Why am I reading Atomic Habits?

Hope you are doing well this October. As we are in the final quarter of 2025, I hope you are finishing 2025 strong! I recently came across a great deal on "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. This is one of the most recommended books from my mentors, so I thought I'd use this platform to share my thoughts. You might find a few nuggets useful, whether you're off track from your goals, aligning your objectives, or already planning your 2026 New Year's resolutions!

I wanted to share insights from my reading, implement them in my life as an entrepreneur, and share with those on the journey of self-improvement or about to begin. :)

The introduction of the book details how the author suffered a serious injury on the baseball field in high school. He returned to the game, made it as a college player at his university, was named to the ESPN Academic All-American Team, and received the highest academic honor, the President's Medal—all while building "atomic habits" like good sleeping habits and keeping his room tidy to maintain control over his life.

Did you know if you improved 1% per day, you would end up nearly 37 times after a year?

1% better everyday = 37 times better in a year.

It can be difficult to appreciate small changes because they don't seem to matter much in the moment. The results never come quickly, so we often slide back into our old habits.

The first intriguing point was to FORGET about our goals and FOCUS on systems instead.

We often think the goal should be changed, but the author states that while every Olympic athlete's goal is to win the gold medal, it is the system that separates the winners from the losers. This system involves training right, eating right, sleeping right, and recovering right.

If you're a business owner, your goal might be to build a million-dollar business. The system would be product testing, hiring, and running marketing campaigns.

The second point is that we tend to postpone our happiness until we achieve our goal. We fall into the paradox of "once I accomplish this goal, then I will be happy." The author urges us to find satisfaction in executing the system itself. It is unlikely that our actual path through life will match the exact journey we had in mind when we started. It makes no sense to restrict our satisfaction to one scenario when there are multiple paths to success.

The third point is that many people revert to old habits after achieving their goals. The author suggests that the purpose of setting a goal is to win the game, but the purpose of building systems is to continue playing the game.

Lebron's approach is a great system to be studied. He reportedly spend over 1.5 Million on his body to sustain his now 23rd season at the NBA. I'll stop geeking out on basketball.

LeDunk James GIF "Credit from Tenor"

"This is the one I want to be mindful of, building a system for longevity, continuous progress."

So here comes the summary from the first chapter:

• Habits are compund interest of self improvement, getting 1% better accumulated into a lot more in the long run.

• When we solve problems at the results level, we only solve them temporarily. To improve for good, we need to solve problems at the system level.

• Fall in love with the process rather than the end goal. We can be satisfied any time the system is running and not postponing happiness.

• True long-term thinking is goal-less thinking, not single accomplishment.

• It is our commitment to the process that determines our progress.

That's it for chapter one, the system I will implement is to read a chapter daily and share progress on this page weekly. I would also share the struggles along the way, my internal dialogue, goes and the ways I overcame them. Now I am putting it out there, everyone is holding me accountable, I cannot fail, I must follow through.

Paul Driving "Credit from Tenor"

If you had read this book, I'd love to discuss on how you implemented and if it worked!

Not to sound like the YouTubers saying make sure to comment, like and subscribe, but I would love to know how it went, afterall we're on the journey of self-improvement!

Till next time :)

Namaste out of it. haha "Credit from Tenor"

Credits:

"Atomic Habits" James Clear

Gifs from Tenor.com