Growing up in the capitalistic North American society, the quote above isn’t something I often hear. Yet, after reading this insightful article by James Clear, author of the blockbuster book Atomic Habits, I realize just how true it is. One doesn’t have to make a lot of money if they know how to manage what they’ve got. It isn’t necessary to get a promotion to be successful at a job; just to avoid incompetence. In this time of uncertainty and fear, keeping this lesson in our minds is more important than ever.

The Article

For our latest PLP assignment, we have been tasked with reading an article from jamesclear.com and to analyze it on our blogs. Being rather flighty when it comes to personal decision making, I decided to read an article on the topic titled:

 

 

It dove deep into the counterintuitive trick called inversion, which is the practice of looking for ways to prevent failure rather than always chasing success. It goes over how this practice has been used since Ancient Greece, and can benefit you in everything from your work life to your relationships. Granted, I think that striving for success is still important, but when you pair this concept with an article like this one, you’ll find yourself with a powerful set of tools.

Why this Matters

When living in this time of uncertainty, there is nothing better to reflect on than this article. By doing so, you can build the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions and not let fear hold you back. For example, one of the things that I have been most scared about lately is if my family will be able to do our usual activities like taking a trip to visit my grandparents. Things like this I tend to worry about a lot, but by using the trick of inversion and thinking “what would the worse case scenario be?”, I realize that everything would turn out fine. It dawned on me that we could still video chat, see them at Christmas, etc, and that striving to “solve” this problem won’t do me any good. In fact, as James puts it; “blindly chasing success can have severe consequences, but preventing failure usually carries very little risk”, which is true for I am now avoiding the negative action of worrying and giving myself a positive mental space.

 

Another piece of advice that James gives us is to listen to the wise words of organization expert Marie Kondo, who states that “we should be choosing what we want to keep, not what we want to get rid of.” I think this is particularly important for me to consider during this time, as I often find myself too busy to declutter my life and end up feeling overwhelmed. Now that I have less on my plate due to quarantine however, I have the time to use this technique to look at what truly matters in my life and simplify it.

What Else is Here?

Personally, I find it great to do blog posts like this because upon reflecting on something, you can catch so much that you missed the first time and see the advice from a new perspective. For example, after looking at this article again I realized that inversion is the perfect tool to create a habit stack with. If you are not only trying to strive for successful habits (e.g. my habit of reading every night) but also removing the barriers that prevent these habits from happening as you complete them (e.g. not having the time to read), then you will be twice as successful. This is one of the great things that I think James has to offer, which is a connection between all of his work so you can build off of one thing with another.

 

 

For example, if you are interested in similar decision making articles to work with this one, you can find a whole list of them here!

The Takeaway

It may seem weird to write a blog post about a blog post, but like I mentioned earlier I am really glad I am doing this. By reflecting on what I’ve read here and on my recent life, I have been able to see new perspectives, gain new skills and even consider what I value in life. With all of this in mind, I have determined what else I can be doing to extend my personal growth during quarantine. Although it is great to just continue on my habits, I should also look to other parts of my life. Specifically, I want to focus on my relationships and my decision making skills. I am going to keep reading the other articles on critical thinking by James and reflecting on them to gain more knowledge about the topic. I am also going to discuss this information with my parents to see where they think my areas of growth are. I will continue to make sure that I take time for myself and for those who matter to me, and although I may not see the results immediately, as James says:

PGP

This post was published quite close to another, so I don’t have much new progress to reflect on in terms of my considering the big picture habit. If you are interesting in seeing what I wrote last, you can check out the post here.

Habit Collaboration 

Each of James’ articles are like a great book; after you read one you want to go straight on to another! To get a start, I asked my classmate Alivia to review the article she read and send it to me so both myself and the readers of my blog could get some more ideas of James’ brilliance. As I trade, I did the same for her blog. Here is what she thinks of the article linked here:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️- I really like how this article approaches productivity. It gives a specific example from a historical figure, and how he used it to create an amazingly productive life. Also, James Clear shows how he uses this tool in everyday life. Productivity for the sake of productivity is useless, and this article really drives that home.

Citations

“Atomic Habits by James Clear | Habit Quotes, Uplifting Quotes, Quotes.” Pinterest, https://www.pinterest.com/pin/248964685637859928/. Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.

“Inversion: The Crucial Thinking Skill Nobody Ever Taught You.” James Clear, 15 May 2017, https://jamesclear.com/inversion.

“Your Data, Your Experience.” Huffpost, https://consent.yahoo.com/collectConsent?sessionId=1_cc-session_35618d11-8a51-4a69-8029-3025e52ea8ae&lang=en-gb&inline=false. Accessed 27 Apr. 2020.