183 - Building & Changing Habits with James Clear of "Atomic Habits"

Thanks!

He says developing habits for long term gain is in the past 500 years… but Bible has examples of people sacrificing short term pleasures for long term rewards going back 1000s of years

Love this, if i could apply half of this I'd be doing well

I have a weakness for Wheat Thins also!

Great talk, and the inflections of true honesty,tho hysterical to me.Peter your obsession with the water meter has got to be a hot topic with your family...and the fact that you have a spread sheet might have been the first 'oh boy here we go' clue:)))) But LOVE your interview with James, he is great author/ habit teacher!!! Love this

Wait, you’re losing a battle with wheat thins? Wow to me those things taste like sawdust and cardboard

Identity: The reason why people stop biting nails when starting medical school or stop smoking the day before the get kids, has to do with identity . "I am a good fahert/mother. I am a good doctor."

For the Wheat Thins… just portion them out into bags. Won’t hurt the kids and will keep you from eating the whole box. 👍

Praise the good, ignore the bad.

Probably, one of the best podcasts on the Internet.

Tracking anything usually leads to change. I believe this is part of PEARSONS LAW: When performance is measured, performance improves. When performance is measured and reported back, the rate of improvement accelerates" This is why accountability is king for the biggest changes.

This guy, James, sounds like Tim Ferris in my head.
But definitely going to implement this or integrate this with what I’ve learned from doing Peterson’s future authoring exercise.

I taught a woman how to ride a bike at 35. It did not take long.

Wheat thins beat me every time! 😆

People unplug their toasters after each use?!

Regarding the evolution of habits, there's a wide gap between 5k years ago and 5 hundred. Reading any of the Upanishads or Vedas, Pre-Socratic Philosophers or Classical, or even early Christian Theology renders clear evidence we've been habit interested for far longer than 500 years.

staring down the barrel of wheat thins....that killed me😂

great video

As always, after a few hours of listening, the asides by Peter talking about himself are especially useful. Today it was the mention of checking his water meter. You might assume this is nothing special if like many who live on a budget and need to control costs, but here we have it somehow connected to science. It's sorta like the guided archery elk hunts Peter went on where his guide failed to use an electronic rangefinder to tell him how far away the elk was. Hardship indeed. Those of us who have always hunted elk with a bow without a guide had who learn to estimate range by eye through yrars of practice can undestand the disappointment.

What an incredible interviewer you are! These were the most unique and sophisticated questions I have ever seen any interviewer ask James!

You set the bar high with your question formation and pulled out a lot of background information and detail from James that we haven’t heard before. Thank you for your insightful approach.

Interesting commentary about smokers - how the parent quit for the child. ....My husband's mother stopped smoking for each of her (4) pregnancies, but as soon as each child exited her body, she fired up a cigarette and chained smoked for the rest of her life. So bizarre - (this was back in the early 60s though)

Yeah, but ... jeez, jeez, jeez! Heating the oven for TWO cookies?! How about: bake them all, freeze them all, in a freezer in the garage or somewhere far away, unpleasant, and awkward?

Unplugging the toaster! What?! Is that a thing I'm supposed to do?!

I loved this podcast!! Thank-you 😊🇨🇦

James's understanding of identity fits with what has historically been known as self-image in NLP?? As ultimately our self-image determines our behaviour

I've heard other interviews with James and really enjoy listening to him, but your interview is by far the best, I think you just ask more insightful questions, great work Peter!

An interview with David Goggins, and digging deep in Goggins' mindset and habits, will be a complimentary to and an extension of this informative interview with James Clear. It won't be easy, in more than a few ways, to interview Goggins but because it's going to be a very challenging one, it'll be of great value to the audience of Peter Attia MD Podcast.

Gents I’ve heard both of you speak so many times I’ve lost count. I’ve also read atomic habits twice. Even with that I thought this was a great discussion that I got a lot out of.

Sounds like some really valuable info/advice in the book, but I couldn't help but be a little disappointed when it came time for James to talk about his own habits, or Peter's, and the everyday mundane challenges of marriage, or junk food, or what not. It's like he flipped a switch and transformed from being an apparent expert in the art of habit building to being a relatable average guy that has as hard time as anybody avoiding cookies. Don't get me wrong, I don't expect him to be the Jesus Christ of habits or anything just because he wrote a book, but it is a little disheartening to see that after learning all that he has, that even he still struggles with the most basic temptations. Can't help but wonder if all the info in his book is truly practical? Or if it just sounds really good in theory (as motivational philosophy tends to.)

Anyone else who initially thought this was Tim Ferris? Kinda looks and sounds like him. Great podcast!

Am I supposed to be unplugging the toaster after each use?

Damn very good questions doc, and answers too of course!

Pride is not a great motivator. Because it relies on image and ego or affection from others.. self confidences and wisdom are far better ways to generate care fir oneself and others.. prude leads to all sorts of personality issues. I.e. i dont mow my lawn for socual status. I mow it cos its like ocd fir me. I love the process of making it trim.

Dont set goals before considering options and look more at your why than what..

Feeling good. Can and should be independant of outcome. Sure it rakes knowledge and practice.. but its a very wise thing to strive for..

Interest and desire can also be cultivated.. so motivation is not primary. You can develop motivation and interest.. being open and curious and being able to realise how magical things are around you really proceeds motivation. Which means awareness and apprecitaion is primal..

Genetics play no role. As we all have individual strengths . It just highlights that we must match our reasonable capabilities to our environment ...

Humans are very flexible and we can allot of influence but we cant be whatever we want. But we can change it allot.. so mute point really.

Delayed gratification is old news. Now its about enjoying the process , and the process is in itself the reward.. and outcomes are just the topping..

This is why meditation and contemplation and awareness are so important. It shows ones workings so you can at least try to be less controlled by compulsion.

What strikes me about intellectuals/talking heads trying to parse out the motivation for discontinuing addiction and is that they invariably omit the variable of emotional pain. People do not destroy themselves unless they are in incredible pain. The pain of the negative effects they experience doesn't compare to the crushing personal pain they carry with them.

2+ hours of banalities...