Advanced Tactics
The final week of Atomic Habits did not disappoint. Here's a quick summary of the last 6 weeks:
Week 1 - Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement, and your systems are more important than your goals.
Week 2 - You are what you repeatedly do. Your actions determine your identity and your identity determines your actions.
Week 3 - You have to make your habits obvious. This can be with predetermined routines and changes to your environment .
Week 4 - Attractive habits lead to action. We have to be intentional not to blindly follow habits of The Close or The Many, but instead create our own habits based on our unique goals.
Week 5 – New habits must be easy. If a new habit is going to become part of your life, start small, think baby steps, because it is better to do less than you hoped than nothing at all.
Week 6 – Make your good long-term habits satisfying with immediate positive feedback. Try not to miss a day of your habit, but if you do, never miss twice.
Like the rest of the book, the final section of Atomic Habits is chock full of quotable, noteworthy ideas. But to keep this post concise, I have three concepts that matter most when it comes to habits and personal growth:
Genetics – Choose habits that work for you
Difficulty – Choose habits that are the right difficulty
Consistency – Fall in love with the boring process of repetition.
Genetics
Genetics matter. Don’t let anyone tell you they don’t. Michael Phelps is 6’ 4” with an extra long torso, abnormally short legs, and a monstrous wingspan. Without that God-given genetic jackpot for swimming, he never becomes the greatest swimmer of all time. Of course Michael Phelps worked hard and optimized his ability, but his genetics provided the foundation for him to become the GOAT.
“Genetics do not determine your destiny. They determine your areas of opportunity…they predispose, but they don’t predetermine” (pg. 219).
This is true of physical traits, but it also true of personality, temperament, and mental capacity. Some people have a natural aptitude with numbers, creativity, details, or emotions. No matter where you strengths lie, use them!
The most important point here is that your habits should be unique to you. Your genetics, your personality, your interests, they all play a part in what you might excel at. If you can identify activities that feel fun, you find yourself “in the zone”, and you have a knack for, your likelihood of sticking with those habits are much greater.
“Our genes do not eliminate the need for hard work. They clarify it. They tell us what to work hard on.” (pg 226)
Difficulty
If you create habits that are too difficult, you never get positive feedback as you face repeated failure. If you create habits that are too easy, you become bored and complacent. This is the Goldilocks concept.
“Peak motivation is found right on the edge of your current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right” (pg. 231).
This is important as you create and refine your goals and habits. “You need just enough ‘winning’ to experience satisfaction and just enough ‘wanting’ to experience desire” (pg. 235). We need to be intentional with how much we challenge ourselves otherwise we can become discouraged or disenchanted.
Consistency
This is such a fitting place to end the book on habits. A habit is, by definition, something you consistently do. Habits can be positive or negative. They can build you up or tear you down. Habits determine your direction. Success comes from what your habits because success is not a destination, it’s the journey.
“Success is not a goal to reach or a finish line to cross. It is a system to improve, and endless process to refine” (pg 252)
As our time with Atomic Habits comes to a close, I want to encourage you to take a look at your life right now. Are you satisfied and content with your relationships, career, health, finances, faith, or business? Then take a hard look at your daily and weekly routines, your habits.
If you are what you repeatedly do, are your habits pointing you in the direction of your goals? If so, how can you continue to refine and optimize them? If not, what changes can you take from this book to develop habits that will serve you in your pursuit of better?
Remember, change will come slowly. A small 1% improvement doesn’t make you a success, a one cent deposit doesn’t make you rich, a one degree change in temperature does not melt an ice cube. Small changes don’t make a noticeable difference right away. But “it’s remarkable what you can build if you just don’t stop” because “small habits don’t add up. They compound” (pg. 252).
How will you leverage the power of Atomic Habits?
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