Atomic Habits -- James Clear

So often in life we look at others and see their bad habits or even worse we look at ourselves and see our own bad habits.

What we need to understand is that habits are not good or bad. Habits are just things we do automatically. It’s like steering into the skid if we learned to drive on icy roads, or clicking on the TV as soon as we walk into the house just so there is background noise. I use habit formation tools when I’m teaching people to operate CNC machine tools except I tell them I’m teaching them muscle memory -- because habits are bad. “Atomic Habits” by James Clear is my 3rd favorite habit formation book. The 2nd is called “Zen Habits” and it’s by a guy named Leo Babota. And my favorite is “Tiny Habits” by BJ Fogg. And honestly I could swap Atomic for Tiny without a thought. It's just that I read BJ’s book first. Habits in and of themselves are not good or bad, and the tools BJ and James share with us in their books can help us build habits on purpose. These habits should be things that we choose to do. Things that will bring us closer to our dreams and goals. If you take the time to form purposeful habits and pay attention to your direction you can do anything. -- I’ll leave you with a quote from Margaret Thatcher “Watch your thoughts, for they will become actions. Watch your actions, for they'll become... habits. Watch your habits for they will forge your character. Watch your character, for it will make your destiny.”