How “Atomic Habits” Changed My Perspective
Habits give us freedom!
I used to consider habits as a barrier to mental freedom. Living on a defined pattern for your whole life is not thrilling. It might sound easy, but there is no spontaneity left in such life. How can one expect to progress by repeating the same actions every day? I often wondered what people with habits feel like- a puppet whose strings are being pulled by some unknown force. But my perspective changed completely when I read Atomic Habits.
James Clear, in his book Atomic Habits, explained how this perspective is wrong. Clear said that habits give us freedom rather than restricting us. Addressing the above thoughts, he stated that:
They make you think that you have to choose between building habits and attaining freedom. In reality, the two complement each other. -James Clear
To get a better understanding of this let me explain it with an everyday example. When we wake up we brush our teeth. If you brush your teeth daily, it has become a habit and once you have built a habit you no more think about brushing your teeth, you do it impulsively. Similarly, there are a lot of other habits of ours that we perform with or without consideration.
How Does it Help?
Our mind is jam-packed with tasks. Our conscious can attend to only one problem at a time. When we develop good habits for our everyday tasks, we free our minds from the strain of thinking what’s next. Habits give us freedom from our “what” and “when” questions. Instead of wasting time on deciding, we utilize it in doing. In this way, habits let us concentrate more on the tasks that need our attention.
People who don’t have their habits handled are often the ones with the least amount of freedom. -James Clear
EndNote
Habits divide our mental strain. With good habits, we can do most of our everyday tasks impulsively with the least effort. The time we save from such tasks can be utilized in newer and important problems. Hence, we can say that habits make us more productive, as well as more prepared for unexpected scenarios.
That’s all Folks
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