Book of the Month Recommendation: “Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones” by James Clear

This is Angelique, Tim’s wife. You may not know this but recently I started to manage a lot of the behind the scenes pieces of the business……including scheduling these emails.  I decided it wasn’t fair to let him have all the fun so I decided to do a Guest Book Review. Yay me!

For this guest book review I want to share “Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones” by James Clear

A friend and former co-worker recommended this book to me. She was so excited about it that I downloaded it on my Audible app immediately. I understand why she was so enthusiastic. This is one of the few books in which I started to implement some of its suggestions IMMEDIATELY!  How many non-fiction books do you read, think it’s great, but it doesn’t really inspire a change? If I’m being honest, it’s probably most books for me. So, for my guest reviews I plan to share with you the books that did inspire me to make changes. 

But I digress…..

The author, James Clear is a world expert in the formation of habits and speaks around the world teaching his Atomic Habits principles. As the title suggests, his approach teaches that many tiny little changes can eventually lead to a big transformation. You just need the right system(s) in place!  In Atomic Habits, James Clear makes the argument that setting goals is not enough. One must create systems that develop good habits and break bad ones. In my career as a learning & development professional, I’ve taught and taken many classes that espouse the 

importance of setting goals.  So, this idea, that a goal alone is not enough kinda blew my mind!

James Clear provides very practical and tangible tips for how to form a new habit or break a bad one. One tip he provides is something he calls “habit stacking” which is attaching a new behavior to an existing behavior, rather than a time or place. I had two habits that I wanted to get back into. Flossing my teeth every night, and doing pushups and/or squats every night. In the time BK (before kids) I had a six pack. I know that sounds obnoxious but I did. This was not something that came naturally but because of a habit that I formed. If I was watching TV at night in bed or on the couch, I would drop to the floor during commercials and crank out some crunches. It worked!  My twenty-something year old body was something to behold! And it was the result of a lot of what I call micro-workouts, which added up a result I was very happy with. So, recalling this, I decided I would apply this habit stacking idea to the two areas I mentioned before. I have a cue….brushing my teeth. I brush my teeth every night before I go to bed. So, now I add two behaviors to this habit. After I brush my teeth, I floss. (Seems logical I know but I’ve never been a regular flosser). After flossing, I will do push ups or squats or both, depending on how it fits into my regular workout schedule.  Will doing 20 pushups one time do anything for me? No. Will doing 20 pushups 5 or more times a week do something? Most definitely. Not the least of which is that I get to add to that number. So, what started as 20 push ups per night is now 25. I am very happy to report that I now feeling very confident in my sleeveless summer outfits! Thank you James Clear!

Anyhoo, if you’ve ever had a hard time forming new habits, I highly encourage you to check out this book. I am confident it will be a game changer.

CLICK HERE to check it out!