Atomic Habits Book Review

Atomic Habits Book Review

Reviewed By: Munira Masoud & Godfrey Shirima

Our very first read, a masterpiece, what a treat for our minds and we couldn’t have picked a better book to kick start our book club.

The Author was clear in offering a proven framework for improving day after day. He gave out simple and very practical steps in order to form good habits and break bad ones.

Below are different lessons learnt while we read the book and discussed amongst the members of the book club.

1% Percent Improvement.

Too often than not we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action. If you can get 1 % better each day for one year, you'll end up thirty seven (37) times better by the time you are done. And vice versa. So the goal is not a single 1 % improvement but a thousand of them.

System vs Goal.

A bad habit becomes a regular way of your life. We always say things such as 'that's the way i am' to justify our behaviour thus it can feel impossible to break a habit. We tend to repeat a habit that makes us feel good at the moment even if they won't help us in the future. Ie: drinking alcohol makes you feel good at the moment but tends to give you a hangover in the morning.

Influence of friends and family to our habits and behaviours.

We don't choose our habits, we imitate them. We imitate our behaviour from people we envy or admire. We tend to imitate behaviours to the people close to us,to a group of people and also to the most powerful or influencers that we know of.

Environment Designing to facilitate your new habits or behaviours.

Create an environment where doing the right thing is easy. Design your environment so the actions that matter the most becomes the easiest to do. For instance, the author pointed out that people always choose products not because of what they are but because of where they are. Therefore, if you want behaviours that are stable you should create a stable environment.

Law of least effort

The less energy a habit requires, the more likely it is to occur. James Clear suggested that, when deciding where to practice a new habit, it is best to choose a place that is already along the path of your daily routine.For example, you are more likely to call or send a text to a person living far than going to visit, because it feels easier to scroll your phone and call because it requires less effort than take a bus.

Conclusion

As we mentioned earlier, we really couldn’t have picked a better book to kick- start our culture changing journey with Mkali Book Club. Members have learnt valuable lessons, testimonies, healthy discussions, Q&As sparked by this book was nothing we could ever imagine. We strongly recommend this amazing book to everyone out there, read the book, re-read, take notes and implement some of his suggested techniques and see how powerful Atomic Habits are.