Greetings and Salutations, Blog Readers

Today we are discussing a book I am obsessed with, I keep recommending and even buying for other people, and highly suggest everyone read it: Atomic Habits by James Clear.

I had originally heard about this book on YouTube, from the YouTuber Alisha Marie, and I wanted to read it, but honestly, looking back, I don’t think I was in a state of mind geared towards improving myself, so I don’t know that the book would have been as well received by me had I read it then.

As anyone who knows me well knows, I have been in a massive phase of leveling up and improving myself and my life and have therefore been more receptive to making changes in my life- therefore this book was finally something that could be well received. My therapist suggested I start reading a few books of the self-help nature, and Atomic Habits was one I have had on my list for a while, so, after I got through The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, I felt primed to read Atomic Habits.

First things first, if you are actually on the journey to being better, as in, you realize the work is really never done, and you should always strive for better, this book may be great for you- but don’t waste anyone’s time if you aren’t willing to actually do the work. Too often people read these types of books and get mad when nothing in their life changes…because they make no changes.

You have to be willing to make change. No “oh I can’t do that” mindsets, no limiting beliefs that you have held your whole life. You must be willing to make an effort and make changes.

If, however, you ARE in that place in your life to actually improve and make changes, if you are willing to set aside your ego and MAKE CHANGES, then this is a great book to read.

Atomic Habits breaks down what makes our bad habits, and how to break them, while also breaking down what makes a good habit, and how to create them.

This isn’t some book that says, “Decide you want to work out every day, and then do it every day until a habit is formed and then voila your life is better.”

This book instead breaks down why you may not be working out, how to make incremental steps to change this behavior, and slowly build a better habit for the path you are on.

This book helps break the mental barriers you may be experiencing to stopping bad habits, habits you know are crushing you. Take for example, smoking: I can proudly say I am in week seven of not smoking cigarettes, something that if you know me, is impressive. Even the first time I quit smoking, I would sneak them once a week, at least once a month or so.

I am in week six, and while there are plenty of times that I do WANT one, I have a template as to how to NOT smoke, and I have systems in place to keep me from doing it. The book gave me insight as to how to break the bad habit of smoking, and build better habits of not smoking, along with plenty of other healthy habits, like taking my vitamins every day, drinking water, and doing some sort of physical activity every day, with stretching being a mandatory part of my daily routine.

I am far from perfect, please don’t mistake this blog post as a “boom I read this book and my life is now exactly how I want it” but, I did read this book, and since doing so, I have been able to make many changes that reflect the life I want to lead and reflect how I want my life to go. I am living much more intentionally, and I am combing what I learned from that book with things I have learned from other books and from therapy, and slowly, my life is shaping up to one that makes me consistently happy and is growing in a way that makes me proud.

I am living healthier and making healthier steps to continue that progress. I am able to apply the lessons from Atomic Habits to not just my quitting smoking, but also to working out, writing more, creating my content, planning my days and weeks…I am making sustainable changes to how I crank everything out as a solo creator, a one-woman publishing machine. I still have work to do, I still have things to learn, books to read, books to write, but this book lit a fire under me, and more than that, it showed me how to keep the fire burning, how to keep working and moving forward.

I highly suggest this book for anyone on the quest to being their best self, for creatives, for business minded people, for people who want to make their life match their vision.

And it’s not even that expensive. You can buy it on Amazon for under 15 bucks, and at any remaining bookstores Amazon hasn’t put out of business. Please check it out.

Thanks for reading,

Abbi