Recommendations: Atomic Habits by James Clear
“A book that motivates you to become a better person and make better decisions, all while giving you a roadmap to make it happen.” – Lee Boyd
Written by Lee Boyd
I’ve always been intrigued by habits. What can I do to make good habits, what can I do to stop bad habits? How do I become conscious of things I am doing that are bad (binge eating ice cream, for example), and stop them from becoming habits? The science of making and breaking habits fascinates me.
I stumbled upon an interesting book, Atomic Habits by James Clear. This book walks you through Four Laws of Behavioral Change:
· Make It Obvious
· Make It Attractive
· Make It Easy
· Make It Satisfy
Atomic Habits guides a person through the basics of habit forming and gives great tips and tricks on making good choices and making good habits. I have already made some changes in my life like moving the fruit to a central part of the kitchen and moving the cookies to the closed-door pantry. The result: I have seen the apples disappear and the cookies go stale.
The most interesting thing about this book was not the formula for creating habits, but the discussion on motivation. How to you keep going when the motivation drops, when your improvements slow or the newest wears off and the “sexiness” goes away.
On page 233, James discusses how to stay focused when you get bored working on your goals. He asks the questions, “What’s the difference between the best athletes and everyone else? What do very successful people do that most don’t?” He then gives us the answer: “At some point it comes down to who can handle the boredom of training every day, doing the same lifts over and over and over.”
We’ve all experienced some form of lack of motivation at one time or another.
We've all experienced some form of lack of motivation at one time or another. We all suffer with the same questions, wondering if it’s still worth it. Working on a project can be exciting if it is new and draws positive attention; but being able to complete the task when the motivation has dwindled or disappeared, is when you can really make the big difference.
There was one quote from the book that has stuck with me, and one I’d like to leave with you: “Professionals stick to the schedule; amateurs let life get in the way.”
Lee Boyd co-hosts the FNO: InsureTech Podcast, a podcast that interviews leaders from insuretech and insurance to get up to date ideas and perspectives on how technology is disrupting and transforming the industry. Lee is also the Vice President of Product Innovation at Fourseventy Claim Management. Lee creates innovative processes to transform the traditional methods of insurance claims adjusting. He focuses on the newest technologies and processes, and combines them with custom workflows to serve the needs of 470’s customers. He also heads up data analytics and reporting.