By Aminuddin Baharudin
Once in a blue moon, a movie, a song or in this case a book, will truly affect me to my core. People have echoed nothing but good things about this book and sometime early this year, I decided to give it a chance. Atomic Habits by James Clear, and oh boy…
The word habit is often mentioned together with good or bad. The former being actions that benefit you, and for the latter, detrimental or at least, wasteful. We rarely talk about habits in the context of potentially life-changing behaviours.
In this book, James referred to habits as the compound interest of self-improvement. Often do we convince ourselves that huge success requires a huge effort. We pressure ourselves to make mind-blowing improvements that are news-worthy. In most cases, it’s the small changes every day that leads to life-changing outcomes in the future.
The thing with habits that many people find difficult to stick to is that you don’t see the effects immediately, or how James put it, your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits, the size of your bank account is the lagging measure of your financial habits, and your CGPA is the lagging measure of your study habits.
Time amplifies the difference between success and failure. Good habits make time your friend. Bad habits make time your enemy. Whatever habits you decide to form today, is a vote for the future you.
Source / Reference
Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits. London: Cornerstone. Get it athttps://malaysia.kinokuniya.com/bw/9781847941831
