I’ve pulled together 120+ of the best James clear quotes to inspire you to do pragmatic approaches toward habit building. See one you like? Hover above the image, and pin it to one of your boards on Pinterest. This way we’ll inspire more people by explaining how to form new habits and replace unwanted ones.
James Clear is the author of Atomic Habits, a book you must read to understand the basics of making and breaking bad habits. James says “Every action you take is a vote for the person you wish to become.” This line shows why exactly James Clear has become the world expert in habit-making and habit-breaking. This quote explains that the actions we take today have the potential to shape our future.
Read More: 60+ Self-Help Quotes By James Allen (Author of Aa a Man Thinketh)
Here are My top 5 Favorite Quotes by James Clear from Atomic Habits
I listed dozens of top quotes from author James Clear, but these five stand out for me. These quotes have helped me daily to re-ignite my own motivation on a rough day and to find a calmer and less stressed focus so I could keep working consistently and be productive towards my own goals and dreams.
Your habits shape your identity, and your identity shapes your habits.
There is always another expectation placed upon you, another person pulling you toward their preferences, another nudge from society to act a certain way.
It’s a daily battle to be yourself, not merely what the world wants you to be.
Bad habits repeat themselves again and again, not because you don’t want to change but because you have the wrong system for change.
A simple way to ensure you are focused on what matters: Imagine everything gets wiped. You inherit no tasks or responsibilities from your past or present. Then, add back only what you miss. Choose what to add to a blank slate, not what to keep from a full plate.
A strategy for thinking clearly: Rather than trying to be right, assume you are wrong and try to be less wrong. Trying to be right has a tendency to devolve into protecting your beliefs. Trying to be less wrong has a tendency to prompt more questions and intellectual humility.
James Clear Quotes On Habits
The more you let a single belief define you, the less capable you are of adapting when life challenges you.
One of the most effective things you can do to build better habits is to join a culture where your desired behaviors is the normal behavior.
Some people spend their entire lives waiting for the time to be right to make an improvement.
Habits do not restrict freedom. They create it. In fact, the people who don’t have their habits handled are often the ones with the least amount of freedom. Without good financial habits, you will always be struggling for the next dollar. Without good health habits, you will always seem to be short on energy. Without good learning habits, you will always feel like you’re behind the curve.
Good habits can make rational sense, but if they conflict with your identity, you will fail to put them into action.
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.
Genes do not determine your destiny. They determine your areas of opportunity.
Anyone can work hard when they feel motivated. It’s the ability to keep going when work isn’t exciting that makes the difference.
We all deal with setbacks but in the long run, the quality of our lives often depends on the quality of our habits.
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.
Motivation is overrated, environment often matters more.
A lack of self-awareness is poison. Reflection and review is the antidote.
Habits are like the atoms of our lives. Each one is a fundamental unit that contributes to your overall improvement.
In the beginning, you need a reason to stay on track. This is why immediate rewards are essential. They keep you excited while the delayed rewards accumulate in the background.
James Clear Quotes On Creativity
How do creative geniuses come up with great ideas? They work hard at it.
Creative genius only reveals itself after you’ve shown up enough times to get the average ideas out of the way.
Be the designer of your world and not merely the consumer of it.
You have brilliance inside of you, but only if you can find the guts and grit to pull it out of yourself.
At some point, everyone faces the same challenge on the journey of self-improvement: you have to fall in love with boredom.
And as your skills improve, so do your odds of success.
The schedule is the system that makes your goals a reality. If you don’t set a schedule for yourself, then your only option is to rely on motivation.
It doesn’t matter what you are trying to become better at, if you only do the work when you’re motivated, then you’ll never be consistent enough to become a professional.
James Clear Quotes On Strength
Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.
The work that hurts you less than it hurts others is the work you were made to do.
When your behavior and your identity are fully aligned, you are no longer pursuing behavior change. You are simply acting like the type of person you already believe yourself to be.
When you can’t win by being better, you can win by being different.
When working against you, your identity creates a kind of “pride” that encourages you to deny your weak spots and prevents you from truly growing.
Happiness is simply the absence of desire.
People generally have more control over their actions than their feelings. But we can influence our feelings by taking action. Take one small step. Move the body first and the mind will follow.
You don’t have to be the victim of your environment. You can also be the architect of it.
You have a new goal and a new plan, but you haven’t changed who you are.
The first rule of compounding: Never interrupt it unnecessarily.