Atomic Habits & Why To Create Them

You are a direct outcome of your thoughts, habits, and choices. Even when you think you are ‘going through your day’, you are subconsciously choosing options and repeating patterns — patterns that through become habits. Habits that define your character and ultimately your level of happiness.

Thus, step one to curating a life you would aspire to live is to curate habits. This week’s coffee talk was on the James Clear book — Atomic Habits, in the ever-charming Acid Cafe, Madrid over some great batch brewed coffee. As we pondered on this intricate world of habit formation, breaking bad habits, the human need for instant gratification and the alignment of your individuality with habits, certain points got clearer than before!

What emerged as a thought-provoking concept was the human tendency to measure habits through instant gratification. A donut will always make you feel better instantly over a run in a park — however, which one is better for you in the long run?

Instant gratification, while very alluring, is not a definite or even a trustworthy way to measure if behavior is getting us rewards in the long run.

Be in love with the process, not the goal

So what’s the approach to understanding if a newly attained habit is working for the best or not? Well, turns out the key lies in falling in love with the process itself.

Run — because you love the adrenaline rush! Paint — because you can capture a bit of your soul on a canvas. Create — because it’s the shortest cut to a flow state! Fall in love with the journey and the habit ensues -as it becomes second nature to your existence.

So why is it that you cannot immediately fall in love with the process and what do you do to break a bad habit in place?

To answer this, let’s take a look at what a habit is at its core.

While there are many definitions of this and possibly all quite noteworthy, the one that I like the best is that a habit is essentially a wall created out of a humongous amount of bricks — where each brick is an action you consistently repeated.

Let’s take an example — I am a late riser. I wake up late — that’s my habit.

Was I always this way?

As an infant, I barely had a sleep schedule. As a teen, I was a prompt morning person who had to report to school at 9 am every morning. I spent the initial years of my corporate career waking up even earlier to commute. Isn’t it rather weird that my mind has processed my behavior of waking up late for the past couple of months and formed my solid brick wall of ‘I wake up late’?

Well, thankfully for us, the human brain can be easily fooled and the perception of a habit is rather short-lived in our memories.

So can this brick wall be broken? Absolutely yes — try waking up early each day for the next two weeks and see for yourself! It’s not going to be easy the first couple of days — especially the first couple of moments before you open your eyes and get off the bed!

Strive Through The Fleeting Decision Moments

This is something James Clear calls the decision points which are moments of intense doubt, confusion, temptation, and allure towards instant gratification. However strong they are, remember they are short-lived and once we make it through, we are on the brink of a great new habit!

One great technique to do so is by visualization and little rewards.

Picture yourself greeting the morning on a sunlit terraza as you sip your coffee and begin your no-rush day! Reward yourself with some great me time as you listen to your favorite track while you drive to the office!

As you continue through the days, by the end of the week 1, you are going to get much better at it and by the second one, the older wall of ‘I wake up late’ would have been torn apart — brick by brick to create a brand new one of ‘I am a morning person’.

So how does one break a bad habit?

While everyone has a unique trick for handling this, visualization comes in handy again! The habit itself is an action that repeats after the 10 second moment of bad deliberation — our extremely critical decision-making moment again. Strive through your decision-making moment, and you’re 90% through!

A good example of this is that momentary lapse of judgment before getting that last drink or picking up that donut on the way to work. Stop for a moment and think about what this does to your life? Does this derail you from a healthy diet or give you a hangover the next day? What happens next? Does that mess with your morning plan or your summer diet? A cognitive understanding of what happens next usually making the instant craving seem a little less appealing.

Habits, Alignment & Atomic Habits

A habit that aligns with the version of you, you would like to create, is the one that sticks! Thus, knowing who you would like to be is half the battle won. Let’s say you see yourself as a grounded person who stays calm even in the most difficult situations. What habit can you adopt to follow this? Now think what microscopic everyday change can you bring about to make sure this flows through your day to day?

Maybe start with a quick 10 minute morning meditation? This atomic change, over time, can empower you to a much less anxious version of yourself.

This is also something that James Clear talks about with his 1% rule — small changes over time can create great results.

What Does It Take To Curate A Habit?

Now that you have a sense of the habit you would like to curate, how do we facilitate this?

1. Step one is the environmental cues — if you want to be a constant learner, surround yourself with good books and people that inspire you. You must have heard the quote where one becomes the sum of the six people one spends the most time with — choose wisely!
2. Accountability — We could all use a little extra accountability tracking. Join a book club or create one — that way you’ll give yourself a task and accountability attached to complete it.
3. Reward Systems & Positivity — While curating a habit, create little rewards that inspire you to keep pursuing your behavior. It’s human to feel disappointed at times, especially given the goal-based society we live in. Steering oneself clear of negativity is paramount to keep growing.

Another interesting point that pops up is the concept of keystone habits. Keystone habits are those that create virtuous circles of good behavior around. Surrounding yourself with people you learn from also often takes you to interesting events, which give you more perspective, which in turn, takes you to different places.

As we wonder more about the delicate human psychology behind habits, we end up at the ever reflective questions of —

What’s the most effective way to spend your life?

What’s the next habit you would like to work on?

What advice would you give to yourself if you could walk through your own life?

Well, we are still wondering! Do you have your answers yet? Let us know!