Intro
“You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.” This is a quote from the book Atomic Habits by James Clear. I’ve done projects before that centred around books that were quite similar, following the “self help” genre. I didn’t find them very helpful, so when I found out that this project was going to be similar, I wasn’t thrilled lets say. The focus of this project was to read the book, and pick a habit to try and accomplish using the systems James Clear provides. I’m happily surprised to say that this book became very helpful to me and I still think about some of the quotes now!
Over the course of this project I learned “How can improving by just 1% each day help me take responsibility for my learning, strengthen my habits, and create balance and purpose in my future career and life?” This is also the driving question to the project, which I will answer at the end of this blog post! 🙂
What was my goal for the project?
For my goal I decided to choose something that I’ve been trying to work on for a veryyyyy long time. My sleep schedule/management. I have been trying to work on it on and off, but I always ended up falling out of habit.
Because of the book I realize I focused more on goals than systems. I liked setting big targets because they feel motivating at first, but I often lost consistency over time. After reading Atomic Habits, I can see that focusing too much on goals can be frustrating when results don’t come right away. I’ve started paying more attention to my systems of keeping small daily routines that make improvement automatic. If I can build habits that make progress more natural, I won’t have to rely so much on motivation alone.
Something from atomic habits that stuck with me
There are two mains things that stuck with me because of this book. I’ve realized that I get hyper fixated on my homework and room being perfect before bed. I wouldn’t go to bed until my room was clean and I had no other side things that needed to get done. Because of this I stayed up late and never got as good of a sleep that I could have. Now i’ve become okay with things not being perfect and its actually paid off!
Secondly, and most importantly, the quote that “removing the habit altogether is easier than trying to resist it.” For example, turning notifications off and putting my phone across the room is easier than having it right beside me and trying to resist the temptation while going to bed.
My focus Statement
Screenshot
4 Steps to reach my goal
Video
The final assignment for this project was to create a video that explained the project but also shows the steps I took to reach the goal. Below I’ll add the video if you want to watch it!
https://youtu.be/OjSYwSCdEco?si=9ZUcrWpOTTOeI_dj
Driving Question:
How can improving by just 1% each day help me take responsibility for my learning, strengthen my habits, and create balance and purpose in my future career and life?
Improving by just 1% each day has shown me that small, consistent actions are more powerful than occasional bursts of effort. By focusing on tiny, manageable changes, I’ve been able to take responsibility for my learning and daily routines without feeling overwhelmed. These small improvements are going to strengthen my habits over time, making the progress feel more natural rather than forced. In the long term, this approach will help me create balance in my life. Even a tiny improvement each day adds up to big results over months and years, showing that consistent effort outperforms short bursts of motivation.
Conclusion
This project taught me that growth doesn’t come from motivation or willpower alone, which is why I think I’ve had trouble with goals in the past. It also comes from building reliable systems and making small, intentional choices every day. By improving just 1% each day, I’ve learned how to take responsibility for my learning, develop stronger habits, and create a sense of balance and purpose that I can carry into the future. Yes, Atomic Habits helped me with my sleep schedule, but it also gave me a framework to approach challenges in all areas of my life. I now understand that lasting change isn’t about perfection, but about steady, consistent progress.