The 3 life-changing ideas in James Clear's Atomic Habits

Summary

This video discusses the challenges of building new habits and introduces 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear as a valuable resource. It emphasizes the power of making small, daily improvements, the importance of aligning habits with one's identity for long-term success, and the concept of 'democracy of the self' to prevent a single failure from becoming a habit. The video also highlights the role of active learning with Brilliant's courses to enhance problem-solving skills and offers a discount for their premium subscription.

Takeaways

• 🌟 Building new habits is a common goal, but it's also a challenging endeavor that often requires significant effort and consistency.
• 📈 The concept of '1% better every day' is central to habit formation, drawing on the power of compounding effects similar to those seen in financial investments.
• 🚀 Small daily improvements can lead to significant long-term gains, as illustrated by the metaphor of a graph showing the cumulative impact of incremental progress.
• 🧠 The human brain is naturally drawn to short-term rewards and can struggle with the initial stages of building a new habit, which often lack immediate gratification.
• 🏋️‍♂️ The idea of 'identity habit harmony' suggests that aligning one's identity with the habit they wish to adopt can significantly increase the likelihood of long-term success.
• 🤔 The script emphasizes the importance of self-reflection during moments of struggle, asking oneself 'Who am I?' to reinforce the desired identity and habit.
• 💡 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear is recommended as a valuable resource for understanding the mindset necessary for habit formation and long-term consistency.
• 🔄 The script discusses the feedback loop between identity and behavior, where actions reinforce one's self-image, and vice versa, highlighting the importance of aligning these two aspects.
• 🗳️ The 'democracy of the self' concept suggests that every action is a 'vote' for the type of person one wants to become, emphasizing the importance of ensuring that positive actions outnumber negative ones.
• 🚫 Avoiding the 'second mistake' is crucial; it's not about never failing, but about not letting failure become a habit.
• 🎓 The script also touches on the importance of casting enough 'votes' for a new identity, challenging the belief that certain identities are unattainable, and encouraging daily effort towards one's goals.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the video sponsored by Brilliant?

The main theme of the video is about building new habits and the principles from James Clear's book 'Atomic Habits' that can help in forming and maintaining habits over the long term.

What is the '1% better every day' principle mentioned in the video?

The '1% better every day' principle refers to the idea of making small, incremental improvements in a skill or habit each day, which, over time, can lead to significant growth and progress due to the compounding effect.

How does the compounding effect work in the context of habit formation?

The compounding effect in habit formation means that small daily improvements accumulate over time, leading to exponential growth in skill or habit development, similar to how interest compounds in finance.

What does Albert Einstein reportedly say about compound interest, and how is it related to habit formation?

Albert Einstein reportedly called compound interest the eighth wonder of the world. This is related to habit formation as the same principle of compounding can lead to significant returns in skill development when small improvements are made consistently over time.

How does the video script illustrate the power of small daily actions in habit formation?

The script uses a metaphorical graph from 'Atomic Habits' to illustrate how small daily actions, both positive and negative, can lead to significant outcomes over time, emphasizing the power of consistency.

What is the challenge with maintaining the '1% better every day' habit according to the video?

The challenge is maintaining the level of consistency required over time, especially in the beginning when the habit is new and the immediate rewards are not dramatic, which can be difficult for our brains that crave short-term excitement.

What is the concept of 'identity habit harmony' as discussed in the video?

'Identity habit harmony' refers to aligning one's habits with their identity or self-image. When a person's actions match their identity, it reinforces their self-image and makes it easier to maintain habits long-term.

How does the video explain the importance of identity in building long-term habits?

The video explains that for long-term habit changes to stick, they need to become part of one's identity. By acting in ways that reinforce the desired identity, such as a runner or a musician, a person is more likely to persist with the habit.

What is the 'democracy of the self' concept introduced in the video?

The 'democracy of the self' concept suggests that every action is a vote for the type of person one wants to become. It's about ensuring that successes in habit formation outnumber setbacks, rather than striving for perfection and never failing.

How does the video relate the 'second mistake' to habit formation?

The 'second mistake' refers to letting a single failure turn into a habit of failure. The video advises to avoid this by ensuring that individual failures remain outliers and do not define one's identity or habits.

What advice does the video give for dealing with failure in the process of habit formation?

The video advises to focus on not letting failure become a habit itself. It suggests that it's okay to have occasional setbacks ('votes for lazy you'), but the key is to ensure that these do not become consistent patterns.

How does the video script connect the ideas from 'Atomic Habits' with the offerings of Brilliant?

The video connects the ideas by suggesting that using Brilliant's courses can help individuals make progress in areas such as math, science, and computer science, which aligns with the 'Atomic Habits' concept of making small, consistent improvements.

Outlines

00:00

😀 Building Habits and the Power of Incremental Improvement

The first paragraph discusses the challenges of building new habits and the importance of persistence. It introduces the concept of '1% better every day' from James Clear's book 'Atomic Habits', which is based on the compounding effect similar to compound interest. The idea is that by improving just 1% daily, one can achieve significant growth over time. The paragraph emphasizes the difficulty of maintaining consistency, especially in the early stages of habit formation, and compares the slow but steady progress to the less exciting but ultimately more rewarding approach of incremental gains.

05:01

🏃‍♂️ Identity Habit Harmony and Long-Term Change

The second paragraph delves into the concept of 'identity habit harmony', suggesting that for a habit to be maintained long-term, it must align with one's self-image. It uses the example of a runner facing adverse weather conditions and how their identity as a runner helps them persevere. The paragraph explains that people are more likely to stick to habits that reinforce their self-concept and that identity and behavior are closely linked. It also touches on the feedback loop between actions and identity, where consistent behavior can strengthen one's identity, making it easier to maintain new habits.

10:02

🗳️ The Democracy of Self and Avoiding the 'Second Mistake'

The third paragraph introduces the idea of viewing personal actions as votes for the type of person one wants to become, a concept referred to as the 'democracy of self'. It suggests that occasional failures are acceptable as long as they do not become a habit themselves, which is termed the 'second mistake'. The paragraph encourages focusing on ensuring more successes than setbacks to build long-term habits. It also discusses the importance of not letting initial failures deter one from pursuing a new identity or habit, emphasizing the need to keep 'voting' correctly to reinforce one's desired identity.

Keywords

💡Habit

A habit is a routine or practice that is regularly performed and tends to occur subconsciously. In the context of the video, habits are the focus as the speaker discusses the difficulty of building new habits and the process of maintaining them over the long term. The video emphasizes the importance of habits in personal development and how they can be influenced by various factors such as laziness, busy schedules, and distractions.

💡Atomic Habits

Atomic Habits is a book by James Clear that the speaker highly recommends for its insights on habit formation. The book is mentioned as a valuable resource for understanding the mindset required to adopt and maintain habits. It introduces key concepts like the compounding effect of small improvements and the importance of aligning habits with one's identity.

💡Compounding Effect

The compounding effect refers to the phenomenon where the growth of something becomes progressively larger as it builds upon itself over time. In the video, this concept is applied to skill building and habit formation, illustrating how making small daily improvements can lead to significant long-term gains, much like the way compound interest works in finance.

💡Consistency

Consistency is the quality of being steady and not changing over time. The video script highlights the importance of consistency in maintaining the growth of habits and skills. It points out the difficulty of maintaining this consistency, especially in the early stages of habit formation, and how it is essential for realizing the benefits of the compounding effect.

💡Identity Habit Harmony

Identity habit harmony is a concept introduced in the video that refers to the alignment of one's habits with their self-identity. The speaker explains that for a habit to be maintained long-term, it needs to be congruent with how a person sees themselves. This harmony between identity and habits is crucial for overcoming challenges and maintaining discipline.

💡Self-Image

Self-image is the perception one has of oneself, encompassing how they view their personality, abilities, and role in the world. In the video, the speaker discusses the importance of self-image in habit formation, stating that people are likely to adopt habits that reinforce their self-image and reject those that conflict with it.

💡1% Better

The concept of getting '1% better' each day is a key idea from the book Atomic Habits. It suggests that by making small, incremental improvements daily, one can achieve significant progress over time due to the compounding effect. The video uses this concept to illustrate the power of daily effort in skill development and habit formation.

💡Failure

Failure, in the context of the video, is an inevitable part of the process when building new habits. The speaker discusses the importance of not letting failure become a habit itself and emphasizes the need to learn from setbacks without allowing them to derail the long-term goal of habit formation.

💡Democracy of the Self

The 'democracy of the self' is a metaphor used in the video to describe the idea that every action one takes is a 'vote' for the type of person they want to become. It suggests that while individual actions may not drastically change one's identity, the accumulation of these actions over time can significantly influence one's character and habits.

💡New Year's Resolutions

New Year's resolutions are commitments or promises individuals make to themselves at the start of a new year, often related to self-improvement. The video script mentions the common failure of these resolutions as an example of the difficulty in maintaining new habits, highlighting the need for long-term commitment and strategy.

💡Brilliant

Brilliant is an online learning platform that offers interactive courses in math, science, and computer science. In the video, it is mentioned as a sponsor and is promoted for its ability to help users master complex subjects through active learning and problem-solving, which aligns with the video's theme of personal development and habit formation.

Highlights

Millions of people attempt to build new habits annually, but many struggle due to various challenges.

The importance of the '1% better every day' principle from James Clear's 'Atomic Habits' for habit formation.

The compounding effect, likened to compound interest, as a key to skill building and habit formation.

Albert Einstein's quote on compound interest and its relevance to personal growth.

The illustration of habit formation through a metaphorical graph showing small daily actions' impact over time.

The difficulty of maintaining consistency in habit formation, especially in the initial stages.

The appeal of big, dramatic changes versus the less exciting but sustainable 1% improvement approach.

The example of learning music production and the gradual progress seen with daily 1% improvements.

The concept of 'identity habit harmony' for long-term habit adherence and its impact on self-perception.

The role of self-image in habit formation and the consistency principle from Robert Cialdini's 'Influence'.

The idea that behaviors reflect identity and the importance of aligning habits with self-identity for success.

The feedback loop between identity and behavior, and how actions provide evidence for self-belief.

The strategy of embodying a desired identity, such as a runner or musician, to reinforce habit formation.

The challenge of maintaining motivation after the novelty of a new habit wears off and dealing with initial failures.

The 'democracy of the self' concept, where every action is a vote for the type of person one wants to become.

The importance of avoiding the 'second mistake' and focusing on not letting failure become a habit.

The hidden insight about casting enough 'votes' for an identity to determine if it's possible to assume that identity.

The promotion of Brilliant.org for learning resources to aid in skill development and the offer of a discount.

A call to action for viewers to engage with the content by liking, subscribing, and following on Instagram for additional Q&A.

Transcripts

- Thanks to Brilliant for sponsoring this video

and supporting my channel.

Every year, millions of people try to build new habits.

Some adopt new exercise programs,

others pick up that instrument

they've been meaning to learn,

and still others decide to finally get serious

about reading every day.

And some of these people will succeed

in getting their new habit to stick,

while others well quickly give up and fail.

But all of them will learn the same lesson,

building a new habit is hard.

Whether you wanna chuck it up to laziness,

or our overly busy schedules, or the fact that our phones

tend to suck up a ton of our time,

tempting us in much the same way

that a slot machine temps a gambler,

the conclusion is the same.

If you wanna adopt a new habit,

you better prepare yourself for an uphill battle.

Luckily, one of the things that you can always count on

in our market-driven economy is that when there's a problem,

people will inevitably try to create solutions for it.

Necessity is the mother of all invention

as people like to say.

And our publishing industry is no exception here.

Having pumped out more than a handful of books

aimed at helping you build better habits.

But of all these books,

my absolute favorite one is James Clear's, Atomic Habits.

And that's not just because it mentions

my Twitter wake-up system on page 210 that is pretty cool,

but seriously, more than any other book

that I've read on habits,

I found the ideas in Atomic Habits to be incredibly helpful

for adopting the mindset required

to actually stick to habits over the longterm.

So I would absolutely recommend reading this book

in its entirety if you have the time.

Today, what I wanna do is share three of those key ideas,

starting with the principle

that Clear calls 1% better every day.

This idea has its roots in the compounding effect,

which you'll probably recognize most readily

if we're talking about compound interest.

Albert Einstein once called compound interest

the eighth wonder of the world,

and for a pretty good reason,

given a good amount of time,

the interest on your interest can result in huge returns.

Compound interest is why you can invest $100 a month,

and if we assume a modest 7% return of the stock market,

you'll end up with over $122,000 after 30 years,

even though during that time,

you only contributed $36,000 of your money into that fund.

And it turns out that this compounding effect

also applies to the world

of skill building and habit formation.

If you pick a skill

and you focus on just getting 1% better at it each day,

your cumulative skill growth

and the rewards you read from it

accelerate faster and faster over time.

Atomic Habits illustrates this idea

using a metaphorical graph,

which shows the difference between small daily actions

in both positive and negative directions.

At first, the results are minuscule,

but over time, they ramp up

just like that investment balance.

Now, this all sounds great in theory, but unfortunately,

as you probably well know, the level of consistency required

to maintain this growth over time

is really difficult to maintain, especially in the beginning

when you're just starting to build a habit.

Big dramatic changes, as overwhelming and as unsustainable

as you and I know they could be, are exciting

because they seem to propel us forward really quickly.

And our mammalian brains

really love short-term exciting rewards.

And meanwhile, the much more reasonable 1% role

simply doesn't do a whole lot for us in the short term,

which is what we're often concerned with,

even if we don't like to be.

For example, let's say you wanna learn how to produce music.

And you decide to do that by spending at least some time

every single day learning and practicing and making songs.

If you start this new goal on January 1st,

then by the end of the first month using Clear's model,

your daily 1% gains only result in a 37% gain overall.

And that's progress to be sure, but it's nothing dramatic,

and you're still producing music

that was only barely outside of your grasp before,

and that to the average listener,

it sounds like it was made on like a preschool piano thing

from Walmart.

After six months of effort,

you're now doing a bit more than six times better

than when you started

when you have those numbers seem to line up.

Now, this is actually pretty good progress,

but we are not done yet

because of the company pounding effect

has only just begun to show how powerful it can be.

Keep pushing on and suddenly,

a 1% improvement every day since you started,

gets interesting because at the end of the year,

you've somehow reached a mind bending 37 times better

than when you started.

The first six months gets you to six times better,

but the second six months adds an extra 31 times.

Now, obviously we cannot literally measure out

1% skill changes in most cases,

but the concept still works here and the results still come.

As Clear writes in the book,

"These small improvements or declines compound

and suddenly you find a very big gap

between the people who make slightly better decisions

on a daily basis and those who don't."

Of course, this is all easy to agree with in theory,

but as we mentioned before,

longterm consistency is a lot easier planned

than maintained.

As you well know,

most new year's resolutions don't even make it to February,

so they can't even go through the example

that we put out here.

Just as many people fail to remain disciplined enough

to keep investing for 30 years,

and hence will never see those amazing returns.

Now, part of this might be straight up difficulty,

or life circumstances, or simply boredom,

but even an incredibly simple, easy habit

can be difficult to stick to longterm

if it goes too far against how we view ourselves.

So if we wanna make longterm change,

that change has to become part of who we are.

We'll have to build up sense

of what I'm going to call identity habit harmony.

Picture yourself out for a run,

and imagine that it's really hot outside,

or maybe it's really cold,

or maybe it's a torrential downpour,

whichever of those is the one that you like the least.

And now picture you're only halfway

through a particularly difficult last mile,

and you're now feeling the desperate urge to quit.

In that moment ask yourself, who are you?

Well, if you consider yourself to be a runner,

then this scenario is not a big deal.

The occasional hard mile is part of the territory.

In fact, it only reinforces your strength

and your pride as a runner, as an athlete,

so as a result, you push through.

But on the other hand,

if you see yourself not as an athlete or a runner,

but as more of a homebody

just trying to get in shape because you're supposed to

or because you have this light desire to do it,

then you're gonna start questioning

why you're doing what you're doing

when things get difficult.

You're gonna ask, "Why am I doing this to myself?

This isn't who I am."

And one day, you're gonna decide to quit.

I think this is one of the biggest reasons

why people fail in building habits,

they don't build a harmony between their identity

and the habit they're trying to make stick longterm.

That's one of the biggest ideas in this book.

See, people will go to great lengths

to protect their self image.

It's part of this consistency principle,

which is also talked about

in Robert Cialdini's book, "Influence."

Just try arguing with somebody

about a dearly held belief they have,

and you're gonna find just how hard we all work

to keep our self image intact,

even if it's to our own detriment,

even if we argue against what would be good for us.

And it's because of this,

that Clear suggests we pay closer attention

to what that image is

when we're trying to change something about our lives.

As he says in the book,

"Your behaviors are usually a reflection of your identity.

Whatever you do is an indication

of the type of person you believe that you are,

either consciously or non-consciously."

But there's also a bit of a feedback loop here.

As he says just a bit later on,

"Whatever your identity is right now,

you only believe it because you have proof of it."

In short, longterm habit changes

come more easily with longterm identity changes.

And to get those,

you'll have to give yourself as much evidence as you can

that your new identity is really who you're becoming.

So if you wanna run that 5k someday,

take a second to think about the kind of person

who might do that sort of thing automatically, or naturally,

that person would be a runner or an athlete.

Then whenever an opportunity to reinforce that identity

in yourself comes up, ask yourself,

"What would a runner do in this situation?"

Eventually by acting like a runner, you become one.

And if that identity makes you feel good,

then you won't wanna lose it,

and you'll work that much harder to keep it.

The longer you fight for it, true that identity becomes,

and the harder it is to go back to who you were before.

And I've personally found this whole philosophy

and mindset change to be extremely helpful

for taking side projects more seriously as well.

Let's take guitar, for example.

If I don't think of myself as a musician,

then whenever I get busy with work,

or if I have something stressful pop up

surprisingly in my life,

then I'm gonna tend to let guitar practice

go by the wayside because it's just a hobby, right?

So it's important it gets overshadowed

by whatever urgent thing has come up in my life.

But if being a musician is part of my identity,

then I'm gonna see guitar practice

as something much more important.

I'll be a lot less likely to throw it by the wayside

when something does come up.

In other words, I won't make time for it

because that is what a musician would do.

Of course, this process of assuming a new identity

and taking it seriously isn't always easy.

When you start a new habit,

you often have that novelty factor,

that initial surge of motivation and energy working for you,

but those two things inevitably run out pretty quickly.

And when that happens,

you're probably gonna have to deal with your first failure

some point soon after.

And it can be hard to get over that when it happens,

especially if you tend to have perfectionist tendencies

like I do.

And dealing with just this situation

is where the third big idea from Atomic Habits comes in.

So let's call it the democracy of the self.

See, in an election,

there are almost always going to be votes for both sides.

Given enough people in the voting pool,

it's not plausible for anything, no matter how right,

no matter how obviously superior, to get 100% of the vote,

there is always going to be that troll

that just wants to see the world burn

so they hit the down-vote button.

But luckily, that doesn't matter.

To win an election, you don't need every single vote

to be cast in the exact same way, you just need a majority.

And as Clear helpfully points out,

"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 too does the evidence of your new identity."

So maybe today you voted for lazy you,

you didn't go for that run, you didn't practice guitar.

Well, that's okay because tomorrow, you get another vote,

and you can make sure that vote is cast correctly.

If you keep at that,

making sure your successes outnumber your setbacks,

that is how longterm habits are built.

In other words, focus not on never failing,

but on never letting failure become a habit of its own.

Clear actually has a term for this,

he calls it the second mistake.

You wanna avoid making the second mistake.

And if you can do that,

then your first mistake just remains a failing vote,

it remains an outlier.

Now, there's a bit of a hidden insight that I found

in the interplay between identity habit harmony,

and this whole democracy of the self-concept,

which is that if you haven't cast enough votes

for a particular identity,

then you may not know if it's possible

to assume that identity in the first place.

And a lot of people assume that many identities

are simply not for them.

How many people do you know

who think that learning a foreign language is not them,

becoming a musician is not for them,

learning complex math or engineering

is simply not for them.

I remember this was a big problem for me in high school,

especially on that issue

of learning engineering and complex math.

I had a tough time in calculus,

so I naturally assumed I was not cut out for calculus

and not cut out for engineering school.

This is actually one of the big reasons

that I chose to go to business school.

And while I don't really regret

going to business school in general,

I do regret having that belief at first.

And I now know that if I had simply cast enough votes,

if I had simply put in daily effort to learn complex math,

to get a better grade in calculus,

I would have absolutely been able to become an engineer

if I wanted to do that.

So if you ever have these doubts in your head,

if you ever feel like an identity is not for you,

ask yourself, "How many votes have I cast?

Have I started building this habit

or if I simply assumed that this identity is not for me?"

And if the latter is true, then start casting some votes.

Of course, if something like engineering and complex math

is something that you want to learn,

then using better learning resources

is also really gonna help you make progress.

And one of those great learning resources is Brilliant.

Brilliant has over 60 in-depth courses

that can help you master your abilities

in math, science, and computer science.

And they help you learn efficiently

with a focus on active learning.

Instead of just passively going through text

or watching videos

like a lot of traditional educational sources,

you're instead thrown into logically sequenced,

bite-sized, yet challenging, interactive problems

that compliment any of those more traditional sources

you're using.

And because you're wrangling with the material right away,

you learn more efficiently,

you progress faster, and you also keep your interest up

as you're going through it.

Additionally, because you're solving problems

the entire time,

your universal problem-solving skills improve along the way.

Whenever we apply our skills to a specific challenge,

we often reap more universal benefits.

Now, if you've heard me talk about Brilliant in the past,

you'll know they have a comprehensive math suite,

ranging from the basics of number theory,

going all the way up to very complex topics

like differential equations

and high-level probability and statistics,

along with science courses,

including classical mechanics and gravitational physics

and computer science courses

like their Python programming course.

But recently, they came up with a brand new course,

all about knowledge and uncertainty,

which is all about the math that we use to quantify

and get precise about how uncertain we are

about questions we have,

which is very important in making better decisions.

And I think if you have any interest in math

or probability or statistics,

or maybe investing or simply making better decisions,

this is gonna be a really interesting course to take.

So if you want to take that course

or any of the other courses in their library,

you can go over to brilliant.org/thomasfrank and sign up.

And if you're one of the first 200 people

to use that URL and sign up,

you're gonna get 20% off their annual premium subscription,

which is a pretty great deal.

Thanks as always for watching.

Hopefully you enjoyed this video.

If you did, hitting that like button is a great way

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so it's a great way to support the channel,

and huge thank you to you if you do that.

And if you haven't subscribed already,

make sure you hit that subscribe button right there

because later this month,

we are making another video

all about the actual habit-building process

outlined in Atomic Habits.

Again, pick this book up and read it if you have the chance.

It's a great read,

but I hope you also come back to check out that video,

which will be a little bit more in the trenches

and practical, hopefully.

Beyond that,

if you haven't followed me on Instagram @Tomfrankly,

you might wanna do so

as I'm making little Q&A videos every week.

So if you have a question

that might not constitute a huge video here on this channel,

which takes many, many, many hours to make,

ask it to me in the comments below or over on Instagram,

and I might make a little IGTV video for it.

Beyond that, I'm gonna have a playlist right here

of additional videos on this

that can help you build your self discipline.

So if you enjoyed this video,

you might enjoy some of those videos as well.

Otherwise, I'll put my music channel right there.

And if you don't wanna to click any of these things,

don't do that, go drink a gallon of coffee for all I care

because as always, I'm not your dad.