Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones By: James Clear

Why hello there….January. Can we say tis the season for change? The beginning of the year marks a time where we want to change and develop an idea of what is to come for the upcoming year. Maybe that is an adjustment in our skincare routine or our exercise routine. Maybe that is setting a goal for how much time we spend outside or even better spending less time on technology! Whatever is in your heart, there is no time like the present to make a decision and make the effort for those changes. This all sounds fine and dandy but can we give light to the difficulty that comes with actually trying to build better habits? Or more difficult, breaking those bad habits? It is important to understand the function behind certain habits in order to truly make the changes. Say you have a habit that we will call “ineffective.” It is not functional, it is not helpful, it is not beneficial to your life. That habit still serves a purpose. That habit still has a function in your life. Address the reason behind the habit to make way in forming a new one. If you can do that, then you are already on your way. The biggest challenge is getting started. 

This month’s reading has all to do with changing, breaking and adapting those ineffective habits into ones that will more positively impact your life. James Clear’s Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones lays out the foundation to this process. Within the book you will find key lessons in how to build or break habits as well as gaining an understanding of how the habit formed (the function it possesses). With this will come a need to understand your purpose, what is important to you and what is reasonable in terms of making change. The lessons from the book will provide you with the ability to identify the importance of small changes in your life, a focus on how to make the changes rather than setting too large of goals, and finally building habits based on their purpose in your life. Who is the person you want to be? What do you want out of life? These are questions to ask yourself. As the book says, “ All big things come from small beginnings. The seed of every habit is a single, tiny decision. But as that decision is repeated, a habit sprouts and grows stronger. Roots entrench themselves and branches grow. The task of breaking a bad habit is like uprooting a powerful oak within us. And the task of building a good habit is like cultivating a delicate flower one day at a time” (Atomic Habits, page 22). Now is the time, capture your life, go for it.