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Book of the Month: Atomic Habits by James Clear

 "At some point, everyone faces the same challenge on the journey of self-improvement: you have to fall in love with boredom." James Clear


I was recently recommended the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I didn't really know what I was in for when I picked up this book, but I managed to read through it fairly quickly. I wasn't a huge fan of personal development books in the past, but this book has honestly changed that for me. In fact, I even foresee myself re-reading this book again in the future. So, why did I decide a personal development book for the month of January? What makes this particular book so special? Let's discuss.

As I mentioned, I was recommended this book by someone on social media. This person saw that I am on a weight loss journey and so they recommended a few books to me, Atomic Habits being one of them. I set many goals for myself for the year 2023, you can read about those here. I chose this book for the month of January because I feel lots of people can benefit from reading it. Many people set goals for themselves in the new year and therefore may find this book appealing. If you have goals set for yourself in 2023, I highly recommend reading this book. 

Atomic Habits starts off with author, James Clear sharing a life changing event that took place on his final day of his sophomore year of high school. He suffered from a head injury and was ultimately rushed to the hospital. The journey he went through after that horrific moment was nothing short of incredible. Clear shows that with focus and determination, anything is possible, albeit, not without the help of building some habits along the way.

You see, the focus of this book, as its title points out, is habits. The first three chapters explain the fundamentals and "why tiny changes make a big difference." Clear delves into the power of atomic habits, how our habits shape us (and vice versa), and how to build better habits in four steps. The four steps or four laws are the next focus in the book.

The four laws are:
Make It Obvious
Make It Attractive
Make It Easy
Make It Satisfying

Clear builds on these four laws and along the way shares inspiring stories of people who have used habits to help them achieve success in their lives. He also often refers back to examples of building habits when it applies to losing weight, quitting smoking, etc.

I gave Atomic Habits 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. (If you're not on Goodreads, you should be! It's like social media for books.) Overall, I couldn't get enough of this book. It is fast paced, in my opinion and has lots of sage advice that really had me amped up to achieve my goals this year all by setting a few simple habits.

So, are you a habits person? If so, what are some things that helped you stick with your habits? Let me know down below in the comments or over on Instagram @thymeandwhimsy. Until next week!

Emily xx




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