HABITS

Part 1

Habit — A very small and common word but holds a deep meaning in our lives. We use it commonly in every sentence we speak or write, usually without understanding the depth of it.

Recently, I finished the book, Atomic habits by James Clear. It’s an incredible read. I am glad that I picked this up, I am going to keep reading it again and again till all of its learnings are stamped on my conscious and subconscious.

James Clear, himself a great example of how small and yet so simple habits can make a great impact on one’s life. He started writing his blog in 2012, and he followed it religiously to write every Tuesday and Thursday. Today, his book Atomic habits is a #1 New York Times BestSeller and has sold nearly 3 million copies worldwide, wow!

I have tried to summarise and jot down some of the favorite parts of the book, below:

Becoming aware is the key

We do most of our habits unconsciously, like brushing our teeth, scrolling on our mobile phones, picking up snacks that are kept on the table, etc. But once we start becoming aware of our habits, it’s then that we gain more awareness about them and also then can we improve in what we are currently doing. This is what, I think, holds the gates to your mind and your soul. This way we can avoid doing things which we feel will not improve or help us and can also add some good habits to our existing habits, or remove our bad habits from our routines.

Habits are a double-edged sword

“Bad habits can cut you down just as easily as good habits can build you up”, which is why awareness is crucial. We need to understand how habits work and how we can design them to our liking, so we can avoid the dangerous half of the blade.

1% better every day

Small habits make a big difference in our lives.

Even though small changes might not be noticeable now, but they will show you the results in the long run. And this is true for both good and bad habits. If we want to become successful, we need to start working from today, start taking baby steps in order to achieve what people call as “overnight success”. What they don’t see is there each consistent day of working hard to reach there. But only successful people know the meaning behind it.

Lionel Messi once said “it took me 17 years and 114 days to become an overnight success”

We need to continuously make small consistent efforts each day and work towards our goals. If your goal is to write a book, you need to start by writing at least one sentence each day, the habit of writing consistently will not only improve your writing skills but also give you the courage to be able to write more in each sitting.

Complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining about an ice cube not melting when you heated it from twenty-five to thirty-one degrees. Your work was not wasted; it is just being stored. All the action happens at thirty-two degrees.

When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it – but all that had gone before.

To be continued…