I. The Fundamentals: Why Tiny Changes Make a Big Difference

1. The Surprising Power of Atomic Habits

Small, consistent changes can have a significant impact on our lives—because them compound to big changes in the long term. By changing our habits, we can change our lives.

2. How Your Habits Shape Your Identity (and Vice Versa)

The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes an integral part of our identity. When we say "I'm the type of person who is this," we are expressing pride in our identity and the habits that are associated with it. This pride can motivate us to maintain those habits and continue making progress.

3. How to Build Better Habits in 4 Simple Steps

The habit loop is made up of 4 steps—cue, craving, response and reward. You want to make your cue obvious, your craving attractive, response easy and reward satisfying.

II. The 1st Law: Make It Obvious

4. The Man Who Didn’t Look Right

You need to first be aware of your unconscious habit to understand where to improve, eliminate or add a new one. List all the habits in your day mark each one as good or bad to make a 'Habit Scorecard.' This will help you understand which cues trigger certain habits—which will lead you to find improvements.

5. The Best Way to Start a New Habit

An implementation intention is a plan on how you will take action on a habit. Studies show that people who have a very specific plan for when and where they will perform a new habit are much more likely to follow through. Use habit stacking to make a new habit easier by 'stacking' it with an existing habit. For example, if you want to do yoga in the morning then do yoga right after brushing your teeth—so that you associate your existing habit of brushing as a trigger for your new habit.

6. Motivation is Overrated; Environment Often Matters More

Behavior is a function of a person and their environment. The way we interact with our environment can shape our habits and behaviors. For example, one person might associate their couch with reading, while another person might associate it with watching television and eating ice cream.

7. The Secret to Self-Control

By making the cues of our good habits more obvious and the cues of our bad habits less visible, we can improve our self-control and make it easier to maintain our good habits.

III. The 2nd Law: Make It Attractive

8. How to Make a Habit Irresistible

Desire is the driving force behind our behavior. Every action we take is motivated by the anticipation and craving that precedes it. In other words, our desire for something is what drives us to act

9. The Role of Family and Friends in Shaping Your Habits

One of the best ways to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behavior is the norm, and the group has something in common with you. By doing this, you can create an environment that supports and reinforces your good habits, making it easier to maintain them.

10. How to Find and Fix the Causes of Your Bad Habits

Make bad habits unattractive by highlighting the benefits on avoiding it. For example, you get to not smoke today and not rub off bad smell to your family. Or you get to not use social media today and feel more connected with your real life friends and family.

IV. The 3rd Law: Make It Easy

11. Walk Slowly, but Never Backward

"The most effective form of learning is practice, not planning." Take small easy actions and repeat it—and not worry about optimizing for the best method or strategy.

12. The Law of Least Effort

Make the first micro action to do something as easy and within reach as possible. For example, if you want to write, then make your notepad your new chrome tab. Or if you want to exercise in the morning, set your workout gear out on the floor before you go to bed.

13. How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the Two-Minute Rule

When you start a habit, just start by doing it for 2 minutes. Often you end up doing a lot more than 2 minutes of meditation, a workout or a studying session. Committing to just 2 minutes —is a trick that makes it easy and more likely to be started.

14. How to Make Good Habits Inevitable and Bad Habits Impossible

Make bad habits difficult. Put your phone in your kitchen cabinet while working. Automate good habits as much as possible. For example, automate a set amount into your savings account for saving habits.

V. The 4th Law: Make It Satisfying

15. The Cardinal Rule of Behavior Change

Make the reward of each habit immediately satisfying. For example, after exercising, take a relaxing hot bath. Or use your favorite room aroma when doing meditation.

16. How to Stick with Good Habits Every Day

Track your habits each time do it. Ideally immediately after the habit occurs because it gives gives you satisfying feeling of making progress.

17. How an Accountability Partner Can Change Everything

Commit to a habit contract and use an accountability partner or group to place a hard rule and immediate cost of inaction. We care a lot about what others think of us and penalties of inaction (ie monetary) can further make sure we stay on track.

VI. Advanced Tactics: How to Go from Being Merely Good to Being Truly Great

18. The Truth About Talent (When Genes Matter and When They Don’t)

Understand which areas are easier or harder for you than others. Then pick the right habit to optimize for your success and progress.

19. The Goldilocks Rule: How to Stay Motivated in Life and Work

When you start out with a habit, make it easy, then make is just hard enough so you keep trying but don't get bored of it.

20. The Downside of Creating Good Habits

Habits are great because it helps us do things without thinking. Downside is that we stop paying attention to little errors that will push us toward mastery. To get to mastery, you need habits and 'deliberate practice'—or a process of consciously reflecting and reviewing your performance.

VII. Conclusion: The Secret to Results That Last

"Small habits don't add up. They compound. The holy grail of habit change is not a single 1 percent improvement, but a thousand of them. It’s a bunch of atomic habits stacking up, each one a fundamental unit of the overall system." - James Clear