Book of the Week

Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

Courtney Cardini

Sep 17, 2024

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” - James Clear

10 Atomic Habits quotes that will change your life - Penguin Books Australia

Upgrade to paid

Dear Fellow Reader,

I have been trying to rewire my brain for the last few months.

Like most people, I have this toxic habit of being too hard on myself and thinking I should be further in life than I am. With the first anniversary of my leaving the ship to pursue travel writing full-time coming, my self-doubt and criticisms have been playing on repeat, and I am on a downward spiral.

But I am working on redirecting those feelings and turning to my comfort books to help.

So, since we started traveling again after a month and a half in Germany, I have used the time on our long bus and plane commutes to revisit some of my favorite audiobooks, which I try to listen to once a year.

This week, I decided to revisit Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear.

I first listened to this book at the beginning of 2020, while I was getting back into running and before the world was hit with a pandemic. I continuously return to it when I am in my lowest phase of self-doubt and need some redirection to pull me through.

Atomic Habit taught me the most significant lesson: “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” Even though I have been pursuing travel writing for a year, I am realizing that my biggest issue is that I have never been this version of myself. Yet, I expect overnight success, which is unrealistic and a toxic flaw.

By choosing writing, I have chosen the path less traveled, and there is no A to Z system to build for success because I am only in the beginning stages of trial and error.

I find myself afraid as I enter my second year because I still haven’t figured out a system to help me succeed. For me, success means earning a living while I continue to travel and write. And while most would say, “If your dreams don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough,” I do not regret choosing this path but want to find a system that works.

Book Summary - Atomic Habits (James Clear)

So, with James Clear's help, I have been reevaluating my year and tracking everything I have and haven’t done.

Clear’s approach to accomplishing one’s goals is constructive and beneficial. One would like it to be a no-brainer how to build good or break bad habits, but honestly, in the world we live in now, where you can get anything with the touch of a button, we completely lose sight of the fact that slight daily consistency is the only way to get us to long-term success.

My two most significant issues are spending too much time researching how to write instead of writing and seeing what works and what doesn’t.

So, while research isn’t exactly a “bad habit,” it isn’t helping me get my work out there and connect with readers and clients because I treat it as an immediate reward. It fulfills my need to feel like I am being productive without actually doing the work. But I need the ultimate reward, which comes with much trial and error. So, I need to optimize my environment more to master the entry point of publishing more writing.

Every action I take is a vote for the person I want to become, so I am working on putting myself out there more to see what works and doesn’t work for my writing and readers.

Like any goal you are trying to accomplish, publishing books takes time, which is my ultimate goal. I want to be in the business of writing books. So even though I am closer to publishing my first book, having completed the first draft and meeting with a Literary Agent next week, I know that I could be pushing the needle further, which is what I will continue to work on.

So, if you want to unlock your potential, accomplish your goals, or break a bad habit, I highly recommend reading Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear.

Thank you for reading!

Share My’s Substack

Tell me, Reader, what are you reading this week? Have you read Atomic Habits? What did you think? Comment below!