THE ATOMIC HABITS

THE FUNDAMENTALS
CH-1(The surprising powers of atomic
habits)
“FORGET THE GOAL, FOCUS ON THE PROCESS INSTEAD”
We should improve every small thing first this will lead to a significant improve in the area we want to.
Just 0.1% improvement every day can lead to a significant change in the end of the year.

(1.01)^365=37.78(37 times improvement)

(0.99)^365=0.03(literally near zero)

Like while studying—

 We should choose the best position to sit during study for better focus and less spine pain.
 We can choose some good study music like 40 hz binaural beats for better focus.
 We should rest for some time between our studies.(50 minutes study and 10 minutes rest). We
can listen to our favorite song or do anything we like in our rest time to refresh our mind.

When I want to clean my room—

 Once I cleaned my whole room and desk , I shouldn’t put any unnecessary thing in there.
 Like once my bookshelf is managed, whenever I see my books mismanaged, I should manage
them instantly and not wait for another time.

Like for my weight gain—

 I can include small meals between my daily meals for extra calories.
 I can increase 1 chapatti every month until I reached ten.

Like for my sleep—

 I can search for some methods that will help me sleep early.
 I should frequently do yoga nidra for relaxation of mind and body.
Be consistent and survive the plateau of latent potential. You will think sometimes that you are putting
so many efforts but no getting good results and would want to quit. But you should know that habits
never grow in a linear manner, they grow slowly at first and increase after a long time. So stick your
schedule even if you want to quit. Once you break the valley of disappointment, you will see meaningful
results coming quickly.

Forget about goals and focus on systems isntead

We should always focus on the processes or systems to reach a goal and not on the goal
itself .it could be done as—

 if I want to get very good marks in my school, I will have to focus on how I could
improve my studying abilities.i can use some techniques like 50 min work and 10 min
rest . and I can also use study musics to boost my focus.these will help me to eventually
get good grades I should make a to-do list of topics I have to complete that day and I
would reward myself when I completed it.
 if I want to gain weight I should not always look at my weight and be sad or get
motivated for some time to eat more. In the long run these would not help.i should use
a system or rule like I would increase 1 chapati every month or I will include small meals
between breakfast and lunch or lunch and dinner.
 if I am doing my workout , I should focus on the particular exercise I am doing and not
the goal itself.
 Some problems arise when we focus on the goals and
not on the systems.
1)winners and losers have the same goals .—

Like everyone in your class wants to become the topper but the one who is studying harder
than others is the only one who succeeds.

2)Achieving a goal is only a one-time change—

Imagine if you have a messy room, even if you get motivated today to clean your room and
cleaned your room but if you still have those previous littering habits, after some day you will
see a messy room once again and will wait for motivation.

This happened because we treated the symptom without addressing the cause.if we solve
problems at the results level , it will change temporarily but we solved problems at the systems
level , it will change permanantly.

“Fix the input and the output will be automatically fixed.”

3)Goals restrict our happiness—

We always think that when I will reach my goal I will be happy. But its not always possible that
your future will be what you thought it will be.But if we focus on the systems then whenever
we do the process we will be instantly happy. We won’t be restricting ourselves to not be
happy until we reach our goal. We should reward ourselves whenever we complete the
process.

4)Goals are not for a long term process—

Once we will reach our goals , we will not get enough motivation to work hard again but
systems are running always , they are lifelong process and are goal less. Ultimately its our
commitment to the process that will determine our progress.

CH-2(How your habits shape your

identity)
We are not able to build good habits easily but bad habits can build easily like scrolling on social
media , playing games and procastinating.this is because we change our habits in a wrong way
which is that we change the wrong thing.

There are three levels at which changes can occur.

1st layer is changing your outcomes - this layer means changing your results like gaining
weight,publishing a book or winning a chess tournament.most of the goals we set are
associated wilth this level of change.

2nd layer is changing your process – this layer is concerned with changing your systems like
implementing a new routine during study or developing a meditation practice , etc. most of the
habits we build are associated with this level.

3rd layer is changing our identity – this layer means changing our beliefs , our worldview, our
self image,etc. this is the deepest level. Most of the assumptions and beliefs we hold are
associated with this level.

Most people don’t even consider identity change when they set out to move.

Like, they think”I want to be bulky(outcome) and it I stick to this diet I will be bulky(process).”

They are thinking to do something good but they are still what they were earlier and didn’t
changed the way they look at themselves.
Behind every system of actions there are a system of beliefs.behaviour hat is not good with
your identity won’t last long if you want to make money but your identity is someone who
consumes rather than creates. It will be very difficult to maintain your habits.

The ultimate form of inner motivation is when a habit becomes the part of your identity.the
more pride we have in a part of our identity , the more we will be motivated to maintain the
habits associated with it. Like if you take pride in your hairs, you will always save time to care
and maintain it.

True behaviour change is identity change.we might start a habit due to motivation but the only
reason we will stick to it due to it matches our identity.

 The goal is not to read a book , it is to become a reader.

 The goal is not to get a good body, it is to become a fit person.

We should never think ourselves as unworthy or weak of doing something because that
eventually becomes identity and starts becoming our habits.

If we continuously do something , we will start to accept it as our identity. Like

 If we read every day even if we feeling tired someday , we would start feeling ourselves
as a reader.
 If we train ourselves every day even if it snows , we would start feeling as a fit person.

“The most practical way to change who you are is to change what you do.”

Way to change your identity-

1.decide the type of person you want to be.

2.prove it to yourself by small wins.

“Always ask this question to yourself – would the type of person I wish to become would do
what I am doing right now?”

Ch-3 (How to build better habits in 4 simple

steps)