# Atomic Habits  ## Metadata - Author: [[James Clear]] - Full Title: Atomic Habits - Category: #books ## Highlights - Awareness comes before desire. A craving is created when you assign meaning to a cue. Your brain constructs an emotion or feeling to describe your current situation, and that means a craving can only occur after you have noticed an opportunity. ([Location 3066](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3066)) - Happiness is simply the absence of desire. When you observe a cue, but do not desire to change your state, you are content with the current situation. ([Location 3068](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3068)) - As Caed Budris says, “Happiness is the space between one desire being fulfilled and a new desire forming.” Likewise, suffering is the space between craving a change in state and getting it. ([Location 3072](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3072)) - Craving is about wanting to fix everything. Observation without craving is the realization that you do not need to fix anything. Your desires are not running rampant. You do not crave a change in state. Your mind does not generate a problem for you to solve. You’re simply observing and existing. ([Location 3079](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3079)) - With a big enough why you can overcome any how. Friedrich Nietzsche, the German philosopher and poet, famously wrote, “He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” ([Location 3081](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3081)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Being motivated and curious counts for more than being smart because it leads to action. ([Location 3085](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3085)) - Our first response—the fast, nonconscious portion of the brain—is optimized for feeling and anticipating. Our second response—the slow, conscious portion of the brain—is the part that does the “thinking.” ([Location 3092](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3092)) - The source of all suffering is the desire for a change in state. This is also the source of all progress. The desire to change your state is what powers you to take action. ([Location 3102](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3102)) - Tags: [[favorite]] - Your actions reveal how badly you want something. If you keep saying something is a priority but you never act on it, then you don’t really want it. It’s time to have an honest conversation with yourself. Your actions reveal your true motivations. ([Location 3105](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3105)) - The reward only comes after the energy is spent. ([Location 3108](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3108)) - Self-control is difficult because it is not satisfying. A reward is an outcome that satisfies your craving. This makes self-control ineffective because inhibiting our desires does not usually resolve them. Resisting temptation does not satisfy your craving; it just ignores it. It creates space for the craving to pass. Self-control requires you to release a desire rather than satisfy it. ([Location 3108](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3108)) - Your expectation changes your satisfaction. An average experience preceded by high expectations is a disappointment. An average experience preceded by low expectations is a delight. When liking and wanting are approximately the same, you feel satisfied. Satisfaction = Liking – Wanting This is the wisdom behind Seneca’s famous quote, “Being poor is not having too little, it is wanting more.” ([Location 3115](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3115)) - Feelings come both before and after the behavior. Before acting, there is a feeling that motivates you to act—the craving. After acting, there is a feeling that teaches you to repeat the action in the future—the reward. Cue > Craving (Feeling) > Response > Reward (Feeling) How we feel influences how we act, and how we act influences how we feel. ([Location 3127](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3127)) - Desire initiates. Pleasure sustains. Wanting and liking are the two drivers of behavior. If it’s not desirable, you have no reason to do it. Desire and craving are what initiate a behavior. But if it’s not enjoyable, you have no reason to repeat it. Pleasure and satisfaction are what sustain a behavior. Feeling motivated gets you to act. Feeling successful gets you to repeat. ([Location 3131](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3131)) - As Aristotle noted, “Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.” Perhaps this can be revised to “Youth is easily deceived because it only hopes.” There is no experience to root the expectation in. In the beginning, hope is all you have. ([Location 3138](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3138)) - Leo Babauta, Charles Duhigg, Nir Eyal, and BJ Fogg have each influenced my thoughts on habits in meaningful ways. Their work and ideas can be found sprinkled throughout this text. If you enjoyed this book, I’d encourage you to read their writing as well. ([Location 3165](https://readwise.io/to_kindle?action=open&asin=B07D23CFGR&location=3165))