Chapters 1-5
What is habit stacking?
Habit stacking is when you add a habit before or after an already established habit, like reading for 15 minutes after brushing your teeth in the morning.
What does Clear say matters more than motivation when building habits?
A person's environment/systems.
Finish the sentence: The _____ amount of energy required for a habit, the less likely it is to occur.
more
What is the Goldilocks Rule?
Making sure a habit is not too hard or not too easy so that you feel challenged enough without it being too hard to the point where you procrastinate the habit.
Who is the author of Atomic Habits?
James Clear
How much percentage does James Clear say a person should focus on improving by (improving in any aspect)?
1%
Describe an example of a cue that can be used to help build a habit.
Placing a book on your nightstand to remind you to read before bed, set out your workout clothes before going to bed so when you wake up you see them before you get ready, etc. Answers can vary.
What is the Law of Least Effort?
We naturally gravitate towards the option that requires the least amount of effort. Therefore, it is important to structure our habits to be as effortless as possible.
Finish the sentence: To recover quickly when your habits break down, follow the simple rule to never miss ______.
Twice.
Why is the book titled Atomic Habits?
Describe the purpose of the Pointing-and-Calling system for building habits that the Japanese railway system established.
The purpose of the Pointing-and-Calling system is to bring unconscious habits to a more conscious level. This helps a person notice bad habits so that improvement can be made.
Finish the sentence: Your habits are modern day solutions to ___________.
Ancient desires.
Describe the Two-Minute Rule.
If a goal feels too big and daunting, reduce the habit to be two minutes. You then can build off this two minutes once doing your habit in that two minutes becomes easy.
What is a habit contract?
A habit contract is when you write down a habit that you want to form and the consequence you will implement if you do not perform the habit. You then sign the contract yourself or have an accountability partner sign the contract.
Finish the sentence: Habit building is a ________ process.
Describe what positive compounding and negative compounding means.
Positive compounding is when small effective habits compound into positive change/outcomes and negative compounding is when small ineffective habits compound into negative change/outcomes.
Over the course of building a habit, does dopamine spike more during the cue stage, craving stage, response stage, or reward stage?
Craving stage.
Finish the sentence: Habits form based on ________, not time.
Frequency.
Describe the Paper Clip Strategy.
The Paper Clip Strategy is a visual measure to keep track of habits.
What can you do to make bad habits "difficult"? You just have to name one.
Make it invisible, unattractive, hard, and/or unsatisfying.
What are the four stage of building a habit?
Cue, craving, response, & reward.
What three groups do we imitate the habits of in particular?
The close, the many, the powerful.
What is the strategy addition by subtraction in regards to habit building?
Subtract the most amount of friction possible that is preventing a habit from being formed to add to the chances of a habit being formed.
What is the dark side to tracking a habit?
We may start to become more driven by the number than the purpose behind it.
What is one of the most important approaches to building habits that was discussed throughout this book? It is the opposite of outcome-based habits.
Identity-based habits.