Atomic Habits 1/? - Fundamentals

Fundamentals

Part 2 How Habits Shape Identities (Vice Versa) • Part 3 Building Better Habits in 4 Steps • Part 4 1st Law: Make It Obvious

1% Better Every Day

• Tiny improvements over time can make an astounding difference.

• Compounding effect math:

  • 1% worse every day for 1 year: 0.99^365 = 0.03
  • 1% better every day for 1 year: 1.01^365 = 37.78

• Doesn't matter how successful/unsuccessful you are right now. Be more concerned with current trajectory.

• Time magnifies margin between success and failure.

• Habits can compound for you or against you (positive vs negative compounding)

Powerful Outcomes are Delayed

• There is a Valley of Disappointment.
• Small changes don't look like they make any difference until you cross a critical threshold.
• Habits need to persist through Plateau of Latent Potential.
• Mastery requires patience.

Forget about goals, focus on systems instead

• Conventionally, best way to achieve what we want in life is to set specific, actionable goals.

The score takes care of itself.

• Focus on your system. Goals are good for setting directions, systems are best for making progress.

• Problems when you focus on goals and not system:

  1. Winners and losers have same goals
  2. Achieving a goal is a momentary change
  3. Goals restrict and delay your happiness
  4. Goals are at odds with long-term progress (yo-yo effect)

• It's not about accomplishments. It's about cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement.

Your commitment to the process will determine your progress.

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Read more:

• Part 2 How Habits Shape Identities (Vice Versa)
• Part 3 Building Better Habits in 4 Steps
• Part 4 1st Law: Make It Obvious