Atomic habits book summary

I read this book in August 2021 and I want to share a summary of the key ideas in it. I would call it a personal productivity book where the author James Clear talks about creating habits that increase your productivity and improve your life.

• The 4 laws of behavior change: 1/ make it obvious, 2/ make it attractive, 3/ make it simple, 4/ make it satisfying.

• Once a habit is formed, it is unlikely to be forgotten.

• People with a high degree of self-control tend to spend less time in tempting situations because avoiding temptations is easier than resisting them.

• The anticipation of the reward -not its obtaining- is what puts us into action. The greater the anticipation, the greater the dopamine spike.

• Personal identity leads us to do certain actions: I am a healthy person, I am an athletic person… it leads us to perform certain actions.

• Motivation is overrated; the environment is often more important.

• At this time I will do this and then the other task. Chain of good habits. (eg: before taking a shower I will do 50 push-ups)

• Visualization of progress helps motivation.

• For something to become a habit it has to be easy to do (eg: if you want to read more, have more accessible books)

• The amount of time you have been performing a habit is not as important as the number of times you have performed that habit.

• Create a motivational ritual by doing something that you really enjoy just before doing a habit that costs you work.

• You have to put barriers to bad habits (eg: not having cookies or unhealthy food nearby)

• A percentage of improvement every day can be converted into a percentage of significant improvement after a year.