How to become 37.78 times better at anything | Atomic Habits summary (by James Clear)

0:01 Do you ever feel like you're just floating through life...but not

0:03 actually getting closer to the person that you want to be.

0:06 It usually happens around New years,

0:08 you imagine all the bad habits your going to break

0:10 free from, and all the good habits you will begin.

0:13 “This time it will be different” you say to yourself.

0:15 This time I AM going to do the things that I say I will.

0:18 Only to end up back where you began shortly

0:21 after and no closer to what you had envisaged.

0:24 So the question is, how do you become the person you dream of becoming?

0:26 How do you break free from bad habits

0:27 and make the habits you desire easier and automatic?

0:31 Atomic Habits by James Clear answers all these questions.

0:34 We are going to be doing a detailed visual summary of this book,

0:37 And dive deep into topics like Habit loops

0:40 Dopamine spikes Priming your environment Plus heaps more

0:44 And make sure to stick around until the end of the video where we tie everything

0:46 together from the video and I go step

0:47 by step through how I've personally been using

0:49 this book with my own habits and how

0:50 you can start applying it to your own habits.

0:51 I hope this summary inspires you to go out and grab a copy

0:53 of the book for yourself because

0:55 this book deserves a space on everyone’s bookshelf!

0:57 Let’s jump into it Imagine a plane taking

1:02 off and travelling from New York to Los Angeles.

1:04 Just before takeoff you adjust the plane just

1:07 slightly by 3 degrees or around 80 inches.

1:10 If you kept flying in a straight line...You would end up closer

1:13 to Tijuana in Mexico than in your intended destination of Los Angeles.

1:18 The same goes for our habits.

1:20 Tiny changes in our habits can change the trajectory of our lives in ways

1:24 that we can’t even notice until many years into the future looking back.

1:28 In both good ways and bad.

1:30 You are your habits.

1:32 The Power of Atomic Habits “A slight change in your daily

1:36 habits can guide your life to a very different destination”.

1:40 Massive action Vs 1% improvements Far too often,

1:44 we convince ourselves that massive success is only possible

1:47 through massive action in any goal we are pursuing.

1:50 We expect ourselves to make some quantum leap

1:52 or momentous improvement that will gain others attention.

1:56 However it is the tiny improvements,

1:58 that aren’t even noticeable at first, that create incredible change.

2:02 Let’s look deeper into the Math 1% better every day

2:05 for a year will compound to nearly 38 times better.

2:08 1% worse every day for over a year will bring you close to zero!

2:12 Your habits can compound against you in the form

2:15 of things like stress or negative self-talk.

2:17 Or they can compound for you in the form of things like knowledge,

2:20 productivity, skills and relationships.

2:24 “Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in a lifetime transformations”

2:29 The Truth About progress When you start any endeavour in your life,

2:34 here is what we think should happen.

2:36 Linear progress.

2:37 Here is what actually happens.

2:38 Notice this section here.

2:40 In the beginning, small changes in our progress are not even noticeable.

2:46 James Clear refers to this part of the graph

2:48 as “the valley of disappointment” You’ve done so much!

2:51 Put in so much effort and you can barely see any results!

2:55 This is where most people fail and slip back into their old routines.

2:59 The most powerful outcomes of any compounding

3:02 process are delayed so Patience is required.

3:05 Goals Vs Systems.

3:07 FORGET ABOUT GOALS, FOCUS ON SYSTEMS INSTEAD”

3:10 A goal is the result you want to accomplish.

3:13 Systems deal with the processes that lead to results.

3:16 The conventional wisdom suggests that the best way

3:18 to achieve anything we want in life-getting into better shape,

3:21 building a successful business,

3:23 spending more time with family is to set specific, realistic goals.

3:28 But if you completely ignored your goals and focused only on your system,

3:32 would you still succeed?

3:33 The Author argues that you would.

3:35 Here are some problems with only having goals.

3:38 Successful and unsuccessful people share the same goals,

3:41 so therefore the goal can not be what differentiates winners from losers.

3:45 Achieving a goal only changes your life for a moment in time.

3:49 Goals can create an either-or conflict.

3:51 Either you achieve the goal and succeed, or you don’t and you are a failure.

3:55 Even if you were making progress in the right direction When you achieve a goal,

4:00 what do you do after?

4:01 If your goal was running the local marathon, chances are after completing it,

4:05 your motivation will quickly fade and you

4:07 will just slip back into your old routines.

4:10 “Goals are good for setting a direction,

4:12 but systems are best for making progress” A SYSTEM OF ATOMIC

4:16 HABITS The problem with changing your habits is not you.

4:19 The reason why you repeat the same bad habit

4:21 for so long isn't because you don't want to change,

4:24 but because you have the wrong system for change.

4:26 Atomic habits are small routines and behaviors

4:29 that accumulate to produce incremental positive outcomes over time.

4:32 Big breakthroughs tend to get more attention than small improvements.

4:36 But what really matters are the little daily decisions and actions we take.

4:40 “Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules,

4:43 atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results”.

4:47 There are 3 layers to behavior change.

4:49 The first layer is changing outcomes.The result.

4:51 Losing that weight, writing that book, winning the season.

4:54 The outcomes are what you get The Second layer is changing your process.

4:58 What you do.

4:59 The new workout routine, developing a daily reading habit.

5:03 And the third layer is changing your identity.

5:05 What you believe.

5:06 Your worldviews and how you think about yourself and others.

5:10 Most people focus on the outcomes but the best way to change your habits is

5:13 by focusing on the person you want to become instead of the results you want.

5:18 The goal isn’t to learn an instrument, it is to become a musician.

5:21 The goal isn’t to run a marathon, It is to become a runner.

5:25 When something you want in your life becomes part of your identity,

5:28 that is when your behaviors will naturally change.

5:31 When you tell yourself and others “I’m a runner”.

5:33 You want to live up to that identity.

5:36 Remind yourself Every Time you do a workout, you are an athlete.

5:40 Every time you write a line of code, you are a coder.

5:43 Each time you instruct your team, you are a leader.

5:46 The Habit Loop A habit is when something

5:49 has been repeated enough times that it becomes automatic.

5:52 Ultimately we want our habits to solve problems

5:54 in our lives with the least amount of effort.

5:57 A habit is formed and reinforced by means of a continuous feedback loop:

6:01 Cue+ Craving+ Response+ Reward.

6:03 The key to creating habits that stick is

6:06 to create feedback loops that are continuously being improved.

6:10 Cue.

6:10 Phone buzz.

6:11 Craving.

6:12 Want to know who messaged.

6:14 Response.

6:14 Pick up phone.

6:16 Reward.

6:16 Solve the problem of who messaged.

6:19 Cue.

6:20 Mind goes blank at work.

6:22 Craving.

6:22 Want to alleviate the frustration.

6:24 Response.

6:25 Check social media.

6:26 Reward.

6:26 Satisfied the need to feel less frustrated Over time,

6:31 rewards become associated with cues.

6:34 So, in this example,

6:35 checking social media becomes tied to your mind going blank at work.

6:38 And then checking Facebook may be the cue to check Instagram,

6:42 which becomes the cue to check YouTube.

6:44 And before you know it,

6:45 your mind going blank cue has led to 20 minutes of wasted time.

6:49 And you more you repeat these habit loops,

6:51 the stronger and more automatic they become.

6:54 Cues can really be anything.

6:55 A smell, a sound a sight, a person, a location etc.

6:59 Try to think of any cues in your daily

7:02 life that are initiating your good or bad habit loops.

7:05 So how can we influence the habit loop to work for us?

7:09 This book shows us the 4 laws that will guide us to do just that.

7:15 Law 1 Make it obvious Most of your current

7:18 habits are so automatic that you don’t even realize them.

7:20 You must first become aware of your habits before you can change them.

7:24 You can achieve that with your Habit Scorecard.

7:26 Write down all your daily behaviors on a habits scorecard,

7:29 from the moment you wake up until the moment you go to bed.

7:32 Your scorecard may look something like this.

7:34 Based on whether it helps you become the person you aspire to be,

7:37 categorize each habit as positive(+), negative(-), or neutral(=).

7:41 At this stage we aren’t trying to change anything,

7:43 just observe what is actually going on in our daily lives.

7:47 “Until you make the unconscious conscious,

7:49 it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” Carl

7:52 Yung Vagueness is a real problem when it comes to habit formation,

7:56 and studies have shown that quite often the reason people fail

7:59 to stick to a habit is not because of a lack of motivation,

8:02 but because of a lack of clarity.

8:03 “One day, I will get into shape” is easy

8:05 to say to yourself but too vague to get any momentum.

8:09 What you need is a time and a place.

8:12 The most common cues—time and location—will help you achieve your goals.

8:16 Clearly state your intention to act using the following formula:

8:20 I will behavior at time in this location.

8:24 Here is a bad example,

8:26 “I will read more this month” Here is a good example “I will

8:30 read a book for 15 minutes daily at 6am in the spare bedroom”.

8:34 Another good way to get a habit started is by Habit stacking.

8:37 To stack habits, tie a desired habit

8:40 to an existing habit according to the following formula:

8:43 “After [current habit], I will [new habit]”.

8:46 For example, “After I brush my teeth, I will stretch for 5 minutes”.

8:51 You can stack habits together, for example after you finish brushing your teeth,

8:54 you will meditate for 10 minutes,

8:56 then plan the rest of your day, before checking social media.

9:00 A “chain of habits” is more likely

9:02 to be sustained if you practice this consistently.

9:05 Choosing the correct trigger is essential.

9:07 YOU NEED A TRIGGER CUE Your trigger should be;

9:10 something that you do automatically without fail during your day,

9:12 such as waking up, turning off your alarm or brushing your teeth.

9:16 James Clear tells us in the book that Motivation is highly overrated.

9:20 You can better shape your behavior by designing your environment.

9:23 We are more influenced by our environment than our willpower or motivation.

9:28 It’s hard to stick to positive habits in a negative environment.

9:31 “Environment is the invisible hand that shapes human behavior.” Creating

9:35 a habit requires you to redesign the space around you (home/work)

9:38 to 1- make it easier to see the cues for the desired

9:41 habits and 2- avert bad habits by making them invisible.

9:45 If you want to drink more water, make the cues visible and obvious.

9:49 Place water bottles around the house in places you are likely to see them.

9:52 Want to read more?

9:53 place the book somewhere you will see it.

9:55 If you want to get better on the guitar,

9:58 don’t leave it out of sight in a closet.

10:00 CONTEXT IS THE CUE Objects in the environment do not determine our behavior;

10:05 rather, it is our relationship to them that does.

10:08 Stop seeing your environment as a place simply filled with objects.

10:12 Imagine it as a place filled with relationships.

10:14 The couch in the living room is the place

10:17 where one person reads an hour a night.

10:19 For another, the couch is where they watch

10:21 Netflix and eat pizza and relax after work.

10:24 If your relationship with the couch is a place to relax,

10:27 then trying to get a work related

10:29 task done in that environment may be difficult.

10:32 Try to make separate zones in your house for different activities.

10:35 The author likes to use the mantra “One space,

10:38 One use” If you are trying to eliminate a bad habit,

10:41 You can only rely on self-control in the short-term.

10:44 Cutting off bad habits at the source is a more reliable solution and one

10:48 of the most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to make it invisible.

10:52 Eliminate it from your environment.

10:54 For example Put your phone in another room

10:57 for a few hours if you have trouble getting work done.

11:00 Put junk food out of sight or remove it

11:02 from your house if you are trying to lose weight.

11:07 Law 2 Making it Attractive When we expect to be rewarded, we take action.

11:12 The more rewarding an action is,

11:13 the more likely we are to repeat it until it becomes a habit.

11:17 Hence, the first step to forming good habits is to make them more attractive.

11:21 Understanding how dopamine affects your body will help you

11:25 DOPAMINE& FEEDBACK LOOPS Our motivation levels are affected by dopamine,

11:28 a hormone and neurotransmitter.

11:30 We are more motivated to act when our dopamine levels rise.

11:34 By measuring dopamine,

11:35 scientists can pinpoint the exact moment at which a craving occurs.

11:38 It was once assumed that dopamine was just about pleasure,

11:41 but now we know it's vital to many neurological functions,

11:45 including motivation, memory, learning,

11:46 punishment as well as voluntary movement.

11:55 “Gambling addicts have a dopamine spike right before they place a bet,

11:58 not after they win”.

12:00 Let’s dive deeper into dopamine spikes.

12:03 Using social media, eating junk food and taking drugs are all

12:07 associated with high levels of dopamine and are highly habit forming.

12:11 The hormone dopamine is released not only when we experience pleasure,

12:11 but also when we anticipate it.

12:12 Think about before going on a vacation.

12:13 Sometimes the thinking and anticipation of the vacation

12:16 is better than the actual vacation.

12:19 Seeing the junk food you desire surges dopamine, not after eating it.

12:23 Drug addicts increase dopamine when they see the drugs, not after taking them.

12:28 The craving is what causes us to take action in the first place.

12:32 Making our habits attractive is vital because it is

12:35 the expectation of a rewarding experience that drives us to act.

12:38 Here, you can use a strategy known as….

12:40 Temptation bundling The temptation bundling process

12:43 makes a habit more attractive by combining

12:45 an action we need to do with one we want to do.

12:48 For example you could bundle watching Netflix (something you want

12:51 to do) with working out (something you need to do).

12:54 Temptation bundling applies a psychology principle known as Premack's Principle.

12:58 Developed by professor David Premack, the Premack principle states,

13:02 "More probable behaviors will reinforce

13:05 less probable behaviors." In other words,

13:07 even if you're not looking forward to doing some exercise,

13:10 you'll become conditioned to do it because you

13:12 get to do something else you really enjoy.

13:15 Group Influence “We are continually wondering "What

13:18 will others think of me?" and altering our behavior based on the answer.” We

13:23 are influenced by the people closest to us, and the groups we belong to.

13:27 If you are trying to build a new habit,

13:29 one of the best ways to reinforce the habit is to find

13:31 and become part of a culture where that habit is the norm.

13:34 If you want to get into better shape, surround yourself with fit people.

13:38 If you want to read more, join a book club.

13:42 Primal motivators: The source of cravings In your normal everyday life

13:46 you wouldn’t say something to yourself like “I want to eat

13:49 this pizza because I need to consume this food to survive”

13:52 Surface level cravings are merely

13:54 manifestations of our deeper underlying motives.

13:57 And these underlying motives guide our behavior.

14:00 Here are some examples of underlying motives:

14:03 Conserving energy Obtaining food and water Finding love

14:07 and reproducing Connecting and bonding with others Winning social acceptance

14:11 and approval Reducing uncertainty Achieving status and prestige Your brain

14:17 did not evolve with a desire to smoke cigarettes,

14:19 check Instagram every 5 minutes or to play video games.

14:22 Online platforms and products do not invent new motivations,

14:26 but rather appeal to the underlying motives of human

14:29 nature that we already have to gain our attention.

14:32 “Your habits are modern-day solutions to ancient desires.

14:35 New versions of old vices.

14:37 The underlying motives behind human nature remain the same” People who

14:42 have the underlying motive of connecting with others may jump onto Facebook,

14:46 others seeking the underlying motive of finding

14:48 love and reproducing may sign up for Tinder.

14:52 Reducing uncertainty, there’s Google for that.

14:55 Seeking social acceptance, there is Instagram.

14:58 Reprogramming your brain to enjoy hard habits “You can

15:02 make hard habits more attractive if you can learn

15:04 to associate them with a positive experience.” By highlighting

15:07 the benefits of a habit rather than its downsides,

15:10 you can quickly reprogram your mind and make it seem more appealing.

15:14 For example, Fitness= health and wellbeing and not fatigue.

15:18 Cleaning the house= an environment conducive

15:20 to peace of mind and not wasted time.

15:23 Saving money= future financial freedom and not sacrifice.

15:27 These subtle shifts in mindset aren't magic,

15:27 but they can change your feelings toward some habits or situations.

15:28 Make it Unattractive.

15:29 To break a bad habit, do the same but highlight the benefits of NOT doing

15:33 that habit to make it as unattractive to keep doing as possible.

15:38 Law 3- Make it Easy How long does it actually take to form a new habit?

15:42 During habit formation,

15:44 a behavior becomes increasingly automatic as it is repeated.

15:47 As you repeat an activity,

15:49 your brain changes in order to become more efficient at it.

15:52 Long before neuroscientists dug into the process of forming habits,

15:55 repetition was known as a powerful tool for establishing habits.

15:59 You activate particular neural circuits associated

16:01 with habits every time you repeat them.

16:03 So framing habit formation in terms of time is flawed.

16:06 It should be framed in terms of the number of repetitions.

16:10 Reducing Friction: The Law of Least Effort The more energy required,

16:14 the less likely it is to happen.

16:15 It takes almost no energy to get into the habit

16:18 of reading one page of a book each day.

16:20 Habits are more likely to occur when they require less energy.

16:23 The bigger the obstacle,

16:24 the more friction there is between you and the desired outcome.

16:27 If you need to travel 20 minutes out of your way to go to the gym,

16:31 chances are you will not.

16:32 If your gym is located on your commute to work,

16:35 you will greatly decrease the friction.

16:37 By making your good habits more convenient, you're more likely to stick to them.

16:41 Your life will be easier if you find ways

16:43 to reduce friction rather than trying to solve it.

16:46 In order to build better habits, we have to find ways to reduce friction

16:49 associated with our good habits and increase friction

16:52 associated with our bad habits Prime the environment

16:56 for use By automating or setting up your environment,

16:59 you can reduce the friction for future action, e.g.

17:02 “I will lay out my workout clothes at night so I can get

17:05 up and get moving in the morning.” Or to prepare a healthier breakfast,

17:09 place the pan on the stove, and gather the ingredients the night before.

17:15 Again to reduce any friction.

17:18 Using the Two-Minute Rule to Stop Procrastinating

17:20 Using the "2-minute rule" can help you establish small habits that will lead

17:23 to habit momentum and success in bigger goals.

17:26 Find a simple, 2-minute version of your desired habit.

17:28 You want to scale down your desired outcome.

17:31 Running a marathon becomes putting on your shoes and stretching for 2 minutes.

17:35 Reading an hour per day becomes reading one page.

17:37 You need to get the routine anchored

17:40 in place and then slowly build up the difficulty.

17:42 After you have mastered the 2-minute habit,

17:44 you can progress to the next phase; To make something more difficult,

17:48 think about ways you can create barriers

17:50 of friction between yourself and the bad habit.

17:52 Make it as impractical as possible.

17:55 If you want to watch less TV,

17:57 unplug the TV after each use and put the remote in an inconvenient location.

18:02 When you go shopping, leave your credit cards under the seat of your car

18:05 if you have a bad habit of spontaneous spending.

18:08 Do anything you can to make your Bad habits less likely to occur.

18:13 Law 4 -Make it satisfying The most important rule of behavior change

18:20 A feeling of pleasure is a message to the brain: "This feels good.

18:23 Let’s repeat this next time." When you experience pleasure,

18:26 your brain learns that a behavior is worth remembering and repeating.

18:30 "What is immediately rewarded is repeated.

18:33 What is immediately punished is avoided".

18:36 The first Three habits increase your chances of doing the habit this time.

18:39 The last law increases your chances of repeating the habit next time.

18:43 The Mismatch between immediate and delayed returns It is

18:47 common for us to feel good about our immediate results,

18:49 but bad about our long-term outcomes when we practice bad habits.

18:53 It is the opposite with good habits:

18:55 the immediate result is unpleasant, but the ultimate outcome is satisfying.

19:00 A certain amount of success in just about every

19:02 field involves ignoring an immediate reward for a long-term one.

19:06 It is best to add a little immediate pleasure to the habits that will

19:09 pay off in the long run and a little pain to those that won't.

19:12 How to stick with good habits everyday QUOTE “The vital thing in getting

19:14 a habit to stick is to feel successful—even if it’s in a small way.

19:18 The feeling of success is a signal that your habit paid off

19:21 and that the work was worth the effort.” It is satisfying to make progress,

19:25 and you can monitor your progress using visual measures,

19:27 such as moving paper clips, hairpins, or marbles.

19:30 These “little wins” can go a long way.

19:33 For example, for each sales call you make today,

19:35 move a marble from one jar to the complete jar.

19:38 For Each 25 minutes of writing,

19:40 move a paperclip Visual measurements can take many forms:

19:44 diet journals, workout logs, download progress bars,

19:47 or even page numbers in a book.

19:49 Keeping a habit tracker may be the best method to monitor your progress.

19:54 Using a habit tracker is a simple way

19:56 to determine whether you did a particular habit.

20:00 How to recover quickly when your habits

20:07 break down In spite of your best efforts,

20:11 it is inevitable that life will interrupt you at some point.

20:15 A bad day at work, a bad performance, or a bad workout can happen to anyone.

20:19 When you're having a bad day,

20:20 you don't realize how valuable it is to just show up.

20:23 “Lost days hurt you more than successful days

20:25 help you.” Don’t break the chain of continuity.

20:31 Missing twice is the start of a bad habit; never do it.

20:39 On a bad day, it's better to do 10 sit ups

20:43 (instead of your normal 50) than not do them at all.

20:46 Breaking a bad habit:

20:47 Make it Unsatisfying How an accountability partner can change everything.

20:48 A behavior is less likely to occur when pain is immediate.

20:52 Being held accountable by a partner is a good

20:54 way to keep your desired habits in check.

20:56 We all want to be liked and respected,

20:58 so we would rather just avoid the punishment.

21:03 For example- I owe you $10 every time I miss a workout,

21:06 plus the respect I lose for failing to do what I said I would!

21:10 Behavior is more likely to be influenced by concrete,

21:13 and immediate consequences.

21:15 The Habit Contract You can create a habit contract to hold yourself accountable,

21:20 just as governments use laws to hold citizens accountable.

21:23 You can create a habit contract either verbally or in writing,

21:26 which makes it clear that you will honor a particular

21:28 habit and that there will be punishments if you do not.

21:31 You can then use your accountability partners to enforce that contract.

21:37 Ok so it’s one thing to read a book,

21:39 but another to actually apply it to your life.

21:41 So i’m going to try and visually represent how I have personally been

21:45 using this book to build systems around my habits the past few months.

21:48 After you read the book maybe your approach

21:51 will be different than mine or better,

21:52 or maybe there are some parts I completely missed or could

21:56 improve upon so do let me know in the comments.

21:59 The Good habits I wanted to develop

22:02 were more consistent workout and reading routines.

22:04 The Bad habit I wanted to eliminate was becoming distracted

22:08 and overconsuming social media First I completed the Habit scorecard.

22:12 This gave me a good idea of habits I could try to eliminate,

22:15 but more importantly it gave me an idea of daily habits

22:18 I was already doing that I could stack my new habits with.

22:22 Ultimately, when you find the habits you want to work on.

22:25 you want to be pushing Desired good habits towards this side of the spectrum,

22:28 and bad habits towards this side.

22:31 For the working out habit.

22:32 The first step was to make the cues more obvious,

22:34 and I had a few tools I could use from the book.

22:37 In this case I used what James Clear calls the implementation strategy.

22:41 I will workout at 6am in the living room.

22:45 Next I tried as best I could

22:47 to design my environment conducive to this new habit.

22:49 I took my dumbbell set out of the closet, and put them in the living room.

22:53 I also found a few pictures of healthy physiques on the internet and put

22:57 them in places around the house as cues that would remind me of the habit.

23:01 Next, I moved on to the craving phase.

23:04 To increase dopamine and motivation I bundle the workout

23:08 with listening to some of my favorite podcasts.

23:11 I also implement reprogramming my brain.

23:14 I tell myself repeatedly I don’t “have to do a workout” but that“ I get

23:18 to build strength and a healthier body” That subtle

23:20 shift in mindset has gone a long way.

23:23 Ideally, joining a gym, or finding a group to workout with would

23:27 be even better to strengthen this habit,

23:29 but unfortunately all gyms are closed where I live,

23:32 so I’m kind of on my own for now with these two tools.

23:36 Next, making it easy.

23:39 Using the 2 minute rule,

23:40 to make sure I don’t end up like most people starting a new habit,

23:43 that try to do too much too soon.

23:45 I want my habit to not feel like a challenge at all.

23:48 My 2 minute rule was putting on my workout clothes and stretching.

23:52 If that was the only thing I accomplished then that was fine,

23:55 because I showed up.

23:56 But you will quickly find that once you are there,

23:59 you are now motivated to get the workout done.

24:02 It is weird but the motivation seems to come after you get started.

24:08 My mindset is focused on small

24:11 1 percent changes compounding into meaningful results

24:15 AND that my systems will get me to the results, not vague goals.

24:19 Remembering that my main focus at this point is just making

24:23 sure I show up and start anchoring this habit in place.

24:26 Once you are consistently showing up, increase the progression.

24:31 To decrease friction, I made the rule that I’m not allowed

24:33 to check my phone until the workout was complete.

24:36 If I get distracted by emails or social media, It is one excuse and one step

24:41 of friction between myself and the workout getting completed.

24:44 Lastly, this was a game changer for me, priming the environment.

24:47 When I place my shoes, yoga mat and dumbbells out the night before

24:52 I skyrocket my show up and workout percentage.

24:55 As soon as I place these items out the night before,

24:58 I feel like the ritual has begun and the workout

25:02 is already complete because I have zero excuses.

25:05 So with those 3 phases of the loop systemized to get me to show up.

25:09 I only had the last phase of the loop left to tackle.

25:12 To make sure I keep repeating the habit.

25:15 I use both of these tools somewhat together to close out the loop.

25:18 I use a habit tracker, crossing the day off the calendar becomes the reward

25:23 and it forces me to not want to break the chain.

25:26 I also take a of picture of the calories

25:29 I burnt and send the picture to my partner, and that feels satisfying.

25:34 Mindset wise, I begin with identity and I remind myself after each

25:38 workout that “I want to become the kind of person that enjoys fitness

25:42 and doesn’t miss workouts” I don’t put all my focus on outcomes such

25:46 as I want to be 10kg lighter by such and such a date.

25:51 I also remind myself that I need to be patient for results and that I’m

25:55 probably still somewhere in this Valley

25:57 of disappointment before I will see results!

26:00 So that is my personal system for morning workouts.

26:00 I went through the same process with the reading habit,

26:03 with a few minor changes.

26:04 I used the habit stack.

26:06 After [making a coffee] I will [read for 90

26:09 minutes]… making a coffee was my trigger cue for reading.

26:13 My one space one use rule was reading on the balcony of my apartment.

26:18 One of the best parts of my day is a nice cup of coffee in the morning.

26:20 So this was the perfect thing to bundle the habit with.

26:24 Remembering how dopamine raises in anticipation

26:26 of a reward and not the reward itself.

26:29 I wanted this dopamine spike for wanting

26:32 coffee to start becoming associated with reading.

26:36 My 2 minute rule was to read 1 page of The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday.

26:40 Super simple, again in the beginning all I was

26:43 concerned with was showing up and getting this habit anchored.

26:46 Then I slowly built up the habit to around 90 minutes.

26:49 For the bad habit I was trying to eliminate To make the habit invisible,

26:53 I started by making my phone as boring as possible,

26:56 which required deleting a lot of apps.

26:59 I use the reprogramming tool,

27:01 to highlight the unattractive side of overconsuming social media.

27:04 Telling myself things like…… consuming is the easy and lazy

27:08 option of the masses ,producing things is difficult but rewarding.

27:10 Do I want to be a consumer or a producer?

27:13 Random scrolling through feeds is for losers.

27:16 So try to paint your bad habit in a light

27:19 that makes it super unattractive to keep doing.

27:22 To increase friction,

27:22 I left my phone out of sight whilst working in a drawer in another room.

27:28 To make it unsatisfying, I have an accountability partner,

27:30 I get my partner to enforce this habit.

27:33 The punishment is If she sees me using

27:36 social media during work time, I owe her $10.

27:40 So that is how I have been using

27:42 this fantastic book guys with great results so far,

27:43 and I hope this summary has helped you

27:44 to better understand the concepts within this book.

27:44 Go out and grab a copy of this book if you haven't already,

27:47 you are going to take in the knowledge at a much deeper level,

27:50 from all the stories and examples

27:52 that James Clear goes over some advanced techniques,

27:56 not in this summary that will help you strengthen your habits.

28:01 Thankyou for watching.

28:04 See you in the next video.