How Atomic Habits Empower Us to Achieve Our Dreams

I recently finished reading James Clear's Atomic Habits, a book that expertly blends scientific insights, personal stories, and practical advice related to developing systems that empower us to achieve our most ambitious goals. I highly recommend the book to anyone who wishes to tackle something huge, whether that's losing weight, starting a business, committing to a creative endeavor, starting a meditation practice, or finding ways to better balance time between work, self, friends, and family.

As a preview of the book's rich content, here are a few quotes that stood out to me:

Leading and Lagging Measures

"Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat."

Years ago, one of my employers granted me an amazing opportunity. I was selected to participate in a year-long leadership development cohort. Throughout this process, we read and discussed several wonderful books, including The Four Disciplines of Execution. One of my biggest takeaways from this book was Discipline 2: Act on Lead Measures. According to Franklin Covey, the book's publisher, "The highest predictors of goal achievement are the 80/20 activities that are identified and codified into individual actions and tracked fanatically."

The concept underscored by Discipline 2 perfectly aligns with Clear's quote above. We begin by determining the big goal that we want to achieve. Then we break this goal down into daily, actionable tasks and behaviors that serve as leading indicators. In other words, we figure out what small, simple things we can do on a regular basis that will add up to the huge result we're striving for. This makes monumental successes attainable. As Desmond Tutu said, "There is only one way to eat an elephant: one bite at a time."

Systems, Beliefs, and Identity

"Behind every system of actions are a system of beliefs...The more pride you have in a particular aspect of your identity, the more motivated you will be to maintain the habits associated with it...Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity."

Of all the ideas in the book, this one hit me the hardest. The beliefs we hold about ourselves greatly influence our habits. We are in a perpetual state of validating who we are. Every action, whether to write a blog post, eat a cupcake, complete a workout, or read a book subtly affirms or reshapes what we believe about ourselves. Am I writer? Am I a healthy, fit person? Am I a lifelong learner?

I think back to my time as a classroom teacher, and I recall how important expectations were for helping students succeed. The research is clear: When teachers believe that their students are capable, students are more likely to succeed academically. Why? Because students who may not yet view themselves as capable of academic success are more likely to adopt this belief as part of their identity if others believe it about them. Here's the key point: What we believe about ourselves makes a difference in our motivation, habit formation, and longterm progress toward important goals.

Much more could be said about Atomic Habits, so I highly recommend picking up a copy of the book. No matter what we hope to achieve in life, reflecting on our identities, systems, and habits is a wise path for moving ever closer to reaching our dreams.     

Photo by Lala Azizli on Unsplash