atomic habits, a little review...
i have delegated reading this book for years because of my pride. and now that i have finally read it, i couldn't get enough of it. i couldn't wait to get the time to read it so i also listened when i couldn't read and finished it express. it really is fucking good.
even tho i can not claim it has some divine never before seen knowledge, it tickles the part of your brain that wants to improve and gives it stimuli that helps it to kick-start the self development engine. that is to start ruminating on how you could improve everything you do. and yes even tho that isn't always the healthiest of instincts when it is aimed at replacing God with "progress" for the sake of itself, it still has a holistic perspective which helps you to see the process in a healthy way.
James clear doesn't focus on becoming an overpowered human specimen so you can dominate everything around you, but rather he sees habit-forming as a source of meaning and fulfillment in the regular stuff so you don't have to chase excitement and ecstasy. He also sprinkles the book with gems like: "every time i go to lie down in bed, i will kiss my spouse" and those themselves, even they aren't the focus of the book, give it a sense of beauty you don't get while reading the modern "self development" gurus.
in the first chapter of the book he does one very clever little trick. by pointing out how goals have a natural handicapp in longevity, he positions focusing on habits as a solution to the problem. that is, when you have a goal you end up losing the drive after you achieve it, but if you focus on establishing useful habits and start viewing what you do everyday as an inevitablee prediction of where you are going to be in the future, not only do you solve the problem of lacking motivation after achieving the goal - but you also pull the future into the now by seeing the habits in themselves as the end goal. to paint the picture clearer i can give the example of writing. so you want to write and publish something worth reading, and let's say you somehow manage to write one book, in all honesty it is probably going to be shit. and now you have a problem as you have written something so you have done what you wanted to do but it's shit so you will probably just stop writing and say that you just don't have talent. now let's say you get into the habit of writing every day and see it as a win in itself, as while you write everyday you are a writer. now in that case you have an identity that allows you to continue writing and improving at it even when you write something that's shit, as it is a natural part of being a writer and that way you can achieve a lot more.
all in all, a nice light little read. would reccomend
cheers (: