What Books Are Worth Reading? #1
The first post in a series about books worth reading.
I love to read. I can't say that I read all the time, but recently, I've had more time and read a couple of books over a couple of months. There is one book I want to talk about, mostly because it got me back into reading every day.
The book is called:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
Is it worth reading? The book is well-written and an enjoyable read. It includes many real-life stories rather than simply telling you that you need to do this or that.
Content-wise, you can watch or read a summary online, but I think the ideas will stick with you more if you read the book yourself.
Biggest Takeaway from the Book
If you want to change who you are, you need to change what you do.
- Decide what kind of person you want to be
- Prove it to yourself with small wins
Those small wins become the atomic habits you slowly form for yourself. If you want to become fitter, your decision could be, "I am a fit person," and you can prove it to yourself with small workouts. You can start with one squat when you wake up.
You are probably thinking, "One squat will not make me fit." And you are right. The point is to begin associating yourself with movement and exercise rather than to become fit immediately.
It's the same for me with this blog. I am writing posts to improve how I express myself online. It will not make me a better writer right away, and I will not write a great or viral post immediately. But it is a habit I am building.
Principles for Creating a New Habit
Every habit has a four-step loop: cue, craving, response, and reward.
To support the creation of new habits, there are four principles that will help you stick to any new habit you want to form:
- Make it obvious
- Make it attractive
- Make it easy
- Make it satisfying
Is This Everything?
Of course not. I would rather encourage you to read the book than repeat what other reviews have already said about it. But there is one more thing I can add: if you improve one thing every day by 1%, you will be almost 38 times better by the end of the year.
What Habits Am I Building Right Now?
You already know about one habit: writing a blog post every Monday.
The next four I am working on are:
- 30PBB - 30 Push-ups Before Breakfast
- WIN - Write In Kournal
- R1P - Read 1 Page
- NFA5 - No Food After 5 p.m.
I have been mostly successful at maintaining these four habits for two months. It is said that forming a new habit takes about 60 days on average, although it depends on the habit, of course.
And you are probably asking: why those weird acronyms? The idea of using acronyms is not mine; it comes from another book, which I will cover in the future.
See you next Monday.