Anirvan M's Key Ideas from Atomic Habits
by James Clear

We need to make our habits irresistible since it is the expectation of the rewarding experience that makes us act. In addition to the dopamine hit, if a behaviour can get us approval, respect or praise, we tend to repeat it.

Set small rewards for yourself, for eg. playing a mobile game after studying for an hour.

Humans follow the law of least effort. Start small, with an easy task, with repetition, and not perfection.

10 minutes of reading daily is better than an hour of reading once a week. And make sure to keep the book visibly in front of you.

What is immediately rewarded is repeated. What is immediately punished is avoided. While incentives can start a habit, identity sustains it.

Instead of affirming that I need to exercise daily to be healthy, one must affirm that they are healthy, and hence, they exercise daily.

1. Five minute rule: If something takes five minutes or less, do it right away, instead of scheduling it for later.
2. Don't break the chain: Mark a cross for each day you complete a habit. As you make progress, you'll see a chain of such crosses forming. Your goal should be to not break the chain.
3. Never skip a habit twice: It might still be possible that due to externalities, you might miss doing something one day. Just don't skip it twice.

Being 1% better each day would help you become 37x better in a year. It's these small habits, and doing them consistently over time, that make huge changes.  As Einstein claimed, compounding is indeed the eighth wonder of the world!