As the title suggests, the book is about how habits build up from small, atomic levels and can lead to achieving huge, remarkable life goals. However, the book helps those in need to manifest goals and assist them in finding a healthy system of living or lifestyle through small yet significant habits. This book is for people who are striving to live healthily as productive doers in real life.
To begin with, the author James Clear highlights a total of four laws composed to make desired habits stronger and vice versa. These are: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying (Clear 54). Above all, the first action, “Make it obvious,” serves as a foundation for all other parts and thus has to be addressed.
People often take action without conscious effort when they notice an opportunity or an object (Clear 61). However, if they process Behavior Change with awareness (Clear 62) and with conscious effort, they can perform different actions (consciously) than what they are always used to (unconsciously). For example, the Japanese railway system has a system called “Pointing-and-Calling,” a safety ritual of pointing at different objects and calling out commands of signals, speedometers, timetables, etc., to reduce mistakes (Clear 63). This system reduces errors significantly by 85 percent and cuts accidents by 30 percent (Clear 63).
Now, here is the specific instruction on how to make the cues obvious. It is easier to formulate a strategy for the habits if it is possible to know when and where they will happen (Clear 71). James Clear provides this formula: “I will [BEHAVIOR] at [TIME] in [LOCATION]” (Clear 71). As an example, if this formula is applied for drawing, it will be like this: “I will draw for twenty minutes at 6 P.M. on my desk in my room.” As illustrated in this example, every variable inside the brackets must be specific.
He also introduces another formula called “habit stacking,” building a new habit by identifying a current habit and stacking new behavior on top (Clear 74). The formula goes like this: “After [CURRENT HABIT], I will [NEW HABIT]” (Clear 74). According to James Clear, habit stacking works the best when the cue is highly specific and immediately actionable (Clear 78).
So here it is, the 1st law of Behavior Change: make it obvious. However, from the title of the article, one might ask the question that none of us got right or that it even exists. The question is: Do you know how you will change in 5 years, or even a year or so? After reading this book, one will realize that only those who understand exactly how daily habits can influence their future can answer this question.
By: Sooyoung Seo