Atomic habits: Tiny changes, Remarkable Results - Chapter 4 Summary

THE 1ST LAW : Make It Obvious
Chapter 4 : The Man Who Didn’t Look Right

There was a story about a woman who attended a family gathering and identified that something was wrong with her father-in-law. She couldn’t tell exactly why but this was a result of her years working as a paramedic.

The human brain is a prediction machine. It is continuously taking in your surroundings and analyzing the information it comes across. Whenever you experience something repeatedly, your brain begins noticing what is important, sorting through the details and highlighting the relevant cues, and cataloging that information for future use.

With enough practice, you can pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it. This can also be dangerous with situation/condition changes.

Over time, the cues that spark our habits become so common that they are essentially invisible. For this reason, we must begin the process of behavior change with awareness.
As the psychologist Carl Jung said, “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”

THE HABITS SCORECARD
The Japanese railway system is regarded as one of the best in the world.
As each operator runs the train, they proceed through a ritual of pointing at different objects and calling out commands. This process, known as Pointing-and-Calling, is a safety system designed to reduce mistakes because it raises the level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level.

The more automatic a behavior becomes, the less likely we are to consciously think about it. And when we’ve done something a thousand times before, we begin to overlook things.

One of our greatest challenges in changing habits is maintaining awareness of what we are actually doing.

Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behavior. To create your own,

1. make a list of your daily habits.
2. If it is a good habit, write “+” next to it. If it is a bad habit, write “–”. If it is a neutral habit, write “=”.
   • The marks you give to a particular habit will depend on your situation and your goals.
   • Habits aren’t always ‘good’ or ‘bad’ but rather ‘effective’ or ‘ineffective’ at solving your problems - also consider it in long runs i.e. “Does this behavior help me become the type of person I wish to be?
     The goal is to simply notice what is actually going on. Observe your thoughts and actions without judgment or internal criticism.

The first step to changing bad habits is to be on the lookout for them.
If you feel like you need extra help, then you can try Pointing- and-Calling in your own life. Say out loud the action that you are thinking of taking and what the outcome will be.

Chapter Summary

• With enough practice, your brain will pick up on the cues that predict certain outcomes without consciously thinking about it.
• Once our habits become automatic, we stop paying attention to what we are doing.
• The process of behavior change always starts with awareness. You need to be aware of your habits before you can change them.
• Pointing-and-Calling raises your level of awareness from a nonconscious habit to a more conscious level by verbalizing your actions.
• The Habits Scorecard is a simple exercise you can use to become more aware of your behavior.