‘a simple set of rules for creating good habits and breaking bad ones’ – Atomic Habits, Chapter 3 Notes

Posted on: June 23, 2022

Last Updated on: June 25th, 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 3: ‘How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps’.

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

Chapter 3: How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps

• In a study of animal behaviour, a cat was placed in a puzzle box with a switch that, when pulled, opened a door to food. When repeating the experiment over and over, the cats generally took a shorter amount of time to escape – to which the researchers concluded: ‘behaviours followed by satisfying consequences tend to be repeated and those that produce unpleasant consequences are less likely to be repeated’ (Clear 2018, p. 44).

• ‘A habit is a behaviour that has been repeated enough times to become automatic… [they are] simple, reliable solutions to recurring problems in our environment’ (Clear 2018, p. 44-45).

• Humans form habits through a feedback loop behind all human behaviour: we try, fail, learn, try again. ‘With practice, useless movements fade away while the useful actions get reinforced’ (Clear 2018, p. 45).

• Habits make acting on certain tasks automatic, thereby reducing cognitive load and freeing up mental space that could be invested in other newer tasks.

• The process of building a habit can be divided into four simple steps that, together, form the habit loop: cue, craving, response and reward.
  • Cue: the cue triggers your brain to initiate a behaviour; it is a piece of information that indicates that you are close to a reward.
  • Craving: the motivational force behind every habit – motivation for the change in state that the habit delivers – and the thoughts, feelings and emotions associated with a cue.
  • Response: the actual habit you perform, which takes the form of either a thought or action.
  • Reward: the result of a habit. The reward serves two key purposes: (1) they satisfy us (by delivering contentment and relief from a craving), and (2) they teach us (which actions are worth remembering in order to acquire the same rewards in the future).

• ‘If a behaviour is insufficient in any of the four stages, it will not become a habit’ (Clear 2018, p. 49).

• The habit loop can be broken down into two phases:
  • The problem phase: consisting of the cue and craving steps. It is when you realise something needs to change.
  • The solution phase: consisting of the response and reward steps. It is when you take action to fulfil the need

• Hence, behaviour is driven by a desire to solve a problem e.g. obtaining something good or relieving/avoiding pain.

• The four steps can be transformed into a practical framework that can be used to design good habits and eliminate bad habits. James Clear defines this framework as ‘the four laws of behaviour change’.

• The four laws of behaviour change prescribe four fundamental “levers” that create good habits:
  • Make it obvious (How can I make it obvious?)
  • Make it attractive (How can I make it attractive?)
  • Make it easy (How can I make it easy?)
  • Make it satisfying (How can I make it satisfying?)

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 4.