The premise of the Atomic Habits book by James Clear is simple. If you want to improve your life by adopting healthy new habits, it’s all about starting small. Whether it’s waking up a few minutes earlier than usual or managing a couple of push-ups a day, those seemingly small changes, the ones he calls ‘atomic habits’, have the potential to form into long-term routines that will change your life for the better.

Where so many self-help books can fall into the trap of being intimidating and unrealistic at the outset, Atomic Habits offers a more down-to-earth approach that feels immediately realistic and doable. 

It’s backed by real-world evidence, too. Clear delves into the psychology and neuroscience behind hacks like the ‘Two Minute Rule’. He also tells the inspiring stories of successful CEOs, eminent scientists and Olympic gold medalists who have all applied the tiny habits method to remain focused, driven, and fulfilled.

Before getting into any practicalities of the method, however, Clear begins by telling his story, and it’s one that will immediately draw you in. Put into a medically induced coma after a freak baseball accident while at high school, his recovery saw him relearning basic motor skills like walking in a straight line. “As each semester passed, I accumulated small but consistent habits that ultimately led to results that were unimaginable to me when I started,” he recalls. 

Six years following the accident, he was selected as the top male athlete at his University and named to the ESPN Academic All-America Team. An honour, he says, which was given “to just thirty-three players across the country.” 

It’s a story he shares, not to boast (by his own admission, he never ended up playing professionally) but because his personal experiences started him on his journey around the science of habit formation. His weekly “3-2-1” email newsletter has over three million subscribers and has led to him being positioned as a “habit expert”. Whether you agree that this is a real title or not, his backstory and subsequent achievements make for an undeniably compelling argument that his methods do, in fact, work.

The main tips and principles from the Atomic Habits book focus on what Clear calls ‘The Four Laws of Behaviour Change’. This framework states that in order to build a new habit, you need to 1: Make it obvious, 2: Make it attractive, 3: Make it easy and 4: Make it satisfying.

The same is true in reverse. In order to break a bad habit, you must 1: Make it invisible, 2: Make it unattractive, 3: Make it difficult and 4: Make it unsatisfying. 

They may seem like obvious principles, but as with many self-help books, it’s often a case of reiterating logical concepts in a way that makes them feel fresh and easy to apply in daily life. Throughout the book, Clear shares scientific research, examples and personal stories which are not only practical and insightful, but also motivate you to try his system.

Since its release in 2018, Atomic Habits has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, been translated into more than 60 languages and held the honour of being a #1 New York Times bestseller, where it remained on the list for 164 weeks. It’s undoubtedly popular and has amassed a loyal following of fans who praise it for making habit-building attainable. If you’re looking for a book to not only inspire you but also help you achieve realistic goals, it’s definitely worth picking up a copy.

Other works by James Clear

• Articles – A series of articles on topics like health, happiness, creativity and productivity can be found on James Clear’s website.
• The 3-2-1 Newsletter – James Clear’s popular weekly newsletter includes three short ideas, two quotes, and one question for you to ponder.

Atoms – The official Atomic Habits app is built on scientifically-backed laws of habit change

Discover more motivational reads with Victoria Freudenheim

We’re always impressed by self-help books that offer a fresh perspective and can inspire change. If you’re looking for more reading that challenges how you look at life, check out our latest reviews, where we cover a range of genres and styles. 

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