📖 Backstory

I had plenty of experience setting ambitious goals – I could map out big plans for what I wanted to achieve – but I struggled to stick with the daily habits needed to make those goals a reality. I’d start a new routine (exercise, coding practice, writing daily, you name it) with lots of enthusiasm, only to have it fizzle out after a couple of weeks. Even after adopting the 12 Week Year for better goal-setting, I found myself inconsistent on the day-to-day level. I realized that without a solid system of habits, even the best goals would languish. That’s what led me to pick up James Clear’s Atomic Habits, hoping to find a practical method to finally become the consistently productive person I aspired to be.

In this post, I’ll share the key ideas I learned from Atomic Habits and how I’m applying them through a simple habit-tracking system (including a peek at the Notion dashboard I built to keep my habits on track). If you’re trying to be more consistent – whether it’s learning every day, working on a side project, or just sticking to any positive routine – Clear’s approach offers some powerful insights. I’m not perfect at it (I still have habits I’m working to lock in, and some days are better than others), but having a proper system in place definitely helped.

💡 The Big Idea

James Clear’s Atomic Habits taught me that big results are the product of small, consistent actions. The core idea is that tiny daily habits compound over time into remarkable improvements. Clear even quantifies it: getting just 1% better each day for a year will make you nearly 38 times better by the end of that year. Conversely, small daily losses (1% worse each day) can bring you practically back to zero. This was a mind-bending concept – it means habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Progress might be slow at first (you might see nothing for a while, a phenomenon Clear calls the “Valley of Disappointment”), but if you stick with those tiny gains, they accumulate into something big. In short, success is not one monumental event – it’s the sum of hundreds of small actions done regularly.

Another huge insight from the book is to focus on systems, not goals. We often get obsessed with setting goals, but Clear argues that the process you follow each day is far more important. In fact, winners and losers often have the same goals; what separates them is the systems they use – the daily habits and routines that actually lead to the outcomes. As Clear famously puts it, “You do not rise to the level of your goals; you fall to the level of your systems.” A goal on its own can’t transform you, but a good system will.

5️⃣ Keys to Atomic Habits

Clear introduces Four Laws of Behavior Change (plus the overarching focus on identity), which I’ve been using as the recipe for building better habits. Here are the key elements and how I’ve been implementing them:

Key 1: Start with Identity (Systems over Goals)

Everything kicks off with mindset. Before jumping into what habit to build, Atomic Habits encourages you to ask: “Who is the type of person that would achieve the outcomes I want?”. By defining the identity you aspire to, you have a guiding why for your habits.

This is a subtle shift from outcome-based goals to identity-based habits, but it makes a huge difference. For example, I used to set a goal like “write a novel in 6 months” and then feel like a failure if I didn’t hit it. Now I focus on being a writer who writes daily, even if it’s just 200 words. The funny thing is, I end up writing more and actually making progress toward that novel – but my focus is on the system (daily writing habit) rather than the goal itself. It’s a lot easier to stay consistent when your habit is part of your self-image, not just an item on a checklist. In short: decide who you want to be, and start “voting” for that identity with small daily actions. Over time, your identity and habits form a feedback loop – each reinforces the other.

Key 2: Make It Obvious (Cue)

The first law of building a good habit is to make the cue obvious. Our behaviors are often triggered by something – a time, a place, a preceding event. To adopt a new habit, you need to design a clear trigger for it. One tactic is habit stacking: attach the new habit to an existing routine or cue. For instance, I wanted to start daily language practice, so I stacked “After I brew my morning coffee, I will spend 5 minutes on Duolingo.” The existing habit of making coffee now automatically reminds me of the new habit.

This also works in reverse for breaking bad habits: make the cues invisible. I’ve been trying to reduce mindless phone use, so at work I keep my phone in my bag (out of sight) instead of on the desk. No visual cue, far less temptation. The key point is to design your environment and routine to automatically prompt the behaviors you want. Don’t rely on memory or willpower – use obvious cues to your advantage.

Key 3: Make It Attractive (Craving)

The second law is about tapping into our motivations. Clear suggests making habits more enticing by pairing them with something you enjoy – a strategy he calls temptation bundling. I tried this with great success: I only allow myself to watch my favorite Netflix show while I’m on the treadmill. Lo and behold, I actually look forward to cardio days now. Also, tracking progress can make a habit more satisfying, which boosts its attractiveness. For example, seeing a streak of checkmarks on a habit tracker creates a little rush of satisfaction.

On tough days, sometimes I’ll gamify things: “If I finish this chapter, I earn 30 minutes of video game time tonight.” It might sound silly, but those little rewards keep it fun and engaging. The lesson here is to find ways to make your desired habit as appealing as possible – whether through pairing, mindset, social encouragement (doing it with a friend), or any trick that makes you actually want to do the behavior.

Key 4: Make It Easy (Response)

This might be my favorite of the laws, because it’s where I had been going wrong for years. The third law is all about reducing friction to perform the habit. In short, make the habit as easy as humanly possible to start. Clear emphasizes the two-minute rule: any new habit should be scaled down to a behavior that takes ≤ 2 minutes to do. This sounds almost trivial, but it’s incredibly powerful. When I decided to start a daily reading habit, I committed to “read one page per day” – that’s it. Often I’d end up reading much more once I got started, but giving myself permission to do just one page meant I had no excuse not to start. I’ve applied this everywhere: “write 50 words a day” (usually turns into a few hundred once I’m in flow), or “jog for 5 minutes” (which often becomes a mile).

By lowering the barrier, I can at least get myself to show up consistently. Another part of making it easy is preparation and environment: I layout my workout clothes the night before, prep healthy snacks for easy grabbing, and keep my guitar on a stand in the living room (not in its case) so practicing is convenient.

Conversely, make bad habits hard: e.g. uninstall time-wasting apps, so if I really want to scroll social media, I’d have to redownload it (too much work, so I usually won’t). The easier a habit is, the more likely it’ll happen. This key taught me that discipline often follows design – if you shape the path of least resistance to lead toward your habit, you’ll naturally do it more often than not.

Key 5: Make It Satisfying (Reward)

The fourth law closes the loop: we repeat behaviors that feel rewarding. To ensure a habit sticks, you need to feel good immediately after doing it. One simple way I implement this is by using a habit tracker to log my habits every day – the act of checking off a habit gives a tiny dopamine hit and visual proof that I’m making progress. It sounds trivial, but it’s actually a big deal.

In addition to tracking, I sometimes give myself a deliberate reward after completing a habit. For instance, after an evening study session, I’ll treat myself to some relaxing YouTube time guilt-free. On a bigger scale, if I hit a milestone of 30 days straight of a habit, I might celebrate with a nice dinner. The point is to associate a positive feeling with the habit so your brain goes, “That felt good, let’s do it again.”

🧾 Atomic Habits in Practice: My Habit System

All these principles sound great, but the real magic happened when I turned them into a practical system I use every day. I essentially built a simple “Habit Dashboard” (in my case, a Notion template) to plan, track, and review my habits. This acts as my execution layer for making sure I actually apply the Atomic Habits philosophy consistently.

Curious to see what this looks like? Check it out above – I’m sharing a copy of my Notion template for the “Atomic Habits System” I use. It’s basically the dashboard and prompts I described, all in one place. Feel free to use it or adapt it if it helps you build your own habit system.

💠 Connecting the Dots

• The 12 Week Year (Brian Moran): If Atomic Habits is about daily actions, The 12 Week Year is about goal cycles. I’ve found the two complement each other perfectly. I use 12WY to set aggressive 12-week goals and Atomic Habits to ensure my daily habits drive those goals forward. For example, in a 12-week cycle I might aim to write 24 blog posts; Atomic Habits principles help me break that into writing every day (even if just a little) and stick to it. The urgency of 12-week deadlines paired with the consistency of tiny daily habits is a powerful combo.
• The Power of Habit (Charles Duhigg): Before Atomic Habits came along, Duhigg’s The Power of Habit was the go-to book for understanding habit loops. It introduced the classic Cue → Routine → Reward cycle that underlies habit formation. Atomic Habits builds on that model (Clear adds the “Craving” step to emphasize desire) and makes it more actionable with the Four Laws. What I appreciate is how Atomic Habits and The Power of Habit together show both the why and how of behavior change. Duhigg provides fascinating examples of how habits work in companies, sports teams, etc., and the idea that you can’t extinguish a bad habit, only replace it. Clear then gives a concrete game plan for doing just that – e.g. inverting the laws to break bad habits (make the cue invisible, make the routine difficult, remove the reward). Both books stress the outsized impact of habits on our lives. Reading them reinforced for me that willpower is overrated; it’s the structure of your routines and environment that shapes your behavior most.