An all-encompassing guide to building habits, James Clear’s Atomic Habits, explores the psychology behind habits and how to use this knowledge to build habits that last and cause atomic change. In this case, atomic means that there are lots of small parts and components to a habit and its results accumulate slowly, but they all come together in the end to create humongous change. A good way to think about it is that habits are like compound interest. Their growth is exponential. What we often forget is that improving significantly, but only once, is much less valuable than growing one percent but doing so every single day. James Clear demonstrates this logic through math as well. Let’s say you are getting 1% worse every day for one year (0.99³⁶⁵ = 00.03). At the end of the year, you will only be left with 003% of what you started with. On the other hand, if you are getting 1% better every day for one year (1.01³⁶⁵ = 37.78), you will gain 37% on top of what you already had. 

Clear also explores the topic of the “Plateau of Latent Potential” through this “atomic” lens. At first, habits are time-consuming but don’t yield amazing results. In other words, the amount of energy put in does not equal the results that come out of it. This is the plateau. However, if you stick with it and keep pushing, you will suddenly see immense growth. Clear puts it well when he says, “When you finally break through the Plateau of Latent Potential, people will call it an overnight success [...] But you know that it’s the work you did long ago [...] that makes the jump today possible.” 

I most certainly enjoyed this book. What I found best about it was how actionable it was. Too often, self-improvement books ramble on about a topic without actually adding any value to the reader’s life. However, Atomic Habits explains each topic but also how to put these newly learned information to good and effective use. Along the same lines, the book wasn’t unnecessarily long. Everything was concise and well-put in as few words as possible, saving the reader valuable time so you can actually start implementing these learnings into your life! Lastly, I highly enjoyed the structure of the book, and the anecdotes included. Most chapters were structured as such: anecdote, explanation, main idea, how to implement, tips and tricks, and chapter summary. The anecdotes were a great way to spice up a book that could otherwise be dry. They added a narrative-feel to the book while also proving the point that Clear was about to make. The chapter summaries were also incredible. They took away the hard work of having to take notes or highlighting. Whenever you want to see the main points mentioned throughout the book, just check out the summaries! 

I would absolutely recommend this to anyone wanting to build better habits that won’t be forgotten after two days. If you’ve ever set new year’s resolutions (or mid-year resolutions!) and have stopped sticking to them after the first week of January, then this book will add immense value to your life! There are some small mentions of 12+ topics but those are rare (and are in no way focused on, simply passively mentioned). What’s more, no prior knowledge is required to read this book. As long as you have a drive to better your life, this book is good for you! 

This book isn’t necessarily ideal for research or homework, however. It is a self-improvement book and is therefore something you’d likely read on your own time to better yourself. Most of the topics covered in the book are evidence-based and all sources are cited at the end of the book. This section could actually be quite useful for research on the topic of habit building! 

Overall, this was an incredible read that I would recommend to all. Give it a read and implement the tips to become a habits master!