"Big outcome: Do the right thing well.
Big lesson: Do the right thing poorly.
Big risk: Do the wrong thing well."
- James Clear
"Challenge yourself when life is easy, so you'll be ready when life is hard."
- James Clear
"Comparison is useful as a point and destructive as a loop.
When you compare for a point in time, you can identify a gap in your approach and then shift your attention back to what you can control.
When you compare on a repeated a loop, you can get locked into a cycle of envy and disappointment."
- James Clear
"Perfection is expensive. The last 5 percent of quality almost always costs a disproportionate amount of time and money.
My favorite type of purchase is where you spend 80 percent of the cost, but get 95 percent of the value. The best combination of cost and quality is often one step down from perfect."
- James Clear
"Trades are always happening whether you see them or not.
-Yes to the early meeting = no to the quiet morning
-Yes to the extra project = no to the free weekend
-Yes to something that drains you = no to time that fulfills you
Saying yes to one thing is always saying no to something else. The cost of a bad yes isn't just the time it takes. It's whatever could have grown in that space instead.
The point isn't to say no to everything, but simply to recognize the difference between a good yes and a bad yes. Then, try to improve the ratio in your life."
- James Clear
"Your habits will hold you back more than your enemies ever will.
Which is good news because you can change your habits. You can't change your enemies. Stay focused on what you can control."
- James Clear
"The mindset:
Confident enough to start. Humble enough to keep learning.
The trap:
Too humble to start. Or too confident to keep learning."
- James Clear
"Unexpected forms of generosity:
-Being early can be a form of generosity. You wait, so they don't have to.
-Leaving something unsaid can be a form of generosity. You don't always need the last word.
-Delivering your work on time can be a form of generosity. You make life easier for everyone downstream.
-Not taking things personally can be a form of generosity. You give people the space to say things imperfectly."
- James Clear
"The modern world is optimized for convenience, not improvement.
The default path is usually the more convenient path. And I get it. Who wants their days to be a pain in the neck? I like sitting in air conditioned rooms and watching my favorite shows too.
But the body and mind only grow when placed under a stimulus. If you want improvement, you have to choose something different than convenience.
It can be lovely to have a day where you do not push yourself, but it rarely works out well if you have a life where you do not push yourself."
- James Clear
"Questions are answered as you move, not before you move. Moving forward with an answer that is partially correct will usually fill in the gaps faster than waiting until you come up with a plan that is perfectly correct."
- James Clear
"When you need clarity, subtract."
- James Clear
"Trust in yourself is not only built through successful repetitions, but also through failed ones.
When you have worked through failures in the past, you fear them less in the future. You know you can bounce back.
Successful repetitions build competence. Failed repetitions build resilience."
- James Clear
"Learning more will increase knowledge, but only attempting more will reduce fear. The more you try it, the less you will fear it."
- James Clear
"Environment can multiply (or divide) your effort.
Before you plant the garden, study the soil. After you plant the garden, tend the weeds.
First, selection. Think carefully about the right person to marry or business to pursue or city to live in.
Then, cultivation. Once you choose, care for it lovingly and nurture it into the best it can be."
- James Clear
"Trust follows consistency.
The business that delivers a quality product every time earns the customer's trust.
The person in the relationship who shows up reliably — who keeps promises, who responds with steadiness — earns the trust of the other.
The pattern is the proof."
- James Clear
"In the modern world, it is easy to feel like a passenger: reacting to notifications, responding to demands, consuming whatever you happen to drive past on your screen.
But joy is found in being the driver. It's the act of looking at the raw material of your circumstances — your time, your energy, your relationships, your skills — and seeing what you can make from it.
It is the act of creating the life you want (in big and small ways) that makes you feel alive and imbues life with extra meaning. The fact that you can hold a vision in your mind and then, however imperfectly, bend reality a few degrees in that direction."
- James Clear
"Use the moments of high motivation to make it easier when you have low motivation.
-When you feel like you should exercise, set out your gym clothes and water bottle so it's easier to do the next workout.
-When you feel grateful, buy some Thank You cards so it's easier to write the next Thank You note.
-When you feel the urge to eat healthy, pick a recipe now so you don't have to decide what to make for the next meal.
Use the occasional burst of motivation to make the next habit easier."
- James Clear
"Don't ignore the problem, but keep it light. Take action with a smile. Adding tension won't solve your troubles faster.
Even when the problem is hard, it doesn't need to harden you. Unknot yourself. Body loose, head clear, and then take the first step.
Be happy in the doing."
- James Clear
"Success is often found by practicing the fundamentals everyone knows they should be doing, but find too boring or basic to practice routinely."
- James Clear
"To simplify before you understand the details is ignorance.
To simplify after you understand the details is genius."
- James Clear
"Don't ruminate, activate.
I find it is difficult to think my way into a better mood. When I sit and stew, the problem usually grows larger in my mind.
But if I activate — even if it's unrelated to the problem at hand — my mood tends to improve. Action breaks the spell. Move your body, go outside, play an instrument, work in a different room, do something.
Movement changes your state. And when your state changes, your perspective changes. New solutions appear. You notice options that were invisible when your mind was stuck running the same loop."
- James Clear
"Your first task is to find what feels effortless to you.
Your second task is to put maximum effort into it."
- James Clear
"Earlier this week I read a line that stood out to me, "Your goal in life should be to reduce the amount of time it takes you to get out of a bad state."
The ability to bounce back quickly is a key skill in life.
My wife once told me, "When you're five, you can be mad for a day. When you're ten, you can be mad for an hour. By the time you're thirty, you get ten minutes—and then you have to move on."
Life is full of moments of frustration and disappointment. Growth and maturity is learning to pull yourself out of a bad state faster."
- James Clear
"When things don't go well it's easy to wonder, "Why me?" It's easy to point fingers. It's easy to wallow in frustration or defeat.
But it is also easy to ask, "What is this teaching me?"
You can't remove the frustrations from life, but you can always try to come out a little wiser on the other side."
- James Clear
"The grass is only greener if you're obsessed.
It's easy to talk yourself into a new opportunity because everyone else is excited about it or the upside seems high, but the energy that comes from hype is different than the energy you need to make something part of your daily lifestyle.
It might be a good opportunity on paper, but if it isn't the type of thing you want to spend all day working on, then you probably won't stick with it. And if you won't stick with it, then it's not a good opportunity for you."
- James Clear
"Greatness takes guts. And often, it's the courage to eliminate the things you can do fairly well so you have the capacity to do one thing exceptionally well. Have the courage to take more off your plate."
- James Clear
"In the long-run (and often in the short-run), your willpower will never beat your environment. The more disciplined your environment is, the less disciplined you need to be. Don't swim upstream."
- James Clear
"Whatever you're doing, do it well. If you're writing a thank you note, take an extra minute to mention something beyond the typical thank you. If you're exercising, do each set as well as you can. If you're in conversation, really listen and don't just wait for your turn to talk.
Having high standards adds up. You can nearly always find an extra minute to do it better. And most important, you prove to yourself that you're the type of person who does things well."
- James Clear
"Three keys to improvement:
1. Do you start quickly?
2. Do you learn from your mistakes quickly?
3. Do you stay in the game and keep trying?"
- James Clear
"The best type of risks to take are ones where (1) the worst outcome is manageable and (2) the best outcome is life-changing.
Think: Asking someone on a date. Or, investing an amount of money you can afford to lose into a business with high upside.
Look for opportunities where it won't kill you if it goes poorly, but you'd be blown away if it goes well."
- James Clear
"One way to instantly gain a competitive edge is to work on things that genuinely interest you. The person who is having fun has a better chance of winning because they are more likely to stick with it when things get challenging.
If it felt like a hassle from the start, you're likely to quit as soon as things get tough. But if you've been having fun the whole time, you're better positioned to work through the hard parts."
- James Clear
"Results tend to accumulate to the person who enjoys the lifestyle that precedes the result."
- James Clear
"Earning more money increases freedom.
Spending less than you earn reduces stress."
- James Clear
"Motivation often increases after you begin. The lesson is not to wish you had more motivation, but to make starting as easy as possible."
- James Clear
"What looks like a talent gap is often a focus gap. The "all-star" is often an average to above-average performer who spends more time working on what is important and less time on distractions. The talent is staying focused."
- James Clear
"Brainstorm some answers to these questions:
- Which activity makes you the most money per minute?
- Which activity delivers the most excitement per minute?
- Which activity creates the most connection per minute?
- Which activity provides you the most laughter per minute?
And which activity is the best blend?"
- James Clear
"Something I try to remind myself:
- The strong mind finds a way to stay steady ... even when plans fall apart.
- The strong body finds a way to train ... even when the day doesn’t go your way.
- The strong relationship finds a way to reconnect ... even when things get rough.
In a sense, what matters most is how you respond on the bad days, not the good ones.
- Anyone can smile when life goes smoothly.
- Anyone can train when they feel great.
- Anyone can be kind when the relationship is easy.
It's how you act when the situation isn't optimal that makes the difference."
- James Clear
"Do not fear what you can address. What should worry you is not the problem, but if you are resisting addressing it."
- James Clear
"Each day, spend some time on two things:
1. working toward something that will pay off years from now
2. appreciating something that is happening right now"
- James Clear
"Intelligence isn't just about what you know. It is also the ability to avoid being your own bottleneck.
-If you lack the skills, be willing to look foolish while you learn them.
-If you lack the connections, be courageous enough to reach out and build them.
-If you feel uncertain, be bold enough to figure it out along the way.
Many people have the ability, but they talk themselves out of trying."
- James Clear
"Many of the moments when you think, 'I wish I had handled that better,' or 'I should have seen that more clearly,' aren't really about poor judgment. Often, the root cause is either rushing through the task or skipping basic self-care.
Get an extra hour of sleep. Stop trying to do so many things at once. Go for a walk or get a little exercise. Take a breath and actually think for a minute.
You can do a few things well. You can't do everything well. If you keep scattering your attention across seven different priorities, you'll keep making mistakes that your rested and thoughtful mind would never make."
- James Clear
"Something I heard recently about being open-minded:
'The only bad view is the one you're stuck in.'"
- James Clear
"Good habits stockpile ease. Bad habits postpone pain."
- James Clear
"Before you discover what you love: fewer commitments, more experiments.
After you discover what you love: fewer experiments, more commitments."
- James Clear
"If you love them more than the fight, end the fight. An apology loses its warmth if it waits too long. Do it now, before the years turn cold."
- James Clear
"Consistency enlarges ability."
- James Clear
"One study looked at artists who started at the bottom and worked their way to successful careers. The researchers identified one factor that was consistent across the group: they performed far more shows than the average artist.
The same principle holds true in many fields. If you want to rise, you need a lot of shots on goal. Keep showing up. Keep making new material. Eventually, you catch a lucky break."
- James Clear
"Use the best idea you have right now. Claiming you need to 'learn more' or 'get your ducks in a row' is just a crutch that prevents you from starting. Education is a lifelong pursuit. You will always need to learn more. It's not a reason to wait."
- James Clear
"We often think that we want an open road and the ability to choose any direction for ourselves. But sometimes, what we need is a tunnel that can reduce our choices and send us in a focused direction."
- James Clear
"The person who learns the most in any classroom is the teacher.
If you really want to learn a topic, then "teach" it. Write a book. Teach a class. Build a product. Start a company.
The act of making something will force you to learn more deeply than reading ever will."
- James Clear