Atomic Habits: A new approach to success

 What is this post about?

As some of you with the reading habit might have already guessed- this is indeed about my learnings from the highly popular Atomic Habits by James Clear.

I am sharing what I perceived the book is about and what parts that might work for me and what would not.

If I were to highlight the most impactful parts- I would have to bulk copy large parts of few of the chapters!

But to start with, I will talk about my impressions and what really caught my attention!

Power of atomic habits

The author introduces readers to the impact of aggregation of marginal improvements over one's lifetime as the only sustainable way to be truly successful. 

This stands out-

"Even if you got 1% better every day, you would be 37% better by the end of the year "

Image borrowed from free downloadable media resources from https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits/media

"Success in life is not about 1 ground breaking life changing transformation, but sustained daily habits accumulated over a lifetime"

The Plateau of Latent Potential 

The author introduces us to his concept of "The Plateau of Latent Potential". 

Here, he explains that the results of all compounding habits is always necessarily delayed. The key to success is to break through what he calls the plateau of latent potential. 

If you are finding it hard to build a new habit, or appreciate its true power, it is not because you have lost to ability to improve, but that you have NOT CROSSED the plateau of latent potential.

Image borrowed from free downloadable media resources from https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits/media

Many examples can be found in daily life - You have been doing your cardio for days, but haven't lost any body fat. You have been learning a new technology for weeks, but you don't seem to have got a good grip on the key concepts yet. You have been doing regular walks for months, but your health just seems to be unaltered.

It is ever so easy to give up at this point of time.