ā¹ļø Skipped - page is already crawled
| Filter | Status | Condition | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| HTTP status | PASS | download_http_code = 200 | HTTP 200 |
| Age cutoff | PASS | download_stamp > now() - 6 MONTH | 0.5 months ago |
| History drop | PASS | isNull(history_drop_reason) | No drop reason |
| Spam/ban | PASS | fh_dont_index != 1 AND ml_spam_score = 0 | ml_spam_score=0 |
| Canonical | PASS | meta_canonical IS NULL OR = '' OR = src_unparsed | Not set |
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| URL | https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/ |
| Last Crawled | 2026-04-07 02:38:10 (13 days ago) |
| First Indexed | 2023-06-22 10:54:20 (2 years ago) |
| HTTP Status Code | 200 |
| Meta Title | Did Atomic habits by James Clear actually change my life? |
| Meta Description | Atomic Habits is a best-selling sensation about implementing small changes to see big results. But did it actually change me at all? |
| Meta Canonical | null |
| Boilerpipe Text | I recently read through (and listened through) the entirety of
Atomic Habits
by James Clear. Itās the first book Iāve read in the āproductivityā/āself-helpā genre and so I thought, rather than my usual review where I try to break the book down into a review of the plot and a review of the characters and then round it off with a summary, Iād try something a bit different.
Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via any of the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products.
For those of you whoāve not heard of it,
Atomic Habits
is one of the best-selling books of all time in its genre. To summarise it, it essentially gives an in-depth and science-based understanding on how you can remove bad habits and introduce good habits into your life with some simple four steps processes. The idea is that if you integrate a small, very consistent change into your life that you want to see, it will then go on to become something thatās automated and so part of who you were.
The examples Clear regularly uses are exercising or stopping smoking (a positive new habit and a negative old habit). The four steps he uses are: cue, craving, response, reward.
I obviously donāt want to and never could articulate fully the many ideas Clear has as to how you can implement these four steps into your life.
Along with these steps, he gives very regular research insights into previous works of habits and successful people who have decided they want a change and so decided to bring a more consistent change to their life which has resulted in them stopping a bad habit or introducing a new one.
Iāll start off right off the bat by saying that I think the most impressive thing Clear managed to do with
Atomic Habits
is to write a whole 300+ page book on what Iāve summarised above. Iāve seen plenty of those apps that can summarise non-fiction books for you in audiobook form and I would likely suggest listening to one of these if your interest is more towards actually implementing the processes rather than finding out any history or background behind the logic.
So, is it any good?
In short: yes. I am always sceptical when going into āself-helpā books like these that theyāre just going to be a load of fluff about how you should change the way you think or ātry harderā but
Atomic Habits
never really tries to do that. At every single new learning moment, Cear provides evidenced research and tangible applications to your life so you never feel like youāre left guessing as to what he means or what heās trying to tell you.
His ability to keep you interested is an impressive feat too; he uses graphs and visual identifiers to help explain a lot of what heās trying to teach you and so this allows you a better understanding as to what it is you should be looking into.
The book essentially goes through the four different steps to implementing or removing a habit and the section breaks these down into more granular chapters. Some chapters you could probably skip as theyāre more about mindset and, as I said, research that led Clear to his summaries, but most of the content in this book is very much worth reading.
Why did I actually want to read
Atomic Habits
?
Iām a big sceptic for almost everything (other than technology but thatās because Iām a sucker for new shiny tech); anytime anybody tells me that something changed their life or that I should sleep more or that I should change when I drink my coffee. I always try it for a few days or a few weeks, realise it hasnāt completely revolutionised my life, and go back to the way that made my life have less effort to it.
Therefore, James Clear trying to convince me with anything he wrote in
Atomic Habits
was always going to be a bit of a challenge. I only picked up this book because Iād heard and seen so many positive things about it that I thought it might change my perspective on these things.
Something else I should note is that Iām also a huge fan of trying to optimise my life. I often watch Ali Abdaal on YouTube, Iām always looking for the most efficient way to organise my notes at work, and Iām always downloading new ToDo apps to see which ones keep me completing tasks more regularly, I live a lot of my personal free time by setting myself time goals āOh, Iāll play this until 8pm and then Iāll go shower and read from 8.30pmā.
All of these things allow me to feel like Iām never truly wasting the minutes of my life. Even when Iām watching TikTok or scrolling through Instagram or Twitter, I like to think this is crucial to allowing my brain to switch off and allowing my mind time to not have to worry about schedules, deadlines or hard work (though sometimes I do find myself on TikTok for way longer than I would have liked, but thatās another story).
Therefore, when I realised
Atomic Habits
was about implementing small consistent habits to your life that would become an automated habit to improve yourself, I was a big fan of this idea.
Did it actually change my life then?
Well, no. But also yes a little bit.
Atomic Habits
, essentially gave me the confidence that if I want to achieve something, I donāt have to make a drastic change today that I will then have to try and make a huge effort to keep up every single day. It embedded the idea into me that I can make a very small new habit today and that if I keep up very consistently, I will see the much larger ramifications at a later date.
The first thing I did after finishing
Atomic Habits
was download a habit-tracking app. I love apps and I love having something digital that I pick up at all times and be reminded of (my phone is, after all, likely where I spend most of my time when not at work, leisure etc).
Once I had my habit tracker, I looked at what Iād like to improve about myself. The big one for me at the time of writing this is staying in some form of shape. Ever since I was a teenager and staying thin and ārippedā hasnāt become so easy, actively exercising and going to the gym is something Iāve nearly always thought about. I would love one day to feel accomplished in feeling like I was in great shape and other people noticed that.
However, one of the big things
Atomic Habits
teaches you is that one of the first steps of a new habit is also changing the way you refer to the habit youāre doing. So rather than saying to someone āI sometimes go to the gymā you say āI work outā. Itās not only verbally changing the way others see your efforts at the gym but thereās also evidence-based proof that by verbalising these things, it helps build your confidence and determination to continue being that person.
Therefore, the first two habits I added to my tracker were to do 30 press-ups a day and to go to the gym twice a week. Neither of these two tasks is a hard ask for me. I told myself the 30 press-ups didnāt have to be all at once or even at the same part of the day and I told myself two days a week at the gym is eight times a month which would mean Iām spending less than Ā£2 a gym session.
A week later I can now do 30 press-ups without stopping and have gone to the gym four times since I started the tracking. Iām not saying itās worked as Iām very much someone that keeps something up for a month or so and then lets it fade away as I often remember how much life easier was without this habit. However, Iāve set a small habit that isnāt too strenuous and something I can do in less than a minute in the press-ups. And Iāve set up another habit that works well around my life ā I work from home two days a week but my partner has to get up early for work anyway so she wakes me up and then as soon as Iām up and in my gym gear, itās a go that Iāll be gyming that day.
Would I recommend
Atomic Habits
to others?
It 100% depends on what you want to try and get out of the book. If youāre looking for your whole entire life to change and to become a millionaire in the next year, then this book may not quite be for you (though I think Clear does offer some advice on his website for people like this). However, if youāre someone whoās looking to lose weight or take up running, quit smoking or take up meditation, then
Atomic Habits
could offer you some great foundations for how to do this.
Atomic Habits
essentially guides those of us who are looking for a small improvement on a route that will likely see a much larger improvement in years to come.
So what would I rate
Atomic Habits
out of five stars?
Atomic Habits
final rating ā 4.5/5
Iāve noted a few times in this review that I am a huge sceptic when it comes to any of these books that claim to change your life, however, I came out of reading
Atomic Habits
not feeling like Iād read a load of wishy-washy nonsense about how I should change my mindset but with real tangible applications. Also, my favourite lesson to come out of this book is that you donāt have to start off big ā in fact starting off very small and consistently doing something very small is the best way to start as it promotes what you want to be being very easy. If youāre looking to become a millionaire in the next six months, this may not be the book for you, but if youāre trying to consistently take up running or lose a little weight or something tangible like this, then
Atomic Habits
may offer you some great steps to help build up those habits.
Pick up a copy of Atomic Habits from Amazon |
| Markdown | [Skip to content](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#ht-content)
- [Lukeās Blog](https://www.lukeharkness.com/)
- [Podcast reviews](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/podcast-reviews/)
- [Fiction](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/podcast-reviews/fiction/)
- [Book reviews](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/)
- [Classics](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/classics/)
- [Contemporary Fiction](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/contemporary-fiction/)
- [Crime](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/crime/)
- [Fantasy](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/fantasy/)
- [Historical Fiction](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/historical-fiction/)
- [Mystery](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/mystery/)
- [Nonfiction](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/nonfiction/)
- [Romance](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/romance/)
- [Sci-Fi](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/sci-fi/)
- [Thriller](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/book-reviews/thriller/)
- [Features](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/)
- [Author interviews](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/author-interviews/)
- [Blogger Spotlights](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/blogger-spotlights/)
- [Comparisons](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/comparisons-features/)
- [How to](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/how-to/)
- [Monthly Round Ups](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/monthly-round-ups-features/)
- [Quizzes](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/quizzes/)
- [Reactions](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/reactions/)
- [Tips and Tricks](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/tips-and-tricks/)
- [Recommendations](https://www.lukeharkness.com/category/features/recommendations/)
- [Newsletter](https://www.lukeharkness.com/newsletter/)
- [Contact and about me](https://www.lukeharkness.com/contact/)
- [Privacy Policy](https://www.lukeharkness.com/612-2/)
# Did Atomic Habits by James Clear actually change anything about my life?
- [Home](https://www.lukeharkness.com/)
- Did Atomic Habits by James Clear actually change anything about my life?
22Jun 2023 by [Luke Harkness](https://www.lukeharkness.com/author/lukeharkness_hcnm37/) [4 Comments](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comments)
I recently read through (and listened through) the entirety of *Atomic Habits* by James Clear. Itās the first book Iāve read in the āproductivityā/āself-helpā genre and so I thought, rather than my usual review where I try to break the book down into a review of the plot and a review of the characters and then round it off with a summary, Iād try something a bit different.

*Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via any of the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products.*
For those of you whoāve not heard of it, *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* is one of the best-selling books of all time in its genre. To summarise it, it essentially gives an in-depth and science-based understanding on how you can remove bad habits and introduce good habits into your life with some simple four steps processes. The idea is that if you integrate a small, very consistent change into your life that you want to see, it will then go on to become something thatās automated and so part of who you were.
The examples Clear regularly uses are exercising or stopping smoking (a positive new habit and a negative old habit). The four steps he uses are: cue, craving, response, reward.
I obviously donāt want to and never could articulate fully the many ideas Clear has as to how you can implement these four steps into your life.
Along with these steps, he gives very regular research insights into previous works of habits and successful people who have decided they want a change and so decided to bring a more consistent change to their life which has resulted in them stopping a bad habit or introducing a new one.
Iāll start off right off the bat by saying that I think the most impressive thing Clear managed to do with *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* is to write a whole 300+ page book on what Iāve summarised above. Iāve seen plenty of those apps that can summarise non-fiction books for you in audiobook form and I would likely suggest listening to one of these if your interest is more towards actually implementing the processes rather than finding out any history or background behind the logic.
## So, is it any good?
In short: yes. I am always sceptical when going into āself-helpā books like these that theyāre just going to be a load of fluff about how you should change the way you think or ātry harderā but *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* never really tries to do that. At every single new learning moment, Cear provides evidenced research and tangible applications to your life so you never feel like youāre left guessing as to what he means or what heās trying to tell you.
His ability to keep you interested is an impressive feat too; he uses graphs and visual identifiers to help explain a lot of what heās trying to teach you and so this allows you a better understanding as to what it is you should be looking into.
The book essentially goes through the four different steps to implementing or removing a habit and the section breaks these down into more granular chapters. Some chapters you could probably skip as theyāre more about mindset and, as I said, research that led Clear to his summaries, but most of the content in this book is very much worth reading.
## Why did I actually want to read *Atomic Habits*?
Iām a big sceptic for almost everything (other than technology but thatās because Iām a sucker for new shiny tech); anytime anybody tells me that something changed their life or that I should sleep more or that I should change when I drink my coffee. I always try it for a few days or a few weeks, realise it hasnāt completely revolutionised my life, and go back to the way that made my life have less effort to it.
Therefore, James Clear trying to convince me with anything he wrote in *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* was always going to be a bit of a challenge. I only picked up this book because Iād heard and seen so many positive things about it that I thought it might change my perspective on these things.
Something else I should note is that Iām also a huge fan of trying to optimise my life. I often watch Ali Abdaal on YouTube, Iām always looking for the most efficient way to organise my notes at work, and Iām always downloading new ToDo apps to see which ones keep me completing tasks more regularly, I live a lot of my personal free time by setting myself time goals āOh, Iāll play this until 8pm and then Iāll go shower and read from 8.30pmā.
All of these things allow me to feel like Iām never truly wasting the minutes of my life. Even when Iām watching TikTok or scrolling through Instagram or Twitter, I like to think this is crucial to allowing my brain to switch off and allowing my mind time to not have to worry about schedules, deadlines or hard work (though sometimes I do find myself on TikTok for way longer than I would have liked, but thatās another story).
Therefore, when I realised *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* was about implementing small consistent habits to your life that would become an automated habit to improve yourself, I was a big fan of this idea.
## Did it actually change my life then?
Well, no. But also yes a little bit. *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)*, essentially gave me the confidence that if I want to achieve something, I donāt have to make a drastic change today that I will then have to try and make a huge effort to keep up every single day. It embedded the idea into me that I can make a very small new habit today and that if I keep up very consistently, I will see the much larger ramifications at a later date.
The first thing I did after finishing *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* was download a habit-tracking app. I love apps and I love having something digital that I pick up at all times and be reminded of (my phone is, after all, likely where I spend most of my time when not at work, leisure etc).
Once I had my habit tracker, I looked at what Iād like to improve about myself. The big one for me at the time of writing this is staying in some form of shape. Ever since I was a teenager and staying thin and ārippedā hasnāt become so easy, actively exercising and going to the gym is something Iāve nearly always thought about. I would love one day to feel accomplished in feeling like I was in great shape and other people noticed that.
However, one of the big things *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* teaches you is that one of the first steps of a new habit is also changing the way you refer to the habit youāre doing. So rather than saying to someone āI sometimes go to the gymā you say āI work outā. Itās not only verbally changing the way others see your efforts at the gym but thereās also evidence-based proof that by verbalising these things, it helps build your confidence and determination to continue being that person.
Therefore, the first two habits I added to my tracker were to do 30 press-ups a day and to go to the gym twice a week. Neither of these two tasks is a hard ask for me. I told myself the 30 press-ups didnāt have to be all at once or even at the same part of the day and I told myself two days a week at the gym is eight times a month which would mean Iām spending less than Ā£2 a gym session.
A week later I can now do 30 press-ups without stopping and have gone to the gym four times since I started the tracking. Iām not saying itās worked as Iām very much someone that keeps something up for a month or so and then lets it fade away as I often remember how much life easier was without this habit. However, Iāve set a small habit that isnāt too strenuous and something I can do in less than a minute in the press-ups. And Iāve set up another habit that works well around my life ā I work from home two days a week but my partner has to get up early for work anyway so she wakes me up and then as soon as Iām up and in my gym gear, itās a go that Iāll be gyming that day.
## Would I recommend *Atomic Habits* to others?
It 100% depends on what you want to try and get out of the book. If youāre looking for your whole entire life to change and to become a millionaire in the next year, then this book may not quite be for you (though I think Clear does offer some advice on his website for people like this). However, if youāre someone whoās looking to lose weight or take up running, quit smoking or take up meditation, then *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* could offer you some great foundations for how to do this.
*[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* essentially guides those of us who are looking for a small improvement on a route that will likely see a much larger improvement in years to come.
So what would I rate *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* out of five stars?
## *Atomic Habits* final rating ā 4.5/5
Iāve noted a few times in this review that I am a huge sceptic when it comes to any of these books that claim to change your life, however, I came out of reading *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* not feeling like Iād read a load of wishy-washy nonsense about how I should change my mindset but with real tangible applications. Also, my favourite lesson to come out of this book is that you donāt have to start off big ā in fact starting off very small and consistently doing something very small is the best way to start as it promotes what you want to be being very easy. If youāre looking to become a millionaire in the next six months, this may not be the book for you, but if youāre trying to consistently take up running or lose a little weight or something tangible like this, then *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* may offer you some great steps to help build up those habits.
***[Pick up a copy of Atomic Habits from Amazon](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)***

### Share this:
- [Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/?share=facebook)
- [Share on X (Opens in new window) X](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/?share=x)
### *Related*
### 4 thoughts on āDid Atomic Habits by James Clear actually change anything about my life?ā
-  **[Michael Wilson](https://anovelchapter.co.uk/)**
I have seen this book doing the rounds on Instagram so might give it a try.
Iāve only read one self help book before which was Adam Peatyās one just because I obviously admired his achievements in swimming and though I felt some parts I could relate to such as finding it hard to switch off, he also talks about channelling his anger and aggression which I struggled to relate to as I donāt think Iām that aggressive in personality, also it felt like it was repeating information Id seen elsewhere. Also agree it never really changed my life as I just read something else.
I might give this one a go though at some point.
[26/06/2023 at 3:47 pm](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comment-1065)
[Reply](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comment-1065)
-  **[Luke Harkness](https://www.lukeharkness.com/)**
Some great points there. I think thereās an element that no matter which āself-helpā book you read some messages will be repeated as thereās only so many ways one can help themselves and also there are some tried and tested and proven methods too which are worth always saying\!
[28/06/2023 at 12:32 pm](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comment-1067)
[Reply](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comment-1067)
-  **[Linnie](https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=bL86EQAAQBAJ)**
James Clearās Atomic Habits is a game-changer for anyone looking to break bad habits and build lasting good ones. The way he simplifies behavior change into small, actionable steps makes it easy to apply in daily life. The emphasis on identity-based habits and the power of tiny improvements resonated with me. A must-read for personal growth\!
[02/02/2025 at 4:04 pm](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comment-1955)
[Reply](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comment-1955)
-  **[Khalid Archetype6](https://archetype6.com/)**
I love how honest this review is ā no overhype, just āhereās what worked, hereās what didnāt.ā I had a similar experience where some parts of Atomic Habits clicked hard (like identity-based habits ā that one got me good), and other parts⦠well, I nodded along and never used them again š
One thing that helped me take the ideas further was Archetype6 ā itās this little tool that helped me figure out what kind of habit patterns fit my personality. Like, I finally understood why tracking didnāt work for me but visual cues did. It didnāt āchange my lifeā overnight, but it helped me stop blaming myself when something didnāt stick.
I think the magic is not in the book alone, but in how you build around it. Curious if others found ways to make it stick too?
[14/07/2025 at 3:11 pm](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comment-2171)
[Reply](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#comment-2171)
### Leave a Reply [Cancel reply](https://www.lukeharkness.com/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/#respond)
Welcome to my blog - I desperately try and review every book I read. I can't promise they're the best written and my scoring system is very odd (nothing's ever worse than a 3.25 or better than a 4.75), but I'm hoping you can still find new books to enjoy\!

- [Twitter](https://www.twitter.com/lukesblog1)
- [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/lukes.blog)
- [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/lukesblog1)
- [Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/lukesblog1)
- [Mail](https://www.lukeharkness.com/newsletter)
What are you looking for?
[WordPress Theme - Total](https://hashthemes.com/wordpress-theme/total/) by HashThemes |
| Readable Markdown | I recently read through (and listened through) the entirety of *Atomic Habits* by James Clear. Itās the first book Iāve read in the āproductivityā/āself-helpā genre and so I thought, rather than my usual review where I try to break the book down into a review of the plot and a review of the characters and then round it off with a summary, Iād try something a bit different.

*Please note that this article contains affiliate links. This means that if you choose to purchase any products via any of the links below, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. These affiliate links do not affect my final opinion of the products.*
For those of you whoāve not heard of it, *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* is one of the best-selling books of all time in its genre. To summarise it, it essentially gives an in-depth and science-based understanding on how you can remove bad habits and introduce good habits into your life with some simple four steps processes. The idea is that if you integrate a small, very consistent change into your life that you want to see, it will then go on to become something thatās automated and so part of who you were.
The examples Clear regularly uses are exercising or stopping smoking (a positive new habit and a negative old habit). The four steps he uses are: cue, craving, response, reward.
I obviously donāt want to and never could articulate fully the many ideas Clear has as to how you can implement these four steps into your life.
Along with these steps, he gives very regular research insights into previous works of habits and successful people who have decided they want a change and so decided to bring a more consistent change to their life which has resulted in them stopping a bad habit or introducing a new one.
Iāll start off right off the bat by saying that I think the most impressive thing Clear managed to do with *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* is to write a whole 300+ page book on what Iāve summarised above. Iāve seen plenty of those apps that can summarise non-fiction books for you in audiobook form and I would likely suggest listening to one of these if your interest is more towards actually implementing the processes rather than finding out any history or background behind the logic.
## So, is it any good?
In short: yes. I am always sceptical when going into āself-helpā books like these that theyāre just going to be a load of fluff about how you should change the way you think or ātry harderā but *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* never really tries to do that. At every single new learning moment, Cear provides evidenced research and tangible applications to your life so you never feel like youāre left guessing as to what he means or what heās trying to tell you.
His ability to keep you interested is an impressive feat too; he uses graphs and visual identifiers to help explain a lot of what heās trying to teach you and so this allows you a better understanding as to what it is you should be looking into.
The book essentially goes through the four different steps to implementing or removing a habit and the section breaks these down into more granular chapters. Some chapters you could probably skip as theyāre more about mindset and, as I said, research that led Clear to his summaries, but most of the content in this book is very much worth reading.
## Why did I actually want to read *Atomic Habits*?
Iām a big sceptic for almost everything (other than technology but thatās because Iām a sucker for new shiny tech); anytime anybody tells me that something changed their life or that I should sleep more or that I should change when I drink my coffee. I always try it for a few days or a few weeks, realise it hasnāt completely revolutionised my life, and go back to the way that made my life have less effort to it.
Therefore, James Clear trying to convince me with anything he wrote in *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* was always going to be a bit of a challenge. I only picked up this book because Iād heard and seen so many positive things about it that I thought it might change my perspective on these things.
Something else I should note is that Iām also a huge fan of trying to optimise my life. I often watch Ali Abdaal on YouTube, Iām always looking for the most efficient way to organise my notes at work, and Iām always downloading new ToDo apps to see which ones keep me completing tasks more regularly, I live a lot of my personal free time by setting myself time goals āOh, Iāll play this until 8pm and then Iāll go shower and read from 8.30pmā.
All of these things allow me to feel like Iām never truly wasting the minutes of my life. Even when Iām watching TikTok or scrolling through Instagram or Twitter, I like to think this is crucial to allowing my brain to switch off and allowing my mind time to not have to worry about schedules, deadlines or hard work (though sometimes I do find myself on TikTok for way longer than I would have liked, but thatās another story).
Therefore, when I realised *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* was about implementing small consistent habits to your life that would become an automated habit to improve yourself, I was a big fan of this idea.
## Did it actually change my life then?
Well, no. But also yes a little bit. *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)*, essentially gave me the confidence that if I want to achieve something, I donāt have to make a drastic change today that I will then have to try and make a huge effort to keep up every single day. It embedded the idea into me that I can make a very small new habit today and that if I keep up very consistently, I will see the much larger ramifications at a later date.
The first thing I did after finishing *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* was download a habit-tracking app. I love apps and I love having something digital that I pick up at all times and be reminded of (my phone is, after all, likely where I spend most of my time when not at work, leisure etc).
Once I had my habit tracker, I looked at what Iād like to improve about myself. The big one for me at the time of writing this is staying in some form of shape. Ever since I was a teenager and staying thin and ārippedā hasnāt become so easy, actively exercising and going to the gym is something Iāve nearly always thought about. I would love one day to feel accomplished in feeling like I was in great shape and other people noticed that.
However, one of the big things *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* teaches you is that one of the first steps of a new habit is also changing the way you refer to the habit youāre doing. So rather than saying to someone āI sometimes go to the gymā you say āI work outā. Itās not only verbally changing the way others see your efforts at the gym but thereās also evidence-based proof that by verbalising these things, it helps build your confidence and determination to continue being that person.
Therefore, the first two habits I added to my tracker were to do 30 press-ups a day and to go to the gym twice a week. Neither of these two tasks is a hard ask for me. I told myself the 30 press-ups didnāt have to be all at once or even at the same part of the day and I told myself two days a week at the gym is eight times a month which would mean Iām spending less than Ā£2 a gym session.
A week later I can now do 30 press-ups without stopping and have gone to the gym four times since I started the tracking. Iām not saying itās worked as Iām very much someone that keeps something up for a month or so and then lets it fade away as I often remember how much life easier was without this habit. However, Iāve set a small habit that isnāt too strenuous and something I can do in less than a minute in the press-ups. And Iāve set up another habit that works well around my life ā I work from home two days a week but my partner has to get up early for work anyway so she wakes me up and then as soon as Iām up and in my gym gear, itās a go that Iāll be gyming that day.
## Would I recommend *Atomic Habits* to others?
It 100% depends on what you want to try and get out of the book. If youāre looking for your whole entire life to change and to become a millionaire in the next year, then this book may not quite be for you (though I think Clear does offer some advice on his website for people like this). However, if youāre someone whoās looking to lose weight or take up running, quit smoking or take up meditation, then *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* could offer you some great foundations for how to do this.
*[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* essentially guides those of us who are looking for a small improvement on a route that will likely see a much larger improvement in years to come.
So what would I rate *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* out of five stars?
## *Atomic Habits* final rating ā 4.5/5
Iāve noted a few times in this review that I am a huge sceptic when it comes to any of these books that claim to change your life, however, I came out of reading *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* not feeling like Iād read a load of wishy-washy nonsense about how I should change my mindset but with real tangible applications. Also, my favourite lesson to come out of this book is that you donāt have to start off big ā in fact starting off very small and consistently doing something very small is the best way to start as it promotes what you want to be being very easy. If youāre looking to become a millionaire in the next six months, this may not be the book for you, but if youāre trying to consistently take up running or lose a little weight or something tangible like this, then *[Atomic Habits](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)* may offer you some great steps to help build up those habits.
***[Pick up a copy of Atomic Habits from Amazon](https://amzn.to/3r0yj04)***
 |
| Shard | 8 (laksa) |
| Root Hash | 7821786641630661008 |
| Unparsed URL | com,lukeharkness!www,/book-reviews/did-atomic-habits-by-james-clear-actually-change-my-life/ s443 |