"Exerting more effort doesn't help if you're on the wrong trajectory.
- Working harder on the wrong thing just wastes more time.
- Learning more from a biased source will lead you further from the truth.
- Doubling down on a toxic relationship only sets you up for more headaches.
Before you try harder, make sure you are walking a path that leads where you want to go."
- James Clear
"Relax. Your rumination, analysis, worry, and need to control the future are robbing you of the current moment. Yes, there is a time for preparation, but continually thinking of the future guarantees you'll never enjoy in the present."
- James Clear
"For each headache you face, ask yourself, "Is this mostly real or mostly imagined?" Solve the real problems, release the imaginary ones."
- James Clear
"Don't overlook the basics. Don't ignore the foundation. How long can a tree remain standing without the roots?"
- James Clear
"When you tolerate an error, you rob yourself of learning.
When you ruminate on an error, you rob yourself of happiness.
Notice it, improve it, and move on from it."
- James Clear
"Simplify. What can be done in three steps should never be done in four. Each link in the chain is a potential breaking point. Fewer links means fewer chances of failure."
- James Clear
"In many cases, what you want to “buy” isn’t being “sold.”
-the best homes usually aren’t for sale
-the best employees usually aren’t looking
People tend to hold onto the great things in life. They are almost never easily available. If you want to get them, you need enough courage to ask and enough salesmanship to convince them."
- James Clear
"Your relationships will rarely be healthier than your self-esteem."
- James Clear
"Before you discover what you love: fewer commitments, more experiments.
After you discover what you love: fewer experiments, more commitments."
- James Clear
"It's hard to save poor early decisions with good late decisions.
It's hard to write a best-selling book if you chose an unpopular topic.
It's hard to build a happy marriage if you married an unhappy person.
It's hard to make money in real estate if you overpaid at the beginning.
Certainly, things can be improved by making good decisions along the way, but the effects of poor early decisions tend to linger."
- James Clear
"One filter I use for making decisions: How much can I influence the outcome after the initial choice is made?
When I can do a lot to influence the outcome, I'm less worried about risk. Even if the choice appears risky on the surface, I can likely create a good outcome with effort.
When I can't do much to influence the outcome, I'm more risk averse. Even my best effort won't move the needle. Your ability to influence the outcome after a decision is made is a crucial thing to consider."
- James Clear
"Arguably the most important skill is controlling your attention. This goes beyond merely avoiding distractions. The deeper skill is finding the highest and best use for your time, given what is important to you. More than anything else, controlling your attention is about being able to figure out what you should be working on and identifying what truly moves the needle."
- James Clear
"The odds increase, the more you try."
- James Clear
"Many people view their habits and routines as obstacles or, at the very least, obligations to get through. Making the morning coffee, driving your kids to the next activity, preparing the next meal—we often see our routines as chores to be completed.
But these are not moments to be dismissed. They are life. Making coffee can be a peaceful ritual—perhaps even a fulfilling one—if done with care rather than rushed to completion. It’s about the amount of attention you devote to these simple moments, and whether you choose to appreciate them or bulldoze through them on the way to the next task.
Find the beauty and joy in your daily rituals and you will find beauty and joy in your daily life. To love your habits is to love your days, and to love your days is to love your life."
- James Clear
"Explore life from a position of power.
When you believe, "Even if I stay single, I'll still have a great life" ... then you are in a much better position to enter a relationship.
When you believe, "Even if I don't get into this school, I'll still have a great life" ... then you are in a much better position to apply.
When you believe, "Even if I don't succeed with this business, I'll still have a great life" ... then you are in a much better position to give it a try.
Sure, you may want the relationship to work or the business to be a success—and you should give it your best effort—but also realize that if it doesn't work out, you'll be fine. There are many ways to live a great life."
- James Clear
"Some lessons have to be experienced to be learned."
- James Clear
"My approach is to empower, not to prescribe. I'm not interested in telling you which habits you should build or which choices you should make. You know what works for your life and circumstances better than I ever could. Instead, I want to equip and empower you with ideas and strategies so you can make your own choices and do the things you want to do. I'll give you the hammer, you decide where to drive the nail."
- James Clear
"It's not that hard on any given day, but the trick is you can't skip days. Your workouts can be reasonable and still deliver results—if you don't skip days. Your writing sessions can be short and the work will still accumulate—if you don't skip days. As long as you're working, you'll get there."
- James Clear
"When nothing is working, explore and make a lot of small bets.
After something starts working, double down on what works best.
When that stops working, explore and make a lot of small bets again."
- James Clear
"Some things work and some things don't. There is almost always another way to get where you want to go. Don't keep trying to open a locked door."
- James Clear
"First or last?
Sometimes the first move is the most important. The first set in the gym. Now you're working out. The first sentence. Now you're writing. The first call. Now you're in the game.
Other times, the last move is the most important. The last brick. Now the building is built. The last line of code. Now the app works. The last round of revisions. Now you can ship it.
What do you need to focus on right now? First or last? Do you need to start or finish?"
- James Clear
"You're more likely to unlock a big leap in performance by trying differently than by trying harder. You might be able to work 10% harder, but a different approach might work 10x better. Remain focused on the core problem, but explore a new line of attack. Persistence is not just about effort, but also strategy. Don't merely try harder, try differently."
- James Clear
"Goals are for people who care about winning once. Systems are for people who care about winning repeatedly."
- James Clear
"We want solutions, but what we really need are attitudes.
You don’t need abs, but rather an attitude of training. You don’t need the answer, but rather an attitude of curiosity. You don’t need an easier life, but rather an attitude of perseverance.
Attitude precedes outcome."
- James Clear
"Being good at what you do is partially about competence, but not exclusively.
Two other things that matter:
Reliability. You do what you say you're going to do—on time and as expected.
Enthusiasm. You're excited to be here and eager to work on this problem.
Skills matter, but in many cases it's your reliability or attitude that separates you from the pack. "
- James Clear
"Avoiding mistakes is an underrated way to improve. It's easier to fend off a bad day than achieve a perfect day. Rather than do your best, avoid your worst."
- James Clear
"Most of the time you don't need more information, you need more courage."
- James Clear
"Highly focused people do not leave their options open. They select their priorities and are comfortable ignoring the rest. If you commit to nothing, you’ll be distracted by everything."
- James Clear
"Curiosity is the beginning of knowledge. Action is the beginning of change."
- James Clear
"Start with the thing you are most motivated to do.
Start with a small habit you think is fun and do it consistently. This will not only feel satisfying, but also open your eyes to the type of person you can become.
After the first domino falls, you can use the momentum to do a little more."
- James Clear
"Small things matter when they accumulate. This is one of the main lessons of my work—and one of the principles I try to follow in my life. The details, when finely polished and carefully combined, add up to something remarkable."
- James Clear
"People get so caught up in the fact that they have limits that they rarely exert the effort required to get close to them."
- James Clear
"The work that hurts you less than it hurts others is the work you were made to do."
- James Clear
"The first mistake is never the one that ruins you. It is the spiral of repeated mistakes that follows. Missing once is an accident. Missing twice is the start of a new habit."
- James Clear
"Conventional wisdom holds that motivation is the key to habit change. Maybe if you really wanted it, you’d actually do it. But the truth is, our real motivation is to be lazy and to do what is convenient. And despite what the latest productivity best seller will tell you, this is a smart strategy, not a dumb one."
- James Clear
"It is easy to get bogged down trying to find the optimal plan for change: the fastest way to lose weight, the best program to build muscle, the perfect idea for a side hustle. We are so focused on figuring out the best approach that we never get around to taking action. As Voltaire once wrote, ‘The best is the enemy of the good.'"
- James Clear
"When scientists analyze people who appear to have tremendous self-control, it turns out those individuals aren’t all that different from those who are struggling. Instead, ‘disciplined' people are better at structuring their lives in a way that does not require heroic willpower and self-control."
- James Clear
"Some people spend their entire lives waiting for the time to be right to make an improvement."
- James Clear
"Whenever you want to change your behavior, you can simply ask yourself: How can I make it obvious? How can I make it attractive? How can I make it easy? How can I make it satisfying?"
- James Clear
"Over the long run, however, the real reason you fail to stick with habits is that your self-image gets in the way. This is why you can’t get too attached to one version of your identity. Progress requires unlearning. Becoming the best version of yourself requires you to continuously edit your beliefs, and to upgrade and expand your identity."
- James Clear
"It’s hard to change your habits if you never change the underlying beliefs that led to your past behavior. You have a new goal and a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you are."
- James Clear
"When you fall in love with the process rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. You can be satisfied anytime your system is running. And a system can be successful in many different forms, not just the one you first envision."
- James Clear
"The implicit assumption behind any goal is this: “Once I reach my goal, then I’ll be happy.” The problem with a goals-first mentality is that you’re continually putting happiness off until the next milestone."
- James Clear
"In order to improve for good, you need to solve problems at the systems level. Fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves."
- James Clear
"Complaining about not achieving success despite working hard is like complaining about an ice cube not melting when you heated it from twenty-five to thirty-one degrees. Your work was not wasted; it is just being stored. All the action happens at thirty-two degrees."
- James Clear
"Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. Your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat."
- James Clear
"Making a choice that is 1 percent better or 1 percent worse seems insignificant in the moment, but over the span of moments that make up a lifetime these choices determine the difference between who you are and who you could be. Success is the product of daily habits—not once-in-a-lifetime transformations."
- James Clear
"The greatest threat to success is not failure but boredom. We get bored with habits because they stop delighting us. The outcome becomes expected. And as our habits become ordinary, we start derailing our progress to seek novelty."
- James Clear
"The ultimate form of intrinsic motivation is when a habit becomes part of your identity. It’s one thing to say I’m the type of person who wants this. It’s something very different to say I’m the type of person who is this."
- James Clear
"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."
- James Clear