## Metadata - Author: [[James Clear]] - Full Title: Atomic Habits - Category: #Source/books ## Highlights - You get what you repeat. ([Location 286](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=286)) - Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, ([Location 320](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=320)) - hallmark of any compounding process: the most powerful outcomes are delayed. ([Location 327](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=327)) - Plateau of Latent Potential. ([Location 331](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=331)) - In the words of three-time Super Bowl winner Bill Walsh, “The score takes care of itself.” ([Location 378](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=378)) - systems are best for making progress. ([Location 381](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=381)) - ==Goal setting suffers from a serious case of survivorship bias==. ([Location 383](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=383)) - It was only when they implemented a system of continuous small improvements that they achieved a different outcome. ([Location 390](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=390)) - You’re left chasing the same outcome because you never changed the system behind it. You treated a symptom without addressing the cause. ([Location 394](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=394)) - ==Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves==. ([Location 398](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=398)) - makes no sense to restrict your satisfaction to one scenario when there are many paths to success. ([Location 406](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=406)) - The purpose of setting goals is to win the game. The purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game. True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking. It’s not about any single accomplishment. It is about the cycle of endless refinement and continuous improvement. Ultimately, it is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress. ([Location 414](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=414)) - ==You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems==. ([Location 420](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=420)) - Changing our habits is challenging for two reasons: (1) we try to change the wrong thing and (2) we try to change our habits in the wrong way. ([Location 448](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=448)) - There are three layers of behavior change: a change in your outcomes, a change in your processes, or a change in your identity. ([Location 454](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=454)) - The alternative is to build identity-based habits. With this approach, we start by focusing on who we wish to become. ([Location 465](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=465)) - There are a set of beliefs and assumptions that shape the system, an identity behind the habits. ([Location 482](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=482)) - The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this. ([Location 497](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=497)) - ==The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it.== ([Location 499](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=499)) - Once your pride gets involved, you’ll fight tooth and nail to maintain your habits. ([Location 502](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=502)) - ==True behavior change is identity change==. ([Location 503](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=503)) - Your behaviors are usually a reflection of your identity. ([Location 510](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=510)) - Many people walk through life in a cognitive slumber, blindly following the norms attached to their identity. ([Location 520](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=520)) - ==The biggest barrier to positive change at any level—individual, team, society—is identity conflict==. ([Location 533](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=533)) - the word identity was originally derived from the Latin words essentitas, which means being, and identidem, which means repeatedly. Your identity is literally your “repeated beingness.”5 ([Location 547](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=547)) - As the evidence grew, so did my identity as a writer. I didn’t start out as a writer. I became one through my habits. ([Location 555](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=555)) - Note: I am a blogger. Leader. Healthy person. What else? - Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. No single instance will transform your beliefs, but as the votes build up, so does the evidence of your new identity. ([Location 566](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=566)) - ■ There are three levels of change: outcome change, process change, and identity change. ■ The most effective way to change your habits is to focus not on what you want to achieve, but on who you wish to become. ■ Your identity emerges out of your habits. Every action is a vote for the type of person you wish to become. ■ Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your ([Location 618](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=618)) - beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity. ■ The real reason habits matter is not because they can get you better results (although they can do that), but because they can change your beliefs about yourself. ([Location 624](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=624)) - ==A habit is a behavior that has been repeated enough times to become automatic==. ([Location 649](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=649)) - Jason Hreha writes, “==Habits are, simply, reliable solutions to recurring problems in our environment==.”5 ([Location 663](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=663)) - Habits reduce cognitive load and free up mental capacity, so you can allocate your attention to other tasks. ([Location 677](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=677)) - It’s only by making the fundamentals of life easier that you can create the mental space needed for free thinking and creativity. ([Location 686](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=686)) - The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps: ==cue, craving, response, and reward==. ([Location 691](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=691)) - ==If a particular action requires more physical or mental effort than you are willing to expend, then you won’t do it==. ([Location 713](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=713)) - Together, these four steps form a neurological feedback loop—cue, craving, response, reward; cue, craving, response, reward—that ultimately allows you to create automatic habits. This cycle is known as the habit loop. ([Location 736](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=736)) - All behavior is driven by the desire to solve a problem. Sometimes the problem is that you notice something good and you want to obtain it. ==Sometimes the problem is that you are experiencing pain and you want to relieve it==. Either way, the purpose of every habit is to solve the problems you face. ([Location 745](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B01N5AX61W&location=745))