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A few months back I read a book titled “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. It was a very well-written book and I found a lot of snippets useful that spoke to me. I compiled them into a bunch of notes. The first, second and third sets are here, here and here.
Here is the fourth and final set which includes some amazing snippets from the appendix of the book:
Awareness comes before desire. A craving is created when you assign meaning to a cue.
Happiness is simply the absence of desire. When you observe a cue, but do not desire to change your state, you are content with the current situation. Happiness is not about the achievement of pleasure (which is joy or satisfaction), but about the lack of desire. It arrives when you have no urge to feel differently. Happiness is the state you enter when you no longer want to change your state.
It is the idea of pleasure that we chase. We seek the image of pleasure that we generate in our minds.
Peace occurs when you don’t turn your observations into problems. The first step in any behavior is observation. You notice a cue, a bit of information, an event. If you do not desire to act on what you observe, then you are at peace.
With a big enough why you can overcome any how.
Being curious is better than being smart. Being motivated and curious counts for more than being smart because it leads to action. Being smart will never deliver results on its own because it doesn’t get you to act. It is desire, not intelligence, that prompts behavior.
Emotions drive behavior. Every decision is an emotional decision at some level. Whatever your logical reasons are for taking action, you only feel compelled to act on them because of emotion.
We can only be rational and logical after we have been emotional. The primary mode of the brain is to feel; the secondary mode is to think.
Your response tends to follow your emotions. Our thoughts and actions are rooted in what we find attractive, not necessarily in what is logical.
Suffering drives progress. The source of all suffering is the desire for a change in state.
Your actions reveal how badly you want something. If you keep saying something is a priority but you never act on it, then you don’t really want it. It’s time to have an honest conversation with yourself. Your actions reveal your true motivations.
Reward is on the other side of sacrifice. Response (sacrifice of energy) always precedes reward (the collection of resources).
Self-control is difficult because it is not satisfying.
Our expectations determine our satisfaction. The gap between our cravings and our rewards determines how satisfied we feel after taking action.
The pain of failure correlates to the height of expectation.
Hope declines with experience and is replaced by acceptance.
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