Book Recommendation No. 47 (2021): JAMES CLEAR: ATOMIC HABITS – AN EASY AND PROVEN WAY TO BUILD GOOD HABITS AND BREAK BAD ONES
New York 2018
By Hans-Christian Riekhof
The proportion of our daily behavior that follows defined and ingrained patterns, i.e. our fixed habits, is estimated by experts to be up to 40 to 50 percent. There are “good” and “bad” habits, such as smoking, procrastinating, but also regular exercise, healthy eating.
Many things are no longer questioned, such as the morning routines after getting up or the actions and processes when arriving at work: booting up the computer, checking emails, getting a coffee, looking for relevant news in social media. This is already a question of economy: our brain is relieved when certain behaviors are automated and run without much thought.
Here lie opportunities and dangers at the same time. Because the effects of good and bad habits only show up after decades. And this is the point where James Clear starts with his bestseller: if you get one percent better every day, that’s (at least theoretically) 365 %.
How to put your own habits to the test and achieve more in the same time and with the same energy expenditure, that’s what the author is about. The derivations are well done, the instructions are understandable, the exercises are practical. Learning how to “manipulate” your own behavior according to your own ideas: a highly exciting topic.
