9 Amazing Atomic Habits Discussions for an Epic Year

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen anything catch on like the book Atomic Habits (“AH”) by James Clear.

I’m not surprised though. It’s just such an important book, filled with insights and tips from people who have perfected their own habits—and they share their secrets in this book.

The brain science and mental reward economics are also outlined in this book. Several of the conversations outlined below aren’t just with self-help gurus or life coaches. They’re with doctors, therapists, productivity experts, and fitness trainers. They are with people from all walks of life in any profession, in any niche.

That is how universal human habits are. They cut across aspect of life and pop up in every behavior we embark on. Habits aren’t motivation. Motivation is great. It’s just motivation isn’t enough to form a habit.

Well, a good habit anyway.

The Impact of Atomic Habits

And we’re talking about good habits. As well as breaking the bad ones. We’re all perfectly adapted to create bad habits, but James makes bad habits impossible and good habits inevitable.

James Clear has really tapped into something here: the power of small habits that lead to massive results. The “tortoise vs hare” analogy is so true: those who are willing to commit to consistent practice often outperform those with raw talent but no dedication or focus on their work.

The podcast community has embraced this message as well, with hosts like Ryan Holiday, Lewis Howes and others sharing their insights on the importance of creating good habits and practicing them daily.

Hearing these personal takeaways is one of my favorite things about podcasting—because it inspires me to keep learning more myself.

So, what are some of the most interesting discussions of this book and fresh takes on AH that podcasters have shared with their audiences?

What are Atomic Habits?

Atomic habits are just like regular habits, but at the most granular, atomic level.

The best habits often fail, not because the best of intentions were lacking, but that because you don’t see results on day one, you give up. There are beliefs, processes, and outcomes. And the crux of the problem is we focus too much on outcomes.

That’s why to make a habit stick, it has to be broken down further and further, until it’s figuratively the size of an atom. Think about focusing on processes, at a granular level, and you’ll see the outcome.

That’s where the real change occurs. Measure that change and watch it compound over time.

Podcasts and Behavior Change

The root of success, according to James, is small incremental corrections to our actions over time. This is because we often don’t see the results of of our actions, good or bad, right away. It takes time to build up and culminate in something we’d call a “result.”

So we end up living as though we’re bouncing from result to result when really, the whole thing is a fluid path that we’re constantly course correcting, often unconsciously and without intention.

That’s one reason we love podcasts so much. They’re an ongoing discussion between host and listener evolving over time. So, what can we learn about Atomic Habits and the trajectory of life?

As it turns out, quite a bit.

Time & Attention with Chris Baily

I’m addicted to podcasts that make me more intentional. Every single time I lose sight of acting with intention I end up in some kind of mental health tailspin. So one of my habits is to make these type of podcasts part of my daily routine.

In episode 85, aptly titled “Atomic Habits,” from 2019 Chris sits down with James Clear while he was doing his initial book tour to have a discussion about his, then recently published book.

It’s hard to imagine that 2019 is already 4 years in the rearview mirror, but that’s what’s great about this episode. The simple steps that make it possible to break bad habits are timeless, and that’s why I keep coming back to this half hour discussion.

Four years on, the discussion still feels fresh and energizing. Go take a walk and put your earbuds in for this one. If you don’t come home and immediately start doing the dishes… I don’t know what to tell you.

Therapy in a Nutshell

Speaking of mental health tail spins, Therapy in a Nutshell has is one of those podcasts that stays in my play list as a must. It’s short, anywhere from 10 – 15 minutes, which makes it an easy listen, and there’s always something to really take away and mentally chew on.

The December 29, 2022 episode discussing AH was no different. In the episode licensed therapist and host Emma McAdams discusses the idea that many of us tend to think of mental health conditions in binary terms. Black or white. Either you have X, Y, or Z, or you don’t.

She reminds us that mental health is more of a sliding scale and where we find ourselves on that scale has a lot to do with our habits. If we can break bad habits we can create positive behavior change and move along the scale towards health.

But it doesn’t happen all at once. She reminds us of James Clear’s idea of incremental change. Little, tiny, changes create enormous shifts. Food for thought.

The Motivated Mind

Host Scott Lynch is something of a self-help coach with a harrowing backstory. He started his journey coaching after a truly tragic catalyst when he lost a good friend under very triggering circumstances.

That’s why I find his take on Atomic Habits especially interesting. In this episode he takes his listeners through his notes and thoughts on the book and distills them into 8 life changing lessons that are, thankfully, actionable.

What makes Scott a virtual accountability partner is that he reminds us to keep our mindset focused on the trajectory we’re on, rather than the results we’ve achieved (or perhaps results we haven’t).

Back when I used to be an avid backpacker, it was one foot in front of the other. Do that all day, and you’d be 20 miles down the trail, ready to set up camp. But if you woke up in the morning thinking you were going to be hiking 20 miles over and gaining 4,000 feet in elevation, that was too much.

You can’t eat an elephant aside from one bite at a time. These aphorisms are cliche, now, but there’s a reason for that. One that Clear explores, on a biological level in this book.

AH is all about this philosophy and shows that something like the two-minute rule for making miniscule changes that keep us on the good habits trajectory is the name of the game.

Marriage Therapy Radio

I’ve always been fascinated by the idea that “habits make or destroy relationships.”

I mean, sure, in an ideal world, you’d fall in love, get married, and live happily ever after. But most of us aren’t that lucky. In fact, the vast majority of people who get married wind up getting divorced.

But what if we looked at relationships as a series of habits?

What if instead of waiting for that magical moment when suddenly everything is perfect between two people (and they’re ready to take that next step), we focused on building habits in our daily lives that would keep us connected through thick and thin?

The Universality of Habits

I have a friend who was engaged to his high school sweetheart; they were both very young and excited about getting married. They had no idea what their futures looked like together—they just knew they loved each other and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.

They got married right after college graduation and moved into an apartment together, then bought an overpriced condo. And then… things started falling apart. Why?

Because, without realizing it, they were still practicing atomic habits. Just bad ones, like not communicating, or staying on the same page. It all just faded away.

Everyone has been in relationships where this happened. That’s what I love so much about this episode. It applies universally, even if you’re not specifically dealing with marriage. Habits are everything… at an atomic scale.

The Accidental Creative with Todd Henry

I absolutely love the irony of Todd discussing the habitual nature of creativity, because there’s nothing accidental about what makes a good creative. Waiting for the muse to strike is a solid way to end up at the food bank.

Stephen King, one of the most prolific writers of all time, has said that his work got so much better when he stopped waiting for his muse and went to work everyday. He put in the time and effort, and it paid off.

I think this is an important lesson for us all: showing up habitually is what most often defines success. And small habits compound into big results.

I know it’s not always easy to get started on something. An object at rest tends to stay at rest. That’s thermodynamics. That’s just science.

But just think about how it feels when you finally do get started on something. Pretty damned amazing.

It’s like a little rush of happy energy that comes over you when you get those first few words down on paper or start coloring in your coloring book… whatever floats your boat. It’s like a drug. It’s a dopamine hit.

The more times you can experience this feeling, the more likely it is that you’ll keep going back again and again.

And that’s what this interview between James and Todd is getting at. If you can just get the tiny pebble rolling down the snow covered hill… you’re going to smash whatever is at the bottom.

It’s another interview from the archives that is still downloaded to my phone. It’s not a streamer, it’s worth the disk space. Trust me.

RP Strength Podcast

You know why gym membership dies off by February every year? Because we’re creatures of habit and we bite off more than we can chew. Our eyes our bigger than our stomachs, we try to go a few times, it sucks, and we quit.

I’m as guilty as anyone else. We didn’t practice incremental improvement. What I love about this discussion with James on the RP Strength show from 2021 is that is shows how this notion of incremental improvement can apply to every aspect of our lives.

Want to get stronger? Lift a little more each day. Walk a bit further each day. Move from 1,000 paces while listening to your favorite podcast, to 2,000, to 10,000. Download a tracker and look at your incremental gains.

It doesn’t happen overnight, but it does happen and that’s the point. In this episode they discuss the four laws that make up formation of a shift and the importance of measuring each bit progress.

I don’t think I’m going to find myself back in the gym anytime soon, but I have started walking more and even earning bitcoin for the effort. How about that for motivation? Sure, intrinsic motivation is great, but there’s nothing wrong with a little extrinsic motivation either right?

Ammitire?

The Golden Hour

This was a great discussion of AH because it featured a critique of parts of the method. Dr. Kevin Majeres and Sharif Younes, co-founders of OptimalWork, take an academic approach to tighten up, or focus some of the looser parts of the Atomic process.

Specifically, they have a problem with the first step in Clear’s formation process where you identify yourself as a person who will practice a habit. They feel that people may get hung up on the identity step and if they are already “this person,” they may not put in the process work to actually achieve the outcome that completes the circle.

Any theory that can’t stand up to criticism isn’t a sound theory, right? That’s why this discussion of the habit formation is so important. It’s a discussion that’s fair and provides balance to what is a mega self-help best seller. A critique, not necessarily criticism.

In the end there are similarities and overlap between their theories. And, credit where credit is due, maybe Atomic Habits is slightly more accessible than the most rigorous academic theories, but it’s the right book at the right time for a lot of people.

Again, it is a self-development book, not an academic treatise, so take the critique with a grain of salt. A very important and interesting discussion of the book though and well worth the 30 minute listen. It certainly turned me onto OptimalWork and made sure this podcast is in my regular rotation.

Software Social Podcast

We’re living in heady times. Like the sequel to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” From 9/11, to the financial crisis, to COVID-19, to inflation, and now lay offs in a booming economy (?) coupled with a year long war in Ukraine, we’ve been collectively bouncing from one major crisis to the next.

Burnout is a real concern.

In a previous episode, host Michele Hansen discussed the state of burnout they were experiencing and suggested some pretty radical solutions. Essentially blow it all up, burn it all down, and start over.

The next day, cooler heads prevailed and they went for a walk. A small bit of movement to combat the paralyzing burnout. And you know what? They felt better. It was just the tiny shuffle back from the ledge that was needed. And another little shuffle, then a skip, a trot, and a gallop, and soon enough, burnout won’t be such a big deal.

But right now it is. And in this episode the hosts discuss how Clear’s book and the self-development work contained therein can help to combat the burnout that so many people around the globe are experiencing.

But I think atomic habits is like, it’s helping me with it just just kind of giving I think the idea that I you know, I tend to do think everything like, you know, totally balls to the wall, right? Like the idea of doing something and doing it 1% better. Like I tend to do things like okay, how do I do this is like significantly better. – Michele Hansen

Just the slightest bit of movement can result in a tremendous amount of momentum. That’s the key. That’s the goal.

Docs Outside the Box

The entire concept of this podcast is brilliant. If there’s anyone who has been facing burnout in the past several years, it’s doctors and nurses. Naturally, they’ve been a little wrapped up in work and maybe haven’t had time to get “outside the box.”

But Dr. Nii and Dr. Renee are trying to broaden their horizons and keep sane in a perfectly insane era. I love it.

In this episode they are discussing how little time they have to read and how they’ve both been making active moves to change that, fitting in reading where they can, and one of the books Dr. Nii recently finished was Atomic Habits. And I love that he whittles down his three big lessons from the books as such:

1. Building habits has nothing to do with motivation.
2. We don’t rise to the level of our goals, we fall to the level of our systems.
3. Micro-improvements ultimately compound to make you better.

That’s just a killer, concise, summation of the lessons in this book. Would you expect anything less of overworked and stressed out doctors who don’t have time to wax lyrical about the complexities of goal setting? I wouldn’t.

The first lesson is important, because if goals aren’t accomplished, a lot of people chalk that up to a moral failing. As Dr. Nii puts it, that he lacked sufficient motivation to get it done. That there was something intrinsically wrong with his persona and that’s the reason he came up short. And that just isn’t true.

It is systems. The better the system, the more consistent the processes, the better the outcome.

In the episode you can really hear how the ideas in this book blew his mind, and it’s an impressive mind to blow. I think it’s great that he now has more empathy for those who have bad habits. That’s huge for patients going to see a physician who are trying to change but maybe don’t have “enough motivation” to make the changes. So kudos sir.

Now, this is usually a podcast that’s focused on the medical niche, but as we’ve seen across this article, this book applies to basically anyone in any niche or profession.

I hope that Dr. Nii reviews more of what he’s reading on this podcast, because the insight and discussion about AH was one of the best I listened to during the research for this article.

Micro Habits – Micro Goals

The point of this book is to help you build habits that will allow you to become the person you want to be. And it’s not just about setting goals — it’s about making tiny, incremental changes that will let you make tiny, measurable progress towards who you want to be.

In this book, James Clear explains the 4 methods of building habits: Make it obvious, make it effortless, make it enjoyable, and make it easy. He also talks about how to create a feedback loop for yourself as an individual or as a team. As he says: “The best way to get better at something is by measuring your performance and then making small adjustments.”

We love these dopamine hits. We require them.

The excitement that comes through in each of these 9 podcast discussions about how this book changed their lives makes it obvious that this book is a game changer. If you haven’t cracked it open yet, a trip to the library is in order.

Or pick it up on Apple Books. Either way. Apply these skills to your own life and see that change that you’re really craving.