Have you heard of Atomic Habits, a book by James Clear? Have you read it yet?
In this ground-breaking book, James illustrates how tiny changes grow into life-altering outcomes and that a real change often comes from the compound effect of many minuscule decisions, such as doing a few squats a day, going to sleep a little earlier or reading a page a day.
Anyways, today let's have a look at a few principles James writes about in his supremely practical book I recommend to get your hands on. Until you do, I suggest checking out this 30-minute video: "How to become 37.79 times better at anything - Atomic Habits summary".
This video very well summarises the key principles explained in the book, such as goal setting and why it is not necessary for success, how progress is not linear and we must expect "the valley of disappointment", habit loop, why to change the environment when the current one is hindering the change, why to focus on our new identity rather than the desired outcomes, etc. The best is to watch it yourself. The animations help to understand. However, it is so packed with information that playing is likely to be sufficient.
FOCUS ON SYSTEMS INSTEAD OF GOALS. Goals are good for setting a direction, but systems are best for making progress.
A personal note:
When I heard that a year or so ago, it brought such a relief! Learning that someone else, someone wiser, recommends concentrating rather on identity instead of outcomes and on building systems instead of on working on specific goals calmed me down because I finally had a confirmation that goal setting doesn't necessarily work. I had been fed up back then with goal setting at work.
So unless pushed I don't tend to set goals. The focus is rather on making small changes that make me feel better. Those changes (if applied of course!) then bring progress and I'm not disappointed if a goal isn't achieved. Likewise, I don't experience emptiness after a goal has been achieved, wondering: "Now what?"
"You are your habits," says James. Basically, the video builds on the idea that a habit must be established before it can be improved. We shall anchor our habits, start small and add later.
The book Atomic Habits will soon appear on my reading podcast and I will read a few inspiring sections. Oh, that's gonna be such a tricky task to choose just a few! The whole thing is packed with wisdom.
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