Book: Atomic Habits by James Clear
Book Summary: Based on research on human behavior and habits, James Clear provides simple, straightforward strategies that anyone can use to develop new habits or break old habits.
Why It’s Recommended Reading: Whether we realize it or not, our habits play a huge part in our daily actions, even when we are making new decisions or trying new things. Atomic Habits is a great book for anyone who’s ever struggled to make healthy changes in their lives. It’s also a great read for leaders looking to support others in bringing about positive change.
A Few Takeaways from the Book:
- Our identity plays a huge role in our habits. Changing our thoughts and words to align with who we want to become (ex. “I’m not a smoker” versus “I’m trying to quit”), increases our ability to behave in new ways.
- There are four stages involved in habits – the cue, the craving, the response, and the reward. Building new habits requires us to address all four stages. Breaking old habits requires us to recognize those same stages.
- While building/breaking habits often seems daunting, the benefit is that once they are formed we free up our brain’s ability to focus on other things. The strategies in this book make habit formation less daunting.
If you have a picture in your mind of who you want to be, creating habits that align with that image is a great step in the direction of your vision.
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