“Atomic Habits: An Easy and Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones” by James Clear is the number one best-selling book in three Amazon categories: Personal Transformation, Parenting, and Popular Social Psychology and Interactions. Why has this book been so popular since it was first published in 2018? Because James Clear’s methods for building good habits and breaking bad ones work.
“Atomic Habits” is frequently recommended by contractors. Why is that? Let’s start with another question. When I say the word habits, what comes to mind? It’s most likely:
- Exercising
- Healthy eating
- Hydration
- Hygiene
- Sleep
We have a tendency to look at habits through a personal lens and not a business one. Clear’s four-step process for building a habit has been wildly successful for many. Here’s the process in a nutshell:
Cue – Triggers the brain to start a behavior. You walk into a movie theater and smell popcorn.
Craving – The motivational force behind every habit. You don’t crave popcorn. You crave the taste and how it makes you feel.
Response – The actual habit or action. You eat the popcorn.
Response – It satisfies your craving. The buttery and salted popcorn hits the spot.
Clear devotes one chapter to each step in the process. He finishes the book with chapters on talent and genes, motivation in work/life, and optimizing good habits.
If you’re a coach or author, pay special attention to the relationship between Clear’s website and the book. He drives readers to resources on habits and builds his email database. His area of expertise is habit development. To support it, he provides a tracker journal, an app, and a multitude of worksheets. He also offers a free email course.
Clear weaves a tight tapestry of his expertise, resources, and focused communications into his work.
Leadership insight
In “The Law of Intuition,” John Maxwell says leaders evaluate everything with a leadership bias. Although one’s tendency is to apply atomic habits to personal behavior, this is a perfect opportunity for the manager to invoke their leadership bias.
Let’s look at Clear’s work through a leadership lens
Be the role model – Use Clear’s four laws to set the tone and build your own growth and developmental plans. Employees emulate leaders they respect.
Focus on systems – A key takeaway from “Atomic Habits” is to focus on systems, not just goals. Instead of concentrating on a goal to do $300,000 in the service department each month, focus on the systems that drive the numbers. For instance, we teach the Go Time Service Call at the Go Time Success Group. It’s a process-oriented approach to running a service call. That’s Clear thinking. Spread it throughout your operations.
John Wooden, one of the greatest college basketball coaches of all time, didn’t focus on winning championships. He focused on standards. He then placed systems and processes into practices to meet or exceed the standards. Coach Wooden’s methods were very successful—his teams won ten NCAA championships.
Small steps, small wins – Habits aren’t formed overnight. They’re formed in small increments. Clear provides a simple two-step process:
- Decide the type of person you want to be. Help and guide your employees to make this decision.
- Prove it with small wins. Set your employees up for small wins. Discuss it with them.
Making progress is a powerful motivational force.
Identity emerges out of habits – A leader sets a vision and then brings on like-minded and valued people to help them achieve it. Employees are not always at the same place on the values continuum. They strive to live out their desired values and become the person they want to become. Sound habits lived day-in and day-out help them achieve this. Managers help nurture and support these habits.
Strive for consistency – Clear focuses on the compounding power of habits in the small-step, small-wins approach. There’s only one way this works—with consistency.
Seize challenges and change – Another Clear focus is resilience. Failure and setbacks create opportunities to modify systems and processes.
Culture building – Leaders can inspire a thriving culture of learning, growth, and improvement by being role models, setting excellent standards, supporting systems/processes, encouraging small steps, celebrating small wins, and being consistent.
Your life path represents a way of being and walking in the world. Embrace atomic habits to lead the way and make it an effective and enjoyable journey.
Atomic Habits by James Clear
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