Hi everyone, my name is Mart Bergsma and in this article I am going to talk with you about a book that I have recently read. It is called Atomic Habits by James Clear, and it is a book that helps you build good habits in life and avoid bad ones. I have read this book because I am interested in the topic and know a couple of friends who recommended it.

Key points

First of all, a habit is something that is performed so many times that you can do it without thinking about it. This goes for good habits, but also for bad ones. Atomic habits are very small habits that can improve your life with 1 percent, but can also become 1% worse. It is basically compound interest, which means over time, when you have build a lot of positive atomic habits, it will have a more and more exponential impact. James teaches a lot of ways to build good habits and avoid bad ones in this book, from changing your environment to stacking habits and making them more attractive

While most people focus on the end goal every time they are performing habits, James explains that it is much more effective to focus on the process. For example: it is better to focus on becoming an athlete and exercising every day than to lose five kilograms of bodyweight, because when you have reached the end goal, more often than not you will gain weight again after some time and have to start over again. If you focus on your identity, it basically never stops until you decide to change who you want to become.

Personal experience

This book has helped me a lot in building strong habits and breaking bad ones. I want to become a great musician, so I am trying to play the guitar for thirty minutes everyday. When it comes to habit stacking, I have built a habit to do twenty push-ups, ten pull-ups and ten dips in a super set. When I finish it, I will start reading a book and repeat this process three times. I have learned that if I start with a habit that is hard to perform and combine it with a habit that I really enjoy, the process becomes easier. To make sure I am doing these habits, I track my progress with a habit tracking app. These are just a couple of things that I focus on, but I will keep adding new things and improve them over time.

I also believe that if you want to live a more enjoyable life and have more succes, you have to build these good habits and avoid some negative ones. Most of the time, this differentiates succesful people from others. To become a master at something, you have to put in the hours. My environment is also very important to me. For instance, I have put a guitar in the middle of my living room along with some sheet music and a bluetooth speaker, so that I will pick up the guitar more often and make sure that I practice for thirty hours every day. Besides that, I am a lot more conscious about the people that I hang out with. At first I thought that I had to be strong to refuse negative things people offered me, but I learned that in order to avoid negative habits, you have to change your environment. Many people do not realise this, but it makes a huge impact.

Recommendation

If you feel like you are not becoming the person you want to become, or just want to get better at something and master a skill, this book could help you a lot. For me, it has helped me in the journey of becoming a musician, athlete and a person who likes to read and write, but it could help you in a lot of different areas, as these lessons can be applied in almost anything. It can help you in your personal life, but also in business. That said, my identity is not written in stone and I could always change the type of person who I want to become, as should you. This book is a guideline to give you more meaning in life and achieving succes.

Link to the book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3wOxgDE

Have a nice day,

Mart Bergsma