Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits and Break Bad Ones

Use this activity to engage all types of learners, while requiring that they refer to and incorporate details from the text over the course of the activity.

ACTIVITY 1: “Make a Habit Plan”

In this activity, students create a habit plan or system of habits that will help them improve performance or align with a desired identity in one specific aspect of their lives.

Select an aspect of your life that would benefit from better habits. Follow Clear’s principles to create a system of habits that will lead to your success. Your plan should focus on one aspect of your life and include at least 3 habits that will set you up for long-term gains.

• Your plan should address all four laws of behavior change.
• Share your plan with a small group or partner. Explain exactly which of Clear’s principles you employed to create your plan and why you think the plan will work for you.
• When you’ve finished, take action, and don’t forget to reflect!
• After a set amount of time employing your plan (such as 1 week), return to your small group or partner and summarize what you experienced. Discuss the parts of the plan you feel are effective, and parts you might like to change.

Share with the larger group the ways in which your plan’s potential for success might impact you in the long-term.

Teaching Suggestion: This activity is purposely crafted to be open-ended so that students can apply their learning in a practical manner. Teachers might encourage students to share their plans with a partner or in small groups for feedback and reflection or to create accountability partners in the learning environment. To standardize the activity, teachers might select the area of focus (i.e., physical fitness, mental wellness, study habits, etc.) for students. This activity will give students an opportunity to engage with all three themes: The Habit Loop, The Importance of Identity, and Systems Versus Goals.

Differentiation Suggestion: For students who might benefit from support with exercises in self-reflection and abstract thinking, teachers might provide a graphic organizer that includes the main elements of Clear’s principles: identity, implementation intentions, and the laws that connect to the habit loop (make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying). For additional support, consider the alternative activity below.

ACTIVITY 1A: “Make a Habit Plan”

As an alternative, students advise about a system of habits that will support a hypothetical person to keep a New Year’s Resolution.

Consuela has made a New Year’s resolution to read more books. What advice would you give her about creating a system of habits that would support her to read more?

• Your advice should address all four of Clear’s laws of behavior change (make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying).
• Include any additional advice from Clear’s book that you think might help Consuela stick to her New Year’s resolution.

Teaching Suggestion: Consider using this activity as a way to support students who need support with abstract thinking and self-reflection. This activity allows students to apply what they have learned without the need to reveal potentially personal details.