James Clear

But there is another element to it, which you also mentioned, which is the strength of the feedback. Falling on the ground off a bike and skinning your knee is pretty painful. You learn quite quickly. Technically, making a bad stroke in the water, you don't really pay too much of a cost if you're being sloppy with your form. It's unlikely that you rectify that quickly.

And this is a phenomenon that I think is so critical or so important to behavior change. I called it the cardinal rule of behavior change in atomic habits, which is Behaviors that get immediately rewarded get repeated. Behaviors that get immediately punished get avoided. And it's really about the speed and the intensity of that feedback.

And this is a phenomenon that I think is so critical or so important to behavior change. I called it the cardinal rule of behavior change in atomic habits, which is Behaviors that get immediately rewarded get repeated. Behaviors that get immediately punished get avoided. And it's really about the speed and the intensity of that feedback.

And generally speaking, the quicker you can get feedback, too intense is maybe a bit much, but at some point it needs to be high enough to move the needle. It can't be so low that it doesn't register. So you need both meaningful feedback and quick feedback if you want behavior to change.

And generally speaking, the quicker you can get feedback, too intense is maybe a bit much, but at some point it needs to be high enough to move the needle. It can't be so low that it doesn't register. So you need both meaningful feedback and quick feedback if you want behavior to change.

Yep. Sophomore year of high school.

Yep. Sophomore year of high school.

Well, I wasn't someone who had a hard time, but it depends on the context. Keep it simple, like homework, sports, those things. So with school, definitely. I always liked school. I was like the nerdy kid on the sports teams I was on. But in the science lab or something, I was like the jock, which is kind of funny how you change based on the room that you're in.

Well, I wasn't someone who had a hard time, but it depends on the context. Keep it simple, like homework, sports, those things. So with school, definitely. I always liked school. I was like the nerdy kid on the sports teams I was on. But in the science lab or something, I was like the jock, which is kind of funny how you change based on the room that you're in.

And so I always felt like I kind of played that middle ground between those two. I think it helped me learn how to get along with both groups and, you know, was helpful socially and all that. But earlier in my life, I think I thrived more in school than I did in sports. I barely got to play in high school.

And so I always felt like I kind of played that middle ground between those two. I think it helped me learn how to get along with both groups and, you know, was helpful socially and all that. But earlier in my life, I think I thrived more in school than I did in sports. I barely got to play in high school.

That's one of the punchlines of that early story in the book is I ended up playing a total of 11 innings in high school. Now, I kind of blossomed once I got to college and ended up being an academic All-American by the time I graduated, but that came much later. So it really sort of depended on the context.

That's one of the punchlines of that early story in the book is I ended up playing a total of 11 innings in high school. Now, I kind of blossomed once I got to college and ended up being an academic All-American by the time I graduated, but that came much later. So it really sort of depended on the context.

But generally speaking, I would say, yeah, people probably thought that I was disciplined, but I do think it depended on where we were. If it was just looking at school, then I think people would say that. If you're looking somewhere else, then maybe not.

But generally speaking, I would say, yeah, people probably thought that I was disciplined, but I do think it depended on where we were. If it was just looking at school, then I think people would say that. If you're looking somewhere else, then maybe not.

To be honest, there were areas that I avoided because I thought I would struggle. So I think it was more about me being fearful and avoiding anything I thought I would be bad at than it was about watching him and being like, oh, look at him floundering around. I think I had to overcome that wiring over the course of a decade or two.

To be honest, there were areas that I avoided because I thought I would struggle. So I think it was more about me being fearful and avoiding anything I thought I would be bad at than it was about watching him and being like, oh, look at him floundering around. I think I had to overcome that wiring over the course of a decade or two.

It took me a long time to start to take more risks and take on things that I didn't think I would be good at rather than just trying to like stack the deck and just do what I thought I would do well.

It took me a long time to start to take more risks and take on things that I didn't think I would be good at rather than just trying to like stack the deck and just do what I thought I would do well.

Yeah, I did an episode on his podcast as well.