279: James Clear - How Tiny Changes Can Equal Remarkable Results (Atomic Habits)

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk. Episode #279: James Clear - How Tiny Changes Can Changes Can Equal Remarkable Results (Atomic Habits)

Show Notes:

• "It's important to know how everything works together."
  • Ojai, CA - Circle talking about book writing
• Atomic = Atom, small, tiny.  Habits should be small
• "Habits are the atoms of our lives"
• "It's about the collection of habits"
• "They are small... but put them together... they compound and are powerful."
• The system is in four stages.  They stages are:
  • The cue - gets attention
  • The craving - in the brain
  • The response - the habit, behavior
  • The result - what happens
• Feedback loops - The cookie example
• "My readers and I are peers.  An essential part of the process is to write about it. Try things out.  Everything I've published has been revised many times."
• The four laws:
  • Make it obvious
  • Make it attractive
  • Make it easy
  • Make it satisfying
• The Goldilocks rule - Steve Martin
  • People burn out or get bored.  How to stay motivated...
  • Be stretched just beyond your capacity but not too far. "Always stay just on the edge..."  Steve Martin kept expanding his sets by just a few minutes each time until he had a 60 minute set.  He started small with just a few minutes of material.
  • Make sure you "stretch yourself... just a bit... everyday."
  • Be the person who gets the additional task done
• How to do this all as a parent? -- "Life is in seasons..."
  • "If you want to double your productivity, get 8 hours of sleep."
• The plateau of latent potential -- A melting ice cube.  A 1 degree change
• "Habits don't add up, they compound.  It looks like a hockey stick."
• "Outcome based habits vs identity based habits."
  • Focus on identity based habits.  Be the type of person who wakes up early and works out.
• The importance of being able to delay gratification
• Weightlifting - Reinterpret signals.  "Being sore feels good."  Re frame how you think about something like soreness
• "Happiness is simply the absence of desire."
  • When you observe a cue, but do not desire to change your state, you are content with the current situation
• "Being curious is better than being smart."
  • Need to be eager to learn and accomplish things
  • "Your actions reveal how badly you want something"
• "We can only be rational and logical after we have been emotional."
• System 1 = feelings
• System 2 = Rational, math problem
  • System 1 always leads the way

• The Learning Leader Circle -- Apply
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"

"Being curious is better than being smart"

Social Media:

• Follow James on Twitter: @JamesClear
• Read: Atomic Habits
• Connect with me on LinkedIn
• Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
• To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12