‘It’s the frequency that makes the difference’ – Atomic Habits, Chapter 11 Notes

Posted on: July 5, 2022

Last Updated on: July 7th, 2022

Post Category: Book Notes

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About #onepageonepoint

#onepageonepoint aims to summarise new ideas from books on personal and professional development – with (approximately) one point for each page. Read more about this project here.

Today for #onepageonepoint, we have summary notes for Atomic Habits – for chapter 11: ‘Walk Slowly, but Never Backward’.

If you are interested in getting yourself a copy or learning more about the book, click here.

Chapter 11: Walk Slowly, but Never Backward

• At the University of Florida, a film photography class was divided into two groups, one assessed based on quantity of photos submitted, the other assesed based on the quality of one photo. From the results, the best photos actually came from students who took more photos rather than those who were focussed on taking good quality photos and took none to practice.

• ‘It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle’ (Clear 2018, p. 142) – so focussed on trying to figure out the best approach that we don’t get around making a start.

• This is the difference between being in motion and taking action – being in motion means to plan, strategize and learn without producing results, while taking action means performing behaviour that delivers results.

• Often we are in motion because we want to avoid the risk of failure and being scrutinised, and it gives us a false sense of progress.

• ‘If you want to master a habit, the key is to start with repetition, not perfection. You don’t need to map out every feature of a new habit. You just need to practice it’ (Clear 2018, p. 143) – hence the 3rd law of habit formation: getting your reps in.

• Repeating a habit leads to physical changes in the brain – the more you use a habit, the larger the part of the brain used becomes and the more reinforced the neural circuit related to that habit becomes.

• Hence, the more you repeat a habit, the more automatic it becomes.

• There is no magical number of hours/days that passes for a habit to form, but the rate at which you perform the habit is important – to see progress, practice the habit (not plan).

If you are interested in getting yourself a copy or learn more about the book, click here.

Interested in reading more? See my notes for Chapter 12.