Julia's notes on Atomic Habits

P7. changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you're willing to stick with them for years. We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you'll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible.

P.15 Too often we convince ourselves that massive success requires massive action…we put pressure on ourselves to make some earth-shattering improvement. While improving by 1 percent is not even noticeable - but it can be far more meaningful, especially in the long run. Example: how England won Tour de France

P.19 Productivity compounds. Accomplishing one extra task is a small feat on any given day, but it counts for a lot over an entire career. The effect of automating an old task or mastering a new skill can be even greater. The more tasks you can handle without thinking, the more your brain is free to focus on other areas.

P.23 What's the difference between systems and goals? Goals are about the results you want to achieve. Systems are about the processes that lead to those results. P.24 Goals are good for setting a direction, but system are best for making progress. A handful problems arise when you spend too much time thinking about your goals and not enough time designing your systems.

P.25 Achieving a goal is only a momentary change. P.26 Problem #3: Goals restrict your happiness. The implicit assumption behind any goal is this "Once I reach my goal then I will be happy." The problem with a goals-first mentality, that you're continually putting happiness off until the next. When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don't have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running.

P. 44-45 The process of habit begins with trial and error. Whenever you encounter a new situation in life, your brain has to make a decision. You are carefully analyzing the situation and making conscious decisions how to act. The brain is busy learning the most effective course of action. With practice, the useless movements fade away and the useful actions get reinforced. That’s habit forming. Whenever you face a problem repeatedly, your brain begins to automate the process of solving it.

P.62 once a habit is firmly rooted in your life, it is mostly nonconscious and automatic. If a habit remains mindless, you can’t expect to improve it. As the psychologist Carl Jung said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate”.

P.66 the process of behaviour change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before changing them. Strategies like Pointing-and-Calling and the Habits Scorecard are focused on getting you recognise your habits and acknowledge the cues (Auslöser) to trigger them.

P. 83 Despite our unique personalities, certain behaviour tend to arise again and again under certain environmental conditions. If I walk into the kitchen and see a plate of cookies, I will pick up some of them and start eating, even if I had not been thinking about them beforehand. The more obviously available a product or service is, the more likely you are to try it.

P.142 We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. Photography students example: the best photos were from quantity group, because they were experimenting, while the quality group was speculating about perfection.