Build Good Habits Through Practicing What I Learned From Reading These Two Great Books

I want to address in this blog how these two readings have helped me. Atomic Habits by James Clear and The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy

I was so focused on my health, nutrition, and physique, but I was missing a component to it: the mindset and emotional component when it comes to reaching my goal. Here is a quick idea of what these 2 reads convey. I can tell you with no doubt that dedicating a part of my day to self-growth and learning more about my emotional state of mind and how to manage it has been a great addition to the full health component of my overall health. I am so proud of my work and hope this blog motivates you to improve the way you do everything you do.

Atomic Habits is a concept popularized by James Clear in his same name book. It focuses on the idea that small, incremental changes to your habits can lead to significant long-term results. The core idea is that just like atoms are tiny building blocks that make up everything around us, small habits (atomic habits) are the building blocks of larger, meaningful life changes. By consistently making tiny improvements, over time, they compound into huge success.

The key principles of Atomic Habits are:

1. The 1% Rule: Getting 1% better every day may seem insignificant at first, but over time, this small improvement leads to massive growth. The compounding effect makes these tiny changes powerful.

2. Habit Stacking: This involves linking a new habit to an existing habit. For example, if you already drink a cup of coffee in the morning, you can stack a new habit of reading for 5 minutes after your coffee.

3. The Four Laws of Behavior Change:

   • Cue: Make it obvious.

   • Craving: Make it attractive.

   • Response: Make it easy.

   • Reward: Make it satisfying.

   These four laws help you build good habits and break bad ones by adjusting your environment and your approach to behavior.

   
   
   
   

   

   1% change will lead you to big changes

   
   
   
   
   
   

   The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy is a principle that focuses on the idea that small, consistent actions over time create significant outcomes. It's similar to the "snowball effect" or "interest compounding" in finance but applied to your actions, decisions, and behaviors. The compound effect suggests that while individual actions might not seem like much when they are repeated consistently, their impact builds up and leads to profound changes.

   1. The idea is that your actions compound over time, either positively or negatively. So, for example:

   2. Positive Compound Effect: Reading just 10 pages of a book each day may seem like a small thing, but over a year, that adds up to roughly 3,650 pages—more than most books! The same principle applies to working out, saving money, or any other positive habit you build.

   3. Negative Compound Effect: On the flip side, small negative actions, like skipping workouts or eating junk food regularly, also compound over time and lead to negative consequences.

      
      
      
      

      How they connect: Both Atomic Habits and the Compound Effect emphasize the importance of small, consistent actions leading to big results. In a way, Atomic Habits provides the tactical framework to build good habits and break bad ones, while the Compound Effect explains why those small actions, over time, can yield big results—either positive or negative.

      So, if you’re focusing on making small, smart changes in your life, the Atomic Habits approach will help you do that effectively, and the Compound Effect will show you just how impactful those changes will be over time.

      I hope this helps and keeps you consistent in making the best decisions for your health.

      Does that help clarify the concepts for you? Do you have any specific habits you’re trying to build or break?

      
      

      Stay in tune with your alignment, with your intuition, to do the best you can for yourself. I am here to support you! lina@linawarnercoaching.com