Sebin Thomas's Key Ideas from Atomic Habits
by James Clear

The secret to getting results that last is to never stop making improvements. It's remarkable what you can build if you just don't stop. It's remarkable the business you can build if you don't stop working. It's remarkable the body you can build if you don't stop training. It's remarkable the knowledge you can build if you don't stop learning. It's remarkable the fortune you can build if you don't stop saving. It's remarkable the friendships you can build if you don't stop caring. That's the power of atomic habits. Tiny changes. Remarkable results.”

We all have goals that we would like to achieve and dreams that we would like to fulfill, but it doesn't matter what you are trying become better at, if you only do the work when it's to convenient or exciting, then you'll never be consistent enough to achieve remarkable results.

The Goldilocks Rule states that humans experience peak motivation when working on tasks that are right on the edge current abilities. Not too hard. Not too easy. Just right.

If you hit the Goldilocks and just right, you can achieve a flow state everytime easily.

Energy is precious and in the brain is wired to conserve it whenever possible. It is human nature to follow the Law of Least Effort, which states that when deciding between two similar options, people will naturally gravitate toward the option that requires the least amount of work.

The consequences of bad habits are delayed while the reward are immediate. Smoking might kill you in ten years, but it reduces stress and eases your nicotine cravings now. Overeating is harmful ur action in the long run but appetizing in the moment.

Habits are a dopamine-driven feedback loop. Every behavior that is highly habit-forming from most basic habitual behaviors like eating food, drinking water, having sex to taking drugs, playing video games, browsing social media.

• The habit formation is depend on the frequency of the action, not days
• When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do.
• Human brain is looking for instant rewards, so make sure your habits are satisfying in the short term
• Never miss twice. If you miss one day, try to get back on track as quickly as possible.
• Use Habit Trackers

The habit formation is depend on the frequency of the action, not days. You should ask ‘how many repetitions are required to make a habit automatic?’ Instead of asking ‘how many days it takes to build a habit’.

You often decide what to do next is based on what you just finished doing. Each action becomes a cue to trigger the next behaviour. One of the best ways to build a new habit is to identify a current habit you already do each day and then stack your new behavior on top. This is called habit stacking.

The habit stacking formula is: "After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]."

Your brain has far more neural circuitry allocated for wanting rewards than for liking them. The wanting centers in the brain are large than liking centers of the brain. They are often referred to as "hedonic hot spots" , distributed like tiny islands throughout the brain. For instance, researchers have found that 100 percent of the nucleus accumbens is activated during wanting. Meanwhile, only 10 percent of the structure is activated during liking. That’s why we are more excited before getting something than actually getting it. Like buying an iphone or car.

The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.

Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.

• Make a list of daily habits and rate by Good Habit (+), Bad Habit (-), Neutral Habit (=). Try to stop bad habits. We have to do this because we are unaware of our daily habits if we don’t write it down. We do habits subconsciously.
• Every time you choose to perform a bad habit, it's a vote for that identity.

In any election, there are going to be votes for both sides. You don't need a unanimous vote to win an election; you just need a majority. It doesn't matter if you cast a few votes for a bad behavior or an unproductive habit. Your goal is simply to win the majority of the time.

For example, It's okay if you couldn't wake up at 6 am sometimes, you have to make sure that you wake up at the majority of times (around 90% of times).

Inorder to make a meaningful difference, habits need to persist long enough to break through this plateau- Plateau of latent potential.

Imagine a stonecutter relentlessly hammers at his rock, striking it perhaps a hundred times without any sign of a fracture appearing. However, upon delivering the hundred and first blow, the rock astonishingly splits in two. It's evident that it was not that last blow that did it -but all that had gone before!

If you are struggling to make a good habit or struggling to break a bad one, it because you not yet crossed plateau of latent potential.

Breakthrough moments are often the result of many previous actions, which build up the potential required to unleash a major a change.

This pattern shows up everywhere.

• Cancer spends 80 percent of its life undetectable, then takes over the body in months.
• Bamboo can barely be seen for the first five years as it builds extensive root systems underground before exploding ninety feet into the air within six weeks.

Similarly, habits often appears to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes are delayed. If you can get a one percent better each day for one year, you'll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you're done.