Atomic Habit Quotes – Be inspired to change with James Clear

Atomic Habit Quotes from the book written by James Clear is one of the best-selling books on the space of personal development and self-improvement. If you’ve ever wanted to make time for your goals, this book will help you achieve your goals in the long term. It’s based on the idea that it takes 3 weeks to break or develop a habit, and that 90 days is all it takes for something to become an automatic part of who you are.

The book starts with why habits exist and what they’re made up of before moving on to how habits are formed and changed. There are also tips on how to pick easy-to-do goals and how to avoid the common pitfalls that people run into.

The book approaches habits in a scientific way and uses hundreds of studies in each chapter.

Atomic Habits Quotes, notes and tips to take away from this book:

1. “If you try to overhaul your life all at once, you’ll probably fail. If you try to overhaul your life in a series of small steps, you’ll probably succeed.”

Your habits don’t change overnight and neither will the results of those habits. Make small changes and celebrate each victory. This is the best way to form new habits and keep them around for the long-term.

2. “Small wins are the fundamental blocks from which epic achievements are built. If you want to make the seemingly Herculean effort of changing your habits seem less intimidating, focus on the small wins.”

Setting big goals is a terrible way to aim for a habit. Instead, setting micro-goals that are much easier to achieve will help you build up positive momentum. By aiming for smaller goals, such as writing 500 words a day, you’re more likely to stick with it and complete it regularly.

3. “Routines aren’t just powerful because they help you do what you’re supposed to do, but also because they help you avoid doing what you shouldn’t. A routine is an automated system that stops you from having to make decisions or exert willpower each morning when the alarm goes off.”

By having a routine, it makes your life easier by doing things automatically and by avoiding unnecessary decisions like what to wear or what food to eat. It also creates momentum by starting the day with a great routine that you can keep building on.

4. “I think one of the biggest mistakes we make when we want to change our habits is that we choose a short-term goal, like losing 20 pounds or exercising for 30 minutes every day or cleaning out your closet every weekend, but then we drop the ball and don’t maintain the routine. You’ll never stick to those plans if they’re just transient. You want a pattern of behavior that becomes automatic over weeks, months, and years.”

A big part of developing a habit is making sure it’s maintained. By picking something that you can do every day as well as something that you’re encouraged to do, you’ll make sure you stick with it for the long-term.

5. “If you take an action only once or twice a week, it’s not likely to become automatic. But if you make it part of your routine so that you do in fact do something non-negligible each day, then the initial motivation erodes over time and the habit becomes automatic.”

An important part of making something into a habit is finding one that replaces the thing you’re trying to replace. For example, if you’re trying to stop drinking alcohol, it’s much easier to make a habit of doing something else instead such as making your bed or reading a book.

6. “The reward isn’t the reason we do things, but the feeling that we get from doing them is.”

There are lots of ways to find rewards for your behaviors but the most important part is finding something that will feel good so that you don’t need anything external in order to give yourself motivation.

7. “If you want to change your life, start just by making your bed.”

The first step of every habit is often the hardest part, so by making it easy to begin you’ll get into a habit more quickly. Make it easy for yourself to get started and then make it harder once you’re finished with the first step.

8. “If a habit takes more than three seconds of thought, it’s too complicated. Any longer, and you’re not really doing it anymore. You’re planning to do it.”

No matter what your habits are, make sure they’re easy to maintain by doing them without thinking about them too much. If you have to think about what you’re doing, then it’s not part of your routine and you’ll probably end up dropping the habit.

9. “If you’re trying to avoid a habit that you used to like, start with the smallest version of your habit, the one version that’s easiest to start with. Then, do it as frequently as you can. Eventually you’ll find yourself doing the bigger version more often.”

The best way to quit a bad habit is to make sure you can fail at it. If you make it too hard at the start or if you don’t do it as often as possible, then it’s unlikely that you’re going to stick with it.

10. “The best goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-based.”

The best goals are specific so that you know specifically what you want to accomplish. They’re also measurable so you can track your progress. They’re also achievable so it’s possible for them to be done; otherwise, why make a goal in the first place? Lastly, they’re realistic and time-based so that you know when things will be completed.

11. “The formula for deliberate practice is really simple: Pick a specific skill you want to master. Identify a technique that, if mastered, will make you better. Create an environment where you can practice the technique over and over again against increasingly difficult opponents. Study the mistakes you made when you’re done.”

Atomic Habit Quotes talks about deliberate practise is when you’re specifically improving one aspect of your life instead of doing things randomly and hoping they get better on their own. It’s completely different from “try hard” and doing things randomly to see what happens because you don’t know what you’re trying to fix. Deliberate practice is about identifying a skill you want to improve and studying how it will work when you’re in your current situation.

12. “The right way to do this is not by setting aside time but by setting up patterns of behavior that allow your brain and body to act automatically. That’s where habits come from.”

The best way to make a habit is to set a schedule and stick with it. It doesn’t involve setting aside time or making yourself do something although both of those are important parts of developing a habit. Instead, you need to set up your routine so that it comes naturally.

13. “I would say that many people have the wrong idea about willpower. Willpower is not about fighting impulses, which is what most self-help books would have us believe. It’s the other way around. It’s actually all about cultivating good habits and avoiding bad ones.”

Willpower isn’t necessarily about fighting yourself; it’s more about developing better routines so that you don’t even have to think when it comes to things like what to eat or how much time to spend on work vs. play.

14. “In a landmark study of a thousand people who failed to keep their New Year’s resolutions, most cited their lack of willpower as the main obstacle. But there’s another factor that explains why our self-control is so feeble – and it has nothing to do with our minds. It turns out that where you are plays a huge role in determining whether you have the gumption to get things done. The more likely you are to succeed, the more likely you are to do so.”

The environment plays a huge part in determining how much willpower is required for you to complete a task. Your environment directly affects your willpower and until you fix that problem, you won’t be able to succeed even if you have the best intentions.

15. “A goal is a specific plan of action that we can use as a measure for evaluating our success. Goals are things we do not have now, but that we are actively working to make a reality.”

In order to achieve your habits, you need to have something to work for. Whether it’s a long-term goal or something more momentary that determines how you live your life, goals give you something to hold yourself accountable for when it comes to your habits.

16. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going. So make it a habit to stay on track.”

Developing habits is a journey, so be sure that you’re staying on track with your routine along the way. You need to focus on making your routine easier and more manageable as you go along in order to keep yourself motivated and make it easier to stick with it.

17. “The only thing holding you back is your mind. If you think you can do something, you’re right. If you think you can’t, you’re right.”

The last thing I want to leave with is that the only thing holding you back from doing what it is that you want to do is your mind. If there’s some part of yourself that’s holding back from making a change in your life and developing a habit, then it’s time for a new outlook on life.

How to use these tips from Atomic Habits

So you’ve read all 17 of the Atmoc Habit quote tips for developing habits earlier on. Now what? How can you use these tips to create a habit that will blossom into a simple and rewarding lifestyle?

Well, it’s actually easier than you think. All you have to do is replace one of your bad habits with a good one.

For example, if you’re planning on going back to school but have a habit of watching TV every day, you can replace that habit with reading. It doesn’t matter how small it is; what matters is that it’s a good habit and you’re replacing one bad habit with another. Then all you have to do is start reading everything that crosses your path and before long, the rest will follow.

The second step is planning out when you’ll practice your habits and how often. It might take a while to form the habit but it’ll be worth every bit of effort you put into it after you accomplish your goal.

You may not realize it now, but once you’re on the right track, there’s no way you can fail. You just have to plan for success and everything will fall into place for you.

Start planning out your new habits today so that you can start taking small victories over yourself and make lasting improvements in your life.