Atomic Habits, introduction
Introduction
Atomic Habits (Part 1)
“Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results”
Welcome to part 1 of this multi-part series of articles that will aim to connect James Clear’s Atomic Habits, to nutrition-related decision making and behavior change! My hope is that by delving into the concepts Clear shares in this book and my writings to connect his concepts to nutrition, we’ll both a) become aware of the implications that even the seemingly most insignificant decisions have on our lives (nutrition) and b) better understand how we can leverage the four simple laws that Clear describes in this book to begin to make behavior changes that allow us to sustain effectual fitness journies throughout the rest of our lives.
Moreover, as part of this article series, my goal is to make it so that those who are not reading the book can glean as much value from its contents as possible. To do this, I will at times summarize portions of the book to provide a bit of context. But do realize that this (a book summary) is not the primary intention for writing.
In this first article, I’ll cover the following:
How Atomic Habits came to be
What the underlying concepts are that comprise Atomic Habits
Why Atomic Habits was chosen and how it relates to my coaching philosophy
How habits, in general, relate to nutrition and their significance for achieving sustainability, consistency, and adherence.
“Introduction: My Story”
After describing a traumatic high school baseball injury that changed his life, James Clear describes his personal experiences with habits and what motivated him to write an entire book about them. In doing so, he describes an overview of Atomic Habits according to the following characteristics: (Atomic Habits is…)
Predicated on James Clear’s synthesis of information gathered, discovered, and/or elucidated by others - not entirely his work.
Not presented as an academic research article, instead of an operating manual.
Intended to be highly applicable and not overbearing in theory or basic science (although it is constructed on the basis of basic biology, neuroscience, philosophy, psychology, and more).
Built on a backbone of a four-step model of habits—cue, craving, response, and reward, and the four laws of behavior change that evolve from these steps (The First – Fourth Law).
The Four Laws of Behavior Change, especially, are considered the “meat and potatoes” of Atomic Habits. As you will come to learn, these laws are intended to be simple and practical yet highly effective at influencing behavior change. They harken back in many ways to a saying my graduate professor, Dr. Andy Galpin, constantly reiterated: “The concepts are few; the methods are many.” That is to say that if you can understand these principles and how to apply them properly, then you can leverage them to accomplish incredible feats!
Moreover and in this opening chapter of Atomic Habits, James Clear expresses that his intent for writing this book is to convey how tiny, seemingly insignificant changes in one’s life, founded on a few principles can result in dramatic outcomes over time via the following quote:
“… changes that seem small and unimportant at first will compound into remarkable results if you’re willing to stick with them for years. We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits. With the same habits, you’ll end up with the same results. But with better habits, anything is possible”.
We’ll cover each of those principles in later articles, but for now, I want to express why I have decided to write these articles and am embarking on this experience with you all…
My Desires As a Coach & How Atomic Habits Relates
In sticking with my coaching philosophy, I believe that it is incumbent upon me to give each of you (my clients and others) the tools you need to achieve success in the present and sustain success long into the future. For this to happen, I realize that you must understand both the physiological (calories, macros, micros, etc.) and the psychological (decision making, perceptions, self-talk, etc.) concepts that undermine fitness and especially nutrition. Atomic Habits by James Clear addresses the latter of these concepts as it is one of the most applicable, appreciable, and well-written books for instilling behavior change that I’ve ever read. As I have previously mentioned, my intentions throughout this multi-part series and our reading of Atomic Habits are to translate James Clear’s concepts and practical wisdom into actionable advice, tips, and strategies. In doing so, I believe I can offer you the guidance necessary to become aware of your habits, understand how to consciously improve them, and begin to do just that in the pursuit of developing habits that sustain liftlong fitness and well-being!
As an aside, but on a somewhat related note, in his YouTube video entitled, “Getting Motivated to Lose Fat Through Dieting” (embedded below), Dr. Mike Israetel of Renaissance Periodization describes the six constructs of adherence: 1. Inspiration, 2. Motivation, 3. Willpower/Discipline, 4. Intention, 5. Habit, and 6. Passion.
According to Dr. Mike, adherence to a diet plan and consistency are the very most important factors that determine individuals’ likelihood of dieting success. Moreover, he claims that when all six adherence constructs are fulfilled, “sticking-to-the-diet” is all but guaranteed. Therefore, it should be the aim of both the dieter and coach (if applicable) to achieve all six of these constructs. (As an aside, I would contend that although Dr. Mike contextualized the six constructs with respect to weight loss dieting, these constructs are also very practical for individuals seeking any nutrition-related goal (health, longevity, performance, etc.)).
To reiterate Dr. Mike’s descriptions of the six constructs, note that the first three are crucial for getting your fitness journey started. However, they are not well suited for sustaining you through to achieving your goal.
Inspiration is the initial boost that gets you going but falters very quickly.
Motivation is the driving force that keeps you going intermittently, but it wanes and waxes and so is not reliable all of the time.
Willpower / Discipline is the safety net that keeps you in check when motivation is low but nevertheless has finite stores and can’t be relied on for long durations either.
To improve adherence, intentions can be cultivated to help give your journey a certain “sense of direction” for where you are going and how you will get there. However, there is a massive difference between knowing what to do and doing it. And like the first three constructs, though intentions are necessary, they are not sufficient. In other words, they are an integral part of achieving adherence, but we need something else.
This is where the fifth construct, Habits, becomes imperative. To achieve the highest adherence over the longest time, you must address your habits – or the behaviors, routines, and decisions you make every day. These decisions, regardless of how seemingly insignificant they are, undermine the trajectory of your fitness progress (as well as essentially every other aspect of life, but we’ll stick to fitness for the sake of this article). This is the argument that James Clean makes throughout his book, and the subject of discussion for each of the coming posts in this series.
Also, and more specifically, the coming chapters of Atomic Habits will outline the “Cue, Craving, Response, Reward” and “Four Laws of Behavior Change” models that are intended to make you more aware of your decision making and teach you how to take control of it. And as I have previously mentioned, it is my aim to translate these concepts to you in a manner specific to your nutrition and fitness journey.
That’s it for this post! We’ll begin covering “The Fundamentals” next post.
In the meantime, if you’d like more content by James Clean, consider checking out the following:
- Jamesclear.com (more specifically, the weekly newsletter entitled, “3-2-1 Go”.
- The Habit Academy