Atomic Habits

1. loc. 1092

   getting

2. loc. 1144

   Want to think more creatively? Move to a bigger room, a rooftop patio, or a building with expansive architecture. Take a break from the space where you do your daily work, which is also linked to your current thought patterns.

3. loc. 1225

   A more reliable approach is to cut bad habits off at the source. One of the most practical ways to eliminate a bad habit is to reduce exposure to the cue that causes it.

4. loc. 1331

   Scientists can track the precise moment a craving occurs by measuring a neurotransmitter called dopamine.

5. loc. 1347

   When it comes to habits, the key takeaway is this: dopamine is released not only when you experience pleasure, but also when you anticipate it.

6. loc. 1396

   “more probable behaviors will reinforce less probable behaviors.”

7. loc. 1483 ❦

   One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the normal behavior.

8. loc. 1522

   The normal behavior of the tribe often overpowers the desired behavior of the individual.

9. loc. 1574

   You think you are quitting something, but you’re not quitting anything because cigarettes do nothing for you.

10. loc. 1604

    Here’s the powerful part: there are many different ways to address the same underlying motive. One person might learn to reduce stress by smoking a cigarette. Another person learns to ease their anxiety by going for a run. Your current habits are not necessarily the best way to solve the problems you face; they are just the methods you learned to use. Once you associate a solution with the problem you need to solve, you keep coming back to it.

11. loc. 1645

    I once heard a story about a man who uses a wheelchair. When asked if it was difficult being confined, he responded, “I’m not confined to my wheelchair—I am liberated by it. If it wasn’t for my wheelchair, I would be bed-bound and never able to leave my house.” This shift in perspective completely transformed how he lived each day.

12. loc. 1685

    Highlight the benefits of avoiding a bad habit to make it seem unattractive.

13. loc. 1736

    If motion doesn’t lead to results, why do we do it? Sometimes we do it because we actually need to plan or learn more. But more often than not, we do it because motion allows us to feel like we’re making progress without running the risk of failure.

14. loc. 1782

    There is nothing magical about time passing with regard to habit formation. It doesn’t matter if it’s been twenty-one days or thirty days or three hundred days. What matters is the rate at which you perform the behavior. You could do something twice in thirty days, or two hundred times. It’s the frequency that makes the difference.

15. loc. 1829

    the less energy a habit requires, the more likely it is to occur.

16. loc. 1870

    Like a Japanese television manufacturer redesigning their workspace to reduce wasted motion, successful companies design their products to automate, eliminate, or simplify as many steps as possible. They reduce the number of fields on each form. They pare down the number of clicks required to create an account. They deliver their products with easy-to-understand directions or ask their customers to make fewer choices.

17. loc. 2019

    Strategies like this work for another reason, too: they reinforce the identity you want to build. If you show up at the gym five days in a row—even if it’s just for two minutes—you are casting votes for your new identity. You’re not worried about getting in shape. You’re focused on becoming the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts. You’re taking the smallest action that confirms the type of person you want to be. We

18. loc. 2143

    “Civilization advances by extending the number of operations we can perform without thinking about them.”

19. loc. 2259

    But there is a trick. We are not looking for just any type of satisfaction. We are looking for immediate satisfaction.

20. loc. 2275

    Similar to other animals on the African savannah, our ancestors spent their days responding to grave threats, securing the next meal, and taking shelter from a storm. It made sense to place a high value on instant gratification. The distant future was less of a concern. And after thousands of generations in an immediate-return environment, our brains evolved to prefer quick payoffs to long-term ones.

21. loc. 2310

    The best way to do this is to add a little bit of immediate pleasure to the habits that pay off in the long-run and a little bit of immediate pain to ones that don’t.

22. loc. 2393

    The most effective form of motivation is progress.

23. loc. 2450

    The all-or-nothing cycle of behavior change is just one pitfall that can derail your habits. Another potential danger—especially if you are using a habit tracker—is measuring the wrong thing.

24. loc. 2662

    Openness to experience: from curious and inventive on one end to cautious and consistent on the other. Conscientiousness: organized and efficient to easygoing and spontaneous. Extroversion: outgoing and energetic to solitary and reserved (you likely know them as extroverts vs. introverts). Agreeableness: friendly and compassionate to challenging and detached. Neuroticism: anxious and sensitive to confident, calm, and stable.

25. loc. 2728

    We all have limited time on this planet, and the truly great among us are the ones who not only work hard but also have the good fortune to be exposed to opportunities that favor us.

26. loc. 2822

    Whether it’s business or sports or art, you hear people say things like, “It all comes down to passion.” Or, “You have to really want it.” As a result, many of us get depressed when we lose focus or motivation because we think that successful people have some bottomless reserve of passion. But this coach was saying that really successful people feel the same lack of motivation as everyone else. The difference is that they still find a way to show up despite the feelings of boredom.

27. loc. 2892

    Mastery is the process of narrowing your focus to a tiny element of success, repeating it until you have internalized the skill, and then using this new habit as the foundation to advance to the next frontier of your development.

28. loc. 2895

    endless

29. loc. 2997

    “I’m the CEO” translates to “I’m the type of person who builds and creates things.”

A portion of what I highlighted, up to 1,000 words per book.