James Clear Shares His Atomic Habits, Little Things That Matter

Whether it’s succeeding in sports or succeeding in life, building good habits has a direct coloration to positive results. Almost nothing comes by accident and it certainly doesn’t come overnight.

New York Times best-selling author James Clear, who wrote the award-winning book Atomic Habits, recently joined the Youth Inc. flagship podcast and delivered many pearls of wisdom.

“The world is very results oriented,” said Clear. “You hear about Hamilton after it’s a Broadway hit. Nothing is ever a news story until it’s an outcome. We tend to over value the outcome and under value the process.”

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Key Takeaways

‘The work is not being wasted, it’s just being stored. It gives you a new lens.’

Clear talked about how to remain grounded in a world that focuses on instant gratification. He said that if people focus on the process and not the end result, the work being put in builds into good habits. It’s the good habit that leads to long-term and sustained success.

Get 1% better every day.

Success takes time and hard work. You can’t expect the results to come right away. If you get a little better each day you will be successful in the end. Stick with it.

“I’m not talking about position, I’m talking about trajectory,” said Clear. “When you’re on a good trajectory, all you need is time.

‘Time will magnify anything you feed it. If you have good habits, time becomes your ally.’

People often give up when they aren’t seeing immediate results. Clear talked about building good systems and not focusing on the results. If you feed good habits, good systems will be established and results will follow.

‘Goals serve a purpose but they aren’t the solution that people hope they would be.’

“If winners and losers have the same goal then the goal can’t be the thing that determines the outcome,” said Clear. “The goal is not the hard part. You don’t rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems. Your goal is your desired outcome. Your system is the collection of daily habits you follow. Goals are good for people who care about winning once. Systems are best for people who care about winning repeatedly.”

‘Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.’

What you do on a daily basis matters. Put in the work, little by little.