Tiny changes, Remarkable results
Imagine taking a plane from Los Angeles to New York City. If the pilot of the plane decides to adjust the entire course of the plane 5 degrees to the south, the nose of the plane would move just a few feet. Apart from the pilot, no one on the plane would notice the small movement. But summed up or magnified over the course, the plane would land up 100’s of miles away from its original destination. Because the immediate impact of such tiny changes seems pretty negligible we tend to not notice them at first glance. Even if you save up $100 today, you won’t be a millionaire the very next day. The effects of even our smallest actions may not be apparent at first glance. But if we can consistently repeat these small feats, our choices can end up compounding into significant results.
Over a period, time magnifies the margin between success and failure. If you spend an hour every day working on the skill you want to improve, eventually, you will be far more well-versed in it. Take playing the guitar, for example, the start maybe not be easy and the learning of the instrument may not be very apparent at first but over a while, you will notice a significant change in how you handle the instrument and sync it with your mind. This is exactly what is mentioned in the book “Atomic Habits“ by James Clear. The book explains the science and practical implications of how tiny changes in habits can grow into life-altering outcomes which lead us to yield remarkable results. The book focuses on 4 key points
The 1% Change over time
Focus on systems instead of end goals
It's all about identities rather than outcomes
4 laws of behavior change.
Habits are the compound interest of self improvement
Habits don’t seem to make much of a difference on a given day but compound them over months or years and the impact is enormous. Even the smallest habits can have major results over time. Habits are born out of satisfying experiences regardless of you doing it consciously or not. Every habit is subject to the same process. It is a behavior that you repeat so many times to achieve the desired outcome, which after a period happens automatically. If we get 1% better every day for a year we will end up 37 times better than what we were at the start. But if we get 1% worse every day we will be at zero at the end. “Time magnifies the margin between success and failure”. It will multiply whatever habit you feed it. Good habits will make time your ally and bad habits will make time your enemy.
You don’t rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your system
Goals are the results you want to achieve. Systems are the processes that lead to those remarkable changes. In the book, James mentions that winners and losers have the same goal. Let’s take the champions league final for example, both team A and team B want to win the cup. We concentrate on the team that ends up winning and mistakenly attribute their success to their ambitious goal, so it can’t be the goal that differentiates people. Achieving a goal is a momentary change and goals restrict your happiness.
Identity change is the North-Star of Habit change
We as humans have three layers of behavior. The first one is the outcome which would be losing weight or getting started with a career in cybersecurity and it often operates on the level of setting goals. The second layer is the Process which would be setting a routine in the gym or learning about cybersecurity fundamentals & knowledge to land your first job in the field and it generally applies to changes in your habits. The third layer is Identity where if you think you are a fit & healthy person or are determined to learn about a subject and play, the result will follow and it applies to changes in your beliefs. When we solve the problem’s in terms of outcomes we will manage to solve them temporarily. When a habit becomes part of our identity, is when you see the real change.
What is immediately rewarded is Repeated and what is immediately punished is Avoided
How do you build a habit and how do you achieve your desired identity to stick? Always keep in mind that the goal is not to just get a job but to become an expert in the field. Similarly, the goal is not to read a book but to become a reader. The more you repeat a behavior, the more you reinforce the identity associated with that behavior. To make your identity stick you should make it obvious, make the habit attractive so that you get back to it regularly because you feel the need to indulge in it, make the habit easy to do so that you don’t fall into the trap of laziness and “oh no this thing is too hard for me to do“. Finally, make the habit immediately satisfying so that you get a sense for small victories which lead to bigger rewards down the line.
References: I got my references from the book “Atomic Habits“ by James Clear and it has a great perspective on how small changes in habits can yield remarkable results over time.
