The Surprisingly Simple Secret To Building Better Habits

This week on the Next Big Idea Podcast: James Clear on the secret to building good habits and breaking bad ones. Listen to our conversations on Apple or Spotify, and share your habit adventures in the comments below.

It’s a new year, folks. And this year, we’re going to try something a little different on the Next Big Idea podcast. We’re launching a new series that we’re calling Next Big Idea Classics.

Here’s the plan: Every few weeks, we’re going to have on the show the author of one of the biggest books of the last few decades. Books that changed the conversation, and stood the test of time. We're going to explore -- Why did this book resonate as it did? Are it's claims still true? And, crucially, What has author learned since? What has changed?

Today, we’re kicking off this new series with what may be the bestselling non-fiction book of the last decade.

Atomic Habits by James Clear has sold over 15 million copies since it was published in 2018. That’s one copy every 11 seconds. Last year it was the #1 bestselling book on Amazon, despite being five years old. Something unusual is happening here.

You might ask, why are habits of such universal interest? Here’s a guess – because they work. The science of habit change is powerful. As James puts it, "Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement."

As I like to say to my kids, habits are for lazy people. And you are lazy. I am too. Habits are an easy way to get the hard stuff done.

We like to think of life as a contest of will — women and men clenching their faces into fists as they do the impossible … it makes for great cinema!

But in fact we all have limited will power. It’s the small acts — good habits, compounded over time — that produce most things we care about, whether it’s writing beautiful novels, getting into shape, building caring relationships, or setting a world record with a hula hoop.

So why did this book, Atomic Habits, among the hundreds of books on habits available, blow up? I think its because James shares a system for how a series of small, incremental changes — easy changes, if taken step by step — can produce dramatic results.

James makes the case that this is about more than getting stuff done, it's about being the person you aspire to be. We are, after all, the sum of our actions.

“Every action you take,” James Clear tells us, “is a vote for the person you wish to become.”

Let’s see if this small action – listening to our conversation about how to learn and unlearn habits – can trigger a series of other actions. Both for me and for you.

Give it a listen on Apple or Spotify, and let us know what you think in the comments below.

What habits are you trying to develop — or shed? Let's discuss.