a social point is to join a club or culture where your desired behavior is the norm and something you all share. For example, if you want to run a 10k next year, join a run club in your area where members run races consistently or enjoy running for fun. We find any behavior that grants us approval, respect, and praise attractive.
Third Law: MAKE IT EASY
I think we can all agree that planning something is easier than practicing it. However, for a habit to form, behaviors need to be repeated over and over. This requires action. Reduce the friction associated with good behaviors by creating an environment where decision-making is easy and simple.
The Two-Minute Rule
This is genius. When we start thinking about forming a new good habit or breaking a bad one, it is tempting to “go big or go home.” Doing too much too soon can initiate burnout and lead to stopping behaviors toward the new habit altogether.
The Two-Minute Rule states, “When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes.”
“Read every night before bed” turns into “Read one page.”
“Run three miles” becomes “Tie my running shoes.”
This makes the barrier to entry so low, that the start of a new habit couldn’t be easier. Your goal could be to eventually read one book a month or to run a marathon, but the formation of a new habit should not feel like a challenge.
Fourth Law: MAKE IT SATISFYING
The first three laws of behavior change–make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy–increase the odds that you will follow through on the behavior. The fourth law–make it satisfying–increases the odds the behavior will be repeated.
The habit stacking + habit tracking formula: “After I [CURRENT HABIT], I will [TRACK MY HABIT].”
“After I finish each set at the gym, I will record it in my workout journal.”
Tracking habits is a visual form of providing yourself evidence that you stick with what you plan to do and you begin to trust that you are the type of person that follows through on what they say. Having an accountability partner has been proven to be a great motivator to behaviors because it can feel deeply unsatisfying for others to know the moments or actions you performed that do not align with your goals.
Happy reading!
If you are ready to use Atomic Habits to get you mentally ready to tackle the new year, the link to the book is on my gift guide.
“The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become.” -James Clear