Our July Wind-Down Wednesday focused on creating habits based on the research from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. Clear breaks down the science and strategy behind creating good habits, while also being able to invert those ideas to break bad habits. During the presentation we talked about the four (4) laws of creating habits that Clear breaks down in his book.
The 4 Laws for creating habits:
Law #1: Make It Obvious (Cue)
Law #2: Make It Attractive (Craving)
Law #3: Make It Easy (Response)
Law #4: Make It Satisfying (Reward)
These habits paired with consistency, will help you create lasting habits for your personal and professional life.
One large take away that I had was the importance of creating systems over goals. Clear breaks down the cons of creating goals and explains why systems are more effective. James states that “systems are about the process that lead to those results”. Meaning that in order to hit the results you want, you must have a system in place. He explains that there are four (4) main problems with creating goals:
1. Winners and losers have the same goal
2. Achieving a goal is only a momentary change
3. Goals restrict your happiness
4. Goals are at odds with long-term progress
This breakdown made me look internally and think about my own successes and failures with creating goals. It became clear to me that goals are not the best method for reaching success. Having a system in place, even if that system consists only of baby steps, will be more effective than having only an end goal.
Check out our slide deck to learn more about creating Atomic Habits! You can also download the Atomic Habits Cheat Sheet here: atomichabits.com/cheatsheet
*Special thank you to our guest blogger and YNPN Board Member, Samantha Wilson!