Jumpstart Year 2024: Powerful James Clear Quotes, Atomic Habits
“It is not too late to do what you want to do—if you stop waiting for the time to be right,” wrote bestselling author James Clear.
His book, Atomic Habits, ranked as Amazon’s #1 bestselling book of the year for all categories in 2023. By all categories I mean even outside categories for books on creativity or productivity. Every category. In addition, Atomic Habits is #1 on Audible.
Whether you benefited from reading famous James Clear quotes or bought the book when it first released in 2018, I think we all owe James Clear a big thank you.
Atomic Habits continues to impact millions of people. In lieu of this book’s continual positive influence on individuals around the world, as well as the start of a new year, below are what I consider the best James Clear quotes.
James Clear quotes, Atomic Habits:
What are the best quotes of James Clear?
The best James Clear quotes are the ones that don’t just inspire action but teach us how to take concrete steps to success…which arguably make up most quotes by James Clear. Willpower can only take us so far. But as you’ll see, when we choose to put the appropriate systems in place, we can achieve our goals.
James Clear quotes on goals
Learning how to follow your dreams starts with setting goals. Below are several simple quotes to inspire your goal-setting as you start into 2024.
“You don’t find your passion. It finds you as you get in the mix and try things.”
“You can’t win if you’re not in the game.”
“Don’t overlook the basics. Don’t ignore the foundation. How long can a tree remain standing without the roots?”
James Clear quotes on habits
Once you articulate your goal, it’s time to create the habits to help you reach your goals. James Clear has quotes for this part of your process as well.
“Start with the thing you are most motivated to do…after the first domino falls, you can use the momentum to do a little more.”
“Once you’ve committed, pessimism becomes useful. Question things. Find holes in your plan. Hold yourself to a high standard and try to identify your mistaken beliefs before they become your misplaced actions.”
James Clear quotes on systems
Now that you identified your goals and have begun to create habits, it’s time to assess if your habits, or systems, work.
“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.”
“A valuable skill in life is to be larger than the situation…Yes, there are problems to be solved. Yes, you need to take action. But the chaos is happening externally and you are still in the driver’s seat internally. You’re in control of the moment, the moment is not in control of you.”
“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.”
What is the 1% rule in Atomic Habits?
“Improving by just 1 percent isn’t notable (and sometimes it isn’t even noticeable). But it can be just as meaningful, especially in the long run.” This is the context behind the 1% rule.
But, who said get 1% better everyday? Once again, that would be a James Clear quote about change. More especially, Clear states the following:
“If you get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.”
At the time of this writing, it’s the early days of January, 2024. What could your life look like by spring, if you employ Clear’s 1% rule?
What happened to James Clear in Atomic Habits?
On his last day as a sophomore in high school, a fellow classmate accidentally hit James Clear in the face with a baseball bat.
The injury was so serious that doctors put young James Clear into a medically induced coma. Clear’s road to recovery was not easy, to say the least. In fact, it involved learning what many high schoolers would categorize as easy habits: learning how to walk in a straight line and regaining his ability to drive.
James Clear’s top quotes didn’t come as a result of sitting down at a desk one day and thinking, How can I inspire people today?
In fact, if you’ve ever wondered, What is the James Clear quote about systems? The more important context to understand about his quotes are where they originated: Clear’s goal was to get back to normal life and to do so, he had to create systems that worked. Because of this, James Clear’s insight is so transformative.
He established his quotes by implementing them himself.
Atomic Habits still massively influences the world today. On that sunny day on the baseball field, Clear didn’t know one wrong swing would change his life.
When Clear walked onto that baseball diamond he was a sophomore with dreams. By the time he would walk back onto any baseball field, he would have spent the interim adamantly pursuing recovery.
James Clear learned to instill micro habits, exhibited patience as they took time to compound, and finally leveraged these habits to reach his goals.
What I love about Atomic Habits is that Clear didn’t set out trying to learn how to write a book that sells—although it has sold and sold well.
Clear’s impact came from taking the action he writes about, before he ever wrote about it.
What is the one step you can take today?
While your challenges likely look different than Clear’s did, your next step is the same: Take the step of courage.
“Most of the time you don’t need more information, you need more courage.” —James Clear
Rather than spend the next weeks and months reading self-development books, signing up for webinars, and filling your brain with more information, consider taking concrete action.
Please note that regardless of your pursuit, learning all you can about your particular field of interest is important.
However, at some point, if you want to get back on the field again, you have to learn how to walk. For James Clear, this was a literal obstacle he overcame through habitual work. For you, it may mean sitting down and writing for five minutes.
If you want to learn how to get into a creative mindset, go create something. If you want to become an author, write your first sentence today. If you want to sign with an agent, draft your first query letter.
No matter the step you take today, use James Clear’s strategy to succeed: set a goal, create your habits, review your systems.
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