Habits | 10 Small Habits That Will Produce Big Results + Interview w/ the Best-Selling Author, James Clear About “Atomic Habits” + Join Eric Trump At Clay Clark’s 25-26 ThrivetimeShow.com Business Conference (7 Tickets Remain)

Audio Transcription

Transcribed with Cockatoo

(Speaker 1)
When we talk about changing our lives, we often think about these grand gestures, these sweeping changes that come with big decisions and dramatic moments. But I’ve learned something in my years of working with people and watching the ones who succeed and the ones who struggle. It’s not the big things that make the biggest difference. No, it’s the small things, the little habits, the little choices we make every day. See, if we’re looking to change our lives in a big way, we have to start with the small. Because the small habits, the ones we often overlook or dismiss as insignificant, compound over time.

(Speaker 1)
And let me tell you, the results of compounded effort are extraordinary. You won’t even recognize your life after you’ve been practicing these small habits long enough. One day you’ll look around and you’ll be living the life you’ve always dreamed of, and all because of the small things. Now, I want you to think about this for a second. What if you could change your life just by changing 10 small habits? Doesn’t sound too overwhelming, does it?

(Speaker 1)
10 little things. 10 things you can start today that could transform your future. That’s the beauty of habits. They don’t require some monumental shift in your schedule or a sudden stroke of luck. You can start them right now, wherever you are, with whatever you have. So what are these small habits?

(Speaker 1)
What are these things that if you make them part of your daily routine? will change your life forever? We’re going to go right down the list, so make sure you jot this down. First habit, reading. Now, you might be thinking, Jim, I don’t have time to sit down with a book every day, but listen closely. Reading is one of the most powerful habits you can develop.

(Speaker 1)
And I’m not just talking about any reading, I’m talking about reading with a purpose. Reading something that stretches your mind, that expands your thinking, that introduces you to new ideas and possibilities. What you feed your mind is just as important as what you feed your body. I’m telling you, reading is not just a pastime. It’s a gateway. It opens doors to new ideas, to new ways of thinking, to new opportunities.

(Speaker 1)
When you make reading a daily habit, you’re feeding your mind with knowledge, wisdom, and perspective. You see, most people are hungry for success, hungry for growth, but they aren’t feeding their minds with the nutrients that success needs. Success requires a sharp mind, a mind that is constantly learning, constantly growing, constantly stretching. And the easiest way to feed your mind is through reading. Hey guys, Luke Erickson here with the Thrive Time Show. I’m one of the business coaches and we are so excited to be here right now.

(Speaker 1)
As you can see behind me, we’ve got all kinds of energy going on. People are starting to show up for the conference and it is hot in this place. We’ve got grill guns over here. We’ve got people playing the drums. We’ve got a fire. And man, people are so excited as they come in, getting ready for the conference this weekend.

(Speaker 20)
You need to be here.

(Speaker 4)
The conference is kicked off.

(Speaker 2)
This house is packed.

(Speaker 4)
We’ve got Aaron Antus up there. We’ve got Steve Kelly, Timmy, Total Ending Concepts up there talking about what is possible when you just implement, when you implement, when you change, how you see the world.

(Speaker 1)
People are going crazy. The house is just taking down.

(Speaker 21)
It’s engaging.

(Speaker 1)
But here’s the key. You must be selected.

(Speaker 4)
Michael Levine.

(Speaker 1)
We just wrapped up day one. We had some remarkable speakers Michael Levine. We just where you want to go in life on what you’re feeding your mind today. The ideas you let into your mind will shape your future. So make reading a daily purposeful habit. And you’ll start to notice a change in your life.

(Speaker 4)
People are so excited to be here for day two of the store. Right now. Here at the conference, we’ve broken into groups going over search engine optimization. And I know for most of us, myself included, if you hear that term, you go, what is that? What does that mean? That’s too techy for me.

(Speaker 4)
Well, our experts are breaking it down for people so that you can clearly understand how to come up top in Google. It’s doable. It’s possible. And the best way for you to get the valuable resources to know how to do it is go to thebestseobook .

(Speaker 21)
com.

(Speaker 1)
Check it out. We’re in the middle of a break. And what we like to do is we like to give you as much Tangible and relevant information from about the start of the hour for 45 minutes Then we take approximately a 15 minute break to allow people to connect with other entrepreneurs around them Bathroom breaks and also use this time to just really digest all of the good information that you’re receiving the whole time Right behind me. We’ve got Bob with his grill gun Melting an ice sculpture. It is awesome. The ice sculpture represents our life, right?

(Speaker 1)
It’s here for a time that we all need to have the sense of urgency to implement the things that we’re learning as soon as possible so that we can make the most of the time that we have. So you guys need to get out here and check it out. here in the United States. And so what we like to do is partner with these companies to also help them give samples to other people as they come to the conference and truly get their name out. Jill, Donna, so much wisdom and knowledge. We’ve got an incredible giveaway for one of Hey there, Thrive Nation.

(Speaker 1)
One of the things that we love most about our business conferences is that we want every entrepreneur to leave with their questions answered. So what we do is we let them put the questions up on the board here so that they can ask their specific questions and Clay will not end the conference until every question is answered.

(Speaker 20)
So no matter what question you have, you can get a specific answer from Clay Clark himself.

(Speaker 4)
It’s incredible. brought to the conference. Whenever someone comes here and starts to hear this information, especially for the first time, it just brings about so much anticipation of wanting to actually implement the proven systems and processes.

(Speaker 1)
And so Clay always wants to make sure that he answers all of their questions so that they’re the most set up for success to be able to go home and start implementing. If you have any questions, email us at info at ThriveTimeshow . com. Well, we have come to the end of the 2019 Christmas Conference. It was incredible. These entrepreneurs have gotten so many tangible things that they can go and they can implement.

(Speaker 1)
And we are excited to see what happens as they do the repeatable tasks every day and watch their businesses grow. Check us out for more information at Thrivetimeshow . com. And as we always like to do, we want to end with a boom. Three, two, one, boom! Just one that, if you achieved it today, would make a difference in your life?

(Speaker 1)
Write it down. That’s your target. Now your mind knows what to focus on. You’ve given it a job to do. And believe me, your mind loves having a job. It will go to work figuring out how to achieve that goal.

(Speaker 1)
But here’s the thing. Your goals have to be specific. Vague goals lead to vague results. You can’t just say, I want to be successful or I want to get fit. What does success look like? What does fitness mean to you?

(Speaker 1)
The more specific you are, the more focused your actions will be. Break your big goals down into smaller, actionable steps and then tackle them one by one. When you make this a daily habit, setting small, clear goals each day, you’ll be amazed at how much progress you make over time. And before you know it, those small daily wins will add up to massive achievements or make sure that you’re writing down your goals. Next, feeding your mind will do wonders. But here’s what we can’t forget.

(Speaker 1)
You also must feed your body and feed it good. Exercise is one of those habits that people either love or avoid. But let me tell you, it’s one of the most important habits you can develop. And it’s not just about physical fitness. Sure, exercise keeps your body healthy, but more than that, it sharpens your mind. It boosts your energy, your focus, your mood.

(Speaker 1)
When you move your body, You’re telling yourself, I’m alive, I’m capable, I’m strong. And that mindset carries over into every other area of your life. You see, there’s a direct connection between how you feel physically and how you perform mentally when you’re in good shape. when your body is strong, your mind is sharp, you handle stress better, you think more clearly, and you have the energy to tackle the challenges that come your way. That’s why making exercise a habit is so crucial. And I’m not talking about hours at the gym or some grueling workout routine.

(Speaker 1)
It doesn’t have to be that complicated. A 20 minute walk, some light stretching, a bit of strength training, whatever works for you. The key is consistency. It’s better to do a little bit every day than to push yourself too hard once a week and burn out. And here’s another thing about exercise. It’s a great metaphor for life.

(Speaker 1)
When you push through the discomfort, when you keep going, even when it’s tough, you build resilience. You train yourself to keep going, to not give up. That’s a lesson you can apply to anything you want to achieve. So make exercise a daily habit. Move your body every day in whatever way feels good to you. Not only will you feel better physically, but you’ll also find that you have more mental clarity more focus, and more drive to go after your goals.

(Speaker 1)
Next, gratitude. This is one of those habits that’s often overlooked because it seems too simple. Hey guys, Luke Erickson here with the Thrive Time Show. I’m one of the business coaches and we are so excited to be here with you. As you can see behind me, we’ve got all kinds of energy going on. People are starting to show up for the conference.

(Speaker 1)
It is hot in this place. We’ve got grill guns over here. We’ve got people playing the drums.

(Speaker 27)
We’ve got a fire breather.

(Speaker 4)
And man, people are so excited as they come in, getting ready for the conference this weekend.

(Speaker 1)
You need to be here. The conference is kicked off. This house is packed.

(Speaker 4)
We’ve got Aaron Antos with the cameras up there.

(Speaker 26)
We’ve got Steve Curry and Tim with Total Ending Concepts up there talking about what is possible when you just attract more good into your life.

(Speaker 1)
You do the proven systems. It’s so exciting.

(Speaker 4)
People are going crazy.

(Speaker 12)
Gratitude.

(Speaker 1)
Just take your energy.

(Speaker 4)
Engaging.

(Speaker 1)
Can’t wait to see what’s going to happen. Right now, Michael Levine. You start to feel abundance.

(Speaker 25)
10.

(Speaker 12)
When you’re in that state of mind, you’re more open to opportunity.

(Speaker 24)
Go!

(Speaker 1)
More open to knowledge. Right?

(Speaker 4)
Or maybe not. I don’t make reference to that. It’s simple. Here we go. We just wrapped up day one. It was incredible.

(Speaker 4)
We had some remarkable speakers. Michael Levine. We just finished with a lady named Jill Donovan, who owns a company called Rusticuff, talking about the power of the Dream 100. I cannot wait to see what tomorrow holds. Our entrepreneurs are pumped up, fired up, ready to get back here tomorrow morning. Hope we get to see you soon.

(Speaker 4)
Day two, people are so excited to be here for day two.

(Speaker 23)
Right now, here at the conference, we’ve broken into groups going over search engine optimization.

(Speaker 4)
And I know for most of us, myself included, if you hear that term, you go, what is that?

(Speaker 21)
What does that mean?

(Speaker 1)
That’s too techy for me. Well, our experts are breaking it down for people so that you can clearly understand how to come up top in Google. It’s doable. It’s possible. And the best way for you to get the valuable resources to know how to do it is go to thebestseobook . com.

(Speaker 1)
Check it out. We’re in the middle of a break, and what we like to do is we like to give you as much tangible and relevant information from about the start of the hour for 45 minutes. Then we take approximately a 15 -minute break to allow people to connect with other entrepreneurs around them, bathroom breaks, and also use this time to just really digest all of the good information that you’re receiving the whole time. Right behind me, we’ve got Bob with his grill gun melting an ice sculpture. It is awesome. The ice sculpture represents our life, right?

(Speaker 1)
It’s here for a time, but we all need to have the sense of urgency to implement the things things that we’re learning as soon as possible so that we can make the most of the time that we have. So you guys need to get out here and check it out. We are outside. You can see a line behind me. What’s going on is that we partner with different companies to help them implement the proven systems over and over and over again. And one of those companies is Master Machine.

(Speaker 20)
They manufacture incredible parts here in the United States.

(Speaker 1)
And so what we like to do is partner with these companies to also help them give samples to other people as they come to the conference and truly get their name out. Hey there, Thrive Nation. One of the things that we love most about our business conferences is that we want every entrepreneur to leave with their questions answered. So what we do is we let them put the questions up on the board here so that they can ask their specific questions and Clay will not end the conference until every question is answered. So no matter what question you have, you can get a specific answer from Clay Clark himself. It’s incredible.

(Speaker 1)
Hey Thrive Nation! Well, we have And it’s true, but not in the way most people think. See, giving isn’t just about material things. It’s about giving your time, your attention, your energy, your kindness. When you make it a habit to give to others, you open up a flow of abundance in your own life. It’s almost like a law of nature.

(Speaker 1)
The more you put out into the world, the more it comes back to you. But here’s the key. Give without expecting anything in return. When you give from a place of genuine generosity, without looking for a reward, you create a sense of fulfillment that can’t be matched by anything else. And here’s what I’ve learned over the years. The people who give, who really give, are the ones who seem to have the most.

(Speaker 1)
They have an abundance of love, of joy, of success. It’s not just about giving money, although that’s one way to contribute. It’s about giving of yourself, your talents, your time. Maybe it’s mentoring someone, volunteering, or simply being there for a friend who needs you. And don’t forget, giving also includes giving to yourself. You can’t pour from an empty cup.

(Speaker 1)
So make sure you’re taking care of your own needs, filling yourself up so that you have even more to give to others. And as you make giving a habit, you’ll start to notice something amazing. The more you give, the more opportunities come your way. It’s almost like the universe recognizes that you’re creating value and it wants to reward you for it. So make it a daily practice to ask yourself, how can I give today? How can I make a positive difference in someone’s life?

(Speaker 1)
And watch how your own life begins to flourish in return. Next, you gotta start listening. Listening is another one of those habits that has the power to transform not just your life, but your relationships as well. You see, most people think they’re good listeners, but in reality, they’re just waiting for their turn to speak. Listening, truly listening is a skill, and it’s a habit that can change your interactions with everyone around you. When you listen, you show respect.

(Speaker 1)
You show that you value the other person’s thoughts, their opinions, their feelings, And that kind of respect, it builds trust. It strengthens relationships. It opens doors. But here’s the thing. Listening is more than just hearing the words someone is saying. It’s about understanding.

(Speaker 1)
It’s about being fully present in the moment. When someone’s talking to you, don’t just nod your head and think about what you’re going to say next. Really listen. Pay attention to their body language, to their tone of voice, to the emotions behind their words. And when you do, you’ll find that people open up to you more. They trust you more.

(Speaker 1)
They value your opinion more. That’s because you’ve given them the gift of your full attention. And in today’s distracted world, that’s a rare and precious gift. Now here’s – Hey guys, Luke Erickson here with the Thrive Time Show.

(Speaker 4)
I’m one of the business coaches, and we are so excited to be here right now. As you can see behind me, we’ve got all kinds of energy going on. People are starting to show up for the conference, and it is hot in this place. We’ve got grill guns over here. We’ve got people playing the drums. We’ve got a fire breather.

(Speaker 4)
And man, people are so excited as they come in, getting ready for the conference this weekend. You need to be here. Right now, we live in a world of instant gratification. Writer of many, many PR books. The man who represented people like Michael Jackson, and Barbara Streisand, and George Bush. He is standing by.

(Speaker 4)
And speaking to the people here at our conference, talking about branding. One of the greatest branding experts alive today is here at our conference talking to entrepreneurs, helping them improve their branding. You’re the ones who understand that the best things in life don’t happen overnight. People are so excited to be here for day two.

(Speaker 22)
As in store, right now.

(Speaker 4)
Here at the conference, we’ve broken into groups going over search engine optimization. I know for most of us, myself included, if you hear that term, you go, what is that?

(Speaker 20)
What does that mean?

(Speaker 21)
That’s too techy for me.

(Speaker 1)
Well, our experts are breaking it down for people so that you can clearly understand how to come up top in Google. It’s doable. It’s possible. And the best way for you to get the valuable resources to know how to do it is go to thebestseobook . com. Check it out.

(Speaker 1)
We’re in the middle of a break. And what we like to do is we like to give you as much tangible and relevant information from about the start of the hour for 45 minutes. Then we take approximately a 15 minute break to allow people to connect with other entrepreneurs around them. Bathroom breaks and also use this time to just really digest all of the good information that you received the whole time. Right behind me we’ve got Bob with his grill gun. Melting an ice sculpture.

(Speaker 1)
It is awesome. The ice sculpture represents our life, right? It’s here for a time, but we all need to have the sense of urgency to implement the things that we’re learning as soon as possible so that we can make the most of the time that we have. So you guys need to get out here and check it out. We are outside. You can see a line behind me.

(Speaker 1)
What’s going on is that we partner with different companies to help them implement the proven systems over and over and over again. And one of those companies is Master Machine. They manufacture incredible parts here in the United States. And so what we like to do is partner with these companies to also help them give samples to other people as they come to the conference and truly get their name out.

(Speaker 20)
We are in the middle of another break, but I just wanted to recap some of the amazing things that have happened.

(Speaker 4)
So much wisdom and knowledge. We’ve got an incredible giveaway for one of their Thrive Nation. One of the things that we love most about our business conferences is that we want every entrepreneur to leave with their questions answered.

(Speaker 19)
So what we do is we let them put the questions up on the board here so that they can ask their specific questions, and Clay will not end the conference until every question is answered.

(Speaker 1)
So no matter what question you have, you can get a specific answer from Clay Clark himself. It’s incredible. Behind us, Clay Clark is answering all the different questions that entrepreneurs have brought to the conference. Whenever someone comes here to hear this information, especially for the first time, It just brings about so much anticipation of wanting to actually implement the proven systems and processes, and so Clay always wants to make sure that he answers all of their questions so that they’re the most set up for success, to be able to go home and start employing you. If you have any questions, email us at info at thrivetimeshow . com.

(Speaker 8)
It’s also about what you bring to the table.

(Speaker 1)
Be the kind of person who lifts others up. Be the kind of friend, colleague, or mentor who inspires others to be their best. You surround yourself with the right people. You bring your best self to the table. Ideas flow. Opportunities explode.

(Speaker 1)
So take a look at your circle. Are the people around you helping you become the person you want to be? If not, it might be time to make some changes because your environment will either lift you up or pull you down. And you have the power to choose which one it will be. Now, these 10 small habits might seem simple on the surface, but let me tell you, they have the power to change your life in ways you can’t even imagine. It’s not about doing everything perfectly.

(Speaker 6)
It’s about starting small, making little adjustments in your daily routine and staying consistent. Over time, those small habits will compound, and you’ll start to see the results. And before you know it, your life will look completely different than it does today. So don’t underestimate the power of small habits. Start today, even if it’s just one habit. Then continue to work the rest of the habits into your day -to -day, and watch how your life changes forever.

(Speaker 5)
I mean, the guy is, he is who he is, and he does a great job of making sure everybody’s on the same page and everybody’s putting their best foot forward.

(Speaker 2)
You can’t just stick your toe in the water, especially, you know, you got your foot up in the air.

(Speaker 8)
You want to go out there and just put your best foot forward. He’s got great feet, you know, he has good feet. He’s another guy who has great feet. You want to make sure that, you know, you’re putting your best foot forward out there. So let’s go out there, and being good little foot soldiers, you definitely have to be on your toes and make sure that you’re ready to go. games afoot and now without any further ado it is now time for another edition of broadcasting live from the center of the universe it’s business school without the bs we’re gonna win with every single Listen, we’re gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning.

(Speaker 4)
And you’ll say, please, please, it’s too much winning.

(Speaker 18)
We can’t take it anymore.

(Speaker 7)
Mr. President, it’s too much. And I’ll say, no, it isn’t. We have to keep winning. We have to win more to win more. My name’s Jason Feltz, and I’m a self -employed infinity foot and ankle. Boom, there it is.

(Speaker 7)
And how has your company grown in 2019 since you started working with the Brightside Show? We were just chatting about these numbers a few minutes ago. Gross revenues increased 52 % since last December. There you go. And what things have you implemented that has caused that growth? Well, almost all the recommendations that you guys have made.

(Speaker 7)
That’s good stuff. Tell me about the video testimonials and how your team has been getting those and what kind of an impact they’ve had. I would say we’ve probably been doing video reviews for about three months now. Most of the patients, I think, kind of do a quick glance at you online, take a look, and so they see that. So all around us, they’ll drive pretty far to come in and see us, primarily because our reviews are so good.

(Speaker 18)
And how far are people, how far is someone driven to come out and see you?

(Speaker 7)
Yeah, they’ll drive pretty far. of nearby states. People like to come in. One that’s coming from Alabama and a couple that are coming from South Carolina. People come in from neighboring states to see us because of our reviews. And you’re located in Loganville, is that right?

(Speaker 7)
Yep, Loganville, like a suburb of Atlanta. Perfect. And how has being on top of Google between SEO and those Google reviews, how has that affected when someone searches your keyword, you popping up top, how has that affected you? It’s made a huge difference. We get people all the time that come in and tell us they come in because they’ve seen us, you know, first page on the Google Internet search and also because, you know, they’ve got great reviews. I had to drive in and see if they’ll pass up other providers that are closer to them to come and see us because of that.

(Speaker 5)
What are your weekly meetings with the Thrived Time Show like? They’re awesome. They usually get me back on track if I’m getting a little bit off track. They help keep me accountable and keep me focused on the things that matter. What would you say to someone who is considering growing their business to the next level and using the Thrived Time Show’s business coaching program? I don’t think you can possibly find another way that will more efficiently get you there than working with Thrived.

(Speaker 5)
Hey, my name is Dr. Timothy Johnson from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I first heard about Clay and his team from their podcast, the one he hosts with Dr. Robert Zellner.

(Speaker 17)
I was really impressed with what he had to say and reached out to them for business coaching.

(Speaker 1)
I went to a business conference and kind of became hooked. I’ve learned a lot in the process. The main thing I’ve learned is about search engine domination. I’ve learned the importance of being at the top of search engines such as Google and YouTube and Amazon, and it’s really changed our business. Another thing that’s helped that he’s taught us is systemization and processes in terms of just making sure to do the small things every day and so I would definitely check out his new book Search Engine Domination. Thank you.

(Speaker 2)
Are you good at setting goals but poor at achieving them? I mean, are you really, really good at setting goals? But do you struggle to turn your big ideas into big results?

(Speaker 3)
Well, on today’s show, we’re interviewing the best -selling author of the book, Atomic Habits, by James Clear.

(Speaker 1)
an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones.

(Speaker 2)
In his remarkable book, James Clear teaches tiny changes that will produce remarkable results. Whatever habits you’ve been using or following for the last, say, six months are perfectly designed to deliver your current results. That’s your system. Whatever system you’ve been running recently, that leads to the outcome that you have.

(Speaker 9)
On today’s show, the bestselling author of Atomic Habits, James Clear, is here to teach you the specific moves that you can use to become habitually successful. The kind of person who becomes successful as a result of the habits you have. You know, maybe 90 % of the time, let’s say, should be spent on your habits and building a better system, and maybe 10 % of the time on checking in on your goals and making sure you’re moving in the right direction. Whereas a lot of the time, it seems like the conversation is reversed, that we’re spending all this time talking about building a bigger vision or getting more motivated or whatever.

(Speaker 3)
And in reality, it’s the system that drives the outcome. You know, it’s like fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves. Some shows don’t need a celebrity narrator to introduce the show.

(Speaker 2)
But this show does.

(Speaker 3)
two men, eight kids co -created by two different women, 13 multimillion dollar businesses. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Thrive Time Show. Special occasion because he is here. It is James Clear on the microphone. James, how are you, sir? Hello, good to talk to you.

(Speaker 3)
Hey, you are a kind of a living legend. And one of my longtime clients and a great entrepreneur by the name of Brett.

(Speaker 2)
He’s the owner of Cavellfit . com, with three different locations in Boise, Idaho. So big shout out to Brett Dittin.

(Speaker 3)
He’s the one who first told me about your book. Right away, do you have any life tips for Brett Dittin? Just throw out a life tip for Brett Dittin.

(Speaker 2)
Well, no life tips. Sounds like he’s reading my book, which is the best that I could hope for. So just thankful and sharing some gratitude. I appreciate the kind words. Now, he has told me that your book, Atomic Habits, is a life -changing book. So I want to ask you, what inspired you first to write this book?

(Speaker 2)
Well, I came to the topic in a couple different ways, but my first exposure, long before I really knew that I was being exposed to habits or learning about the topic, was through an injury. Before I was born, my dad played professional baseball for the St. Louis Cardinals. He played in the minor leagues. And, you know, sports played a big part of my childhood, and I wanted to be an athlete as well. And played a variety of things growing up until my sophomore year of high school when I was hitting the face of the baseball bat Oh and was a very serious injury.

(Speaker 3)
Broke my nose broke the bone behind your nose, which is called your ethmoid bone shatter both eye sockets taking a stretcher to the hospital ended up being more serious than that and I kind of lost the ability to breathe on my own and I had multiple seizures had to be air -cared to a larger facility and The fallout from that injury was significant took me, you know, I couldn’t drive a car for the next nine months I was practicing basic motor patterns like walking in a straight line at my first physical therapy session and So that was the first time in my life when I was forced to start small, you know Like I I didn’t really have a choice. I had to focus on these little behaviors things that almost seem like insignificant but Going to bed at the same time each night. This was the first time in my life that once physical therapy was done, I started strength training at first once or twice a week and then going to the gym three or four times.

(Speaker 2)
And all of these things, whether it was going to sleep at the same time or preparing for class for an hour each day, They were tiny, but they gave me a sense of control over my life again And so that was kind of my first exposure to small habits and building them and gradually they they helped me recover Eventually make it back onto the baseball field. I ended up having a good career myself as a college athlete And made the academic all -america team my senior year Wow and so I never played professionally, but that was sort of my first exposure to Small habits being a method for overcoming challenges maximizing your potential and sort of making the most of things Yeah, and it was only in the five or ten years that followed that after my playing career was done that I started studying the science of habits more writing about them and now doing all the work that that I do at James clear comm where I write about it and ultimately which led to the publishing of Atomic Habits. Now, Now, you had that five -year window after college where you began writing about it and researching about it. What jobs did you have along the way? Did you have some odd jobs?

(Speaker 2)
How did you support yourself as you were sort of becoming the habit guru? I went straight from undergrad to graduate school. While I was in graduate school getting my MBA, I studied in the Center for Entrepreneurship. So the only real normal job that I’ve had, aside from like summer jobs and stuff in high school and whatnot, was an internship that I had in medical practice between my first and second year of grad school. And I was considering medical school at the time and was interested in the field and so it made sense. And then I finished, I went back for my second year, graduated, And I had an internship in the, or sorry, a graduate assistantship in the Center for Entrepreneurship while I was in graduate school.

(Speaker 2)
And I saw all these people starting their own companies, and so I kind of got the itch to start my own thing too. So I graduated in June, and in September, I had a project I was working on, and I finished that, and in September, I started my business. So that was September 2010. For the first two years, I kind of flopped around, tried a bunch of different ideas that didn’t really work very well. And then eventually stumbled my way into writing about habits and behavior change and I was more interested in being an entrepreneur So I was doing mostly I was mostly interested in like growing the business building an email list building out the web platform, etc And along the way I kind of discovered that I liked writing.

(Speaker 3)
I didn’t set out to be a writer I sort of found it as I was writing to try to market the business and For those first two years, to answer your question, I was paying the bills by doing just like odd jobs. web design gigs, occasionally some consulting stuff or something, but who’s going to hire a consultant who’s 24 and just out of graduate school? So I did a few things to pay the bills and get by, and then once I started writing at JamesClear . com, my first article went up November 12th, 2012. And it took me about a year to make a full -time income from it.

(Speaker 2)
But after that first year, I was kind of off to the races. Now, for people out there that don’t understand how search engines work, you have to be consistent with the search engine content. I mean, you have to write that content. And you have to make sure your website is compliant to all of Google’s standards. But once your website is built and it’s search engine friendly, you’ve got to keep writing. How many articles have you written?

(Speaker 2)
I don’t know the exact number. It’s in the hundreds. I haven’t written a thousand, but it’s in the hundreds I wrote a kind of the writing habit that launched my career so to speak was I I published that first article November 12, 2012. And starting at that date, I said, all right, I’m going to try to write a new article every Monday and Thursday.

(Speaker 3)
And I didn’t hit it perfectly, but for those first three years, I was pretty close. Almost every, twice a week, almost every week, I was writing new articles.

(Speaker 2)
And so it was really that consistent writing habit that led to the growth of the site, Some of those ideas made their way into Atomic Habits in one form or another. The book was largely either brand new or a total rewrite, but I would say maybe 10 % of the content came from that. And ultimately, that writing habit led to the growth of my platform and getting the attention of publishers and book agents as well. So I would not have had the book deal if I hadn’t done that writing up front. How many articles did you write? How many articles did you write and how long was it before you had glitches?

(Speaker 2)
your first customer from your website? That’s an interesting question. I’ve never thought about it. So I was gaining traction pretty quickly, but it was not in sales. And what I mean is that I was writing articles, and I would say within like five articles or so, I was able to get a news outlet to republish one of them. And so that drove even more people back.

(Speaker 2)
And so I tried to do that a lot over the first year.

(Speaker 3)
Would say I probably had written somewhere between 50 and 75 articles Wow before I got my first sale and Those articles usually took me about 10 to 20 hours a piece So I was doing you know two week was basically a full -time job And then I had all the other stuff that was kind of going on with the business. So yeah, it was probably a I, it’s a little bit hard to answer because if I had optimized for that, if I had optimized for trying to get a sale as fast as possible, it could have been earlier. But instead I had, I had tried that in previous projects and it was, I thought it was a mistake. So this time around I optimized for, let me try to provide as much value as possible and build the audience, build a platform. And then I know once I have readers, I’ll have options for, for driving revenue. Um, so I was focused more on growth than on sales in the beginning.

(Speaker 3)
now if it’s okay i’m gonna uh josh you can hold me accountable here i’m gonna be kind of a bromantic for a second just james i have heard that your emails are hot now i’ve heard and i’m just i’ve heard they’re hot i’ve heard they’re hot and when i and when i hear hot this is like right away i think a kenny g songbird I think about the song that probably led to my conception. Brett said, these emails are hot. And I’m going, how hot are they, Brett? He goes, these are good. And I just want to ask you, because right there on your website, JamesClear . com, people can

(Speaker 2)
download the free chapter. It’s It’s irrefutable and undisputable that your emails are hot. They’re good. They’re valuable. But how important is it for all the listeners out there who want to grow a platform like you, how important is it to have an opportunity to gather email addresses from website visitors? How critical is that or how critical is it not?

(Speaker 2)
Well, I mean, This is true of any advice, I think, which is that does it apply to your context? So I think the first question is, what kind of business are you trying to build? But assuming that you’re interested in building a business that’s somewhat of a similar structure to mine, that revolves around having an online platform, my personal opinion is that email is the most important platform. Now, I’ve started to change my tune a little bit in the last couple of years in the sense that I think social media is more important now than it was before. Still not nearly as important as email, but I do think it can be powerful. And having a website, and that website is its own platform, and like ranking in Google as you had mentioned and whatnot, that also can be powerful.

(Speaker 2)
But all of those outlets, the people who Follow me on Twitter or follow me on Instagram or visit my website.

(Speaker 3)
I consider those readers But only the people who are on my email list do I consider to be part of my audience part of my community? and so That’s really where you develop a repeated relationship I think with somebody you could I will say I do think that there’s one other platform that’s like that which is podcasting I think if you have people who are consistent listeners and they hear you talk every week.

(Speaker 2)
That feels very personal too, but more personal than email in some ways. Although, even though the connection is stronger, it’s harder, I think, to drive behavior through that. It’s not quite as easy to get somebody to click on a link. in an email To get somebody to do something in a podcast as it is to click on a link in an email But but yeah Anyway, the answer to your question is I I think it’s essential and I consider the email list to be the backbone of my business And can you explain what problems you solve? I mean what when people hire you? What do you what do you do?

(Speaker 2)
Well, I To use the word hire is interesting because I don’t do any coaching or consulting. I do get hired to deliver keynote speeches. But I more broadly think that that’s kind of like a one off from the book. Like people like the book, they read it, they found it useful. And so they’re like, oh, I’d really like you to talk to our business or our department about that. So so I consider that to be an extension from the writing.

(Speaker 2)
So really, I would say the people who are hiring me, so to speak, Is any reader who is giving some of their time and attention to to read the work and in the case of articles or in the case of my books?

(Speaker 16)
The reason that people do that is because it provides practical value for daily life So I am you know there are many many ways to do that of course like people who?

(Speaker 2)
Write about personal finance help you learn how to invest your money or how to save more how to pay off debt or whatever in My case the practical application is how do I take better behaviors? How do I how do I build better habits maintain consistency be more productive show up as the person? I want to be And so that’s kind of where my focus is and so in that sense. It’s one part very broad philosophy Well, how should I look at life?

(Speaker 3)
How should I think about life? How do I? consider Effective paths to to follow and then it’s another part practical application. All right, cool I’m buying into this philosophy that you’re talking about But what do I actually do and I think that’s probably where I provide the most value if you read atomic habits, for example I in a lot of the chapters I’ll lay out a philosophy or a kind of a big idea Yeah, but then the bulk of the chapter talks about how to execute it it’s examples for how to apply it to like exercise habits and writing habits and relationship habits and all kinds of other stuff and so it’s really the the granular examples, the let me spoon feed it to the reader to show them how to make this actionable.

(Speaker 2)
I think that’s where a lot of the value comes for for many of the readers and listeners. You know what I’m going to do, James, I’m gonna go into rapid fire mode. And then Josh Wilson, one of our incredible show sponsors is here and he has some questions for you too. So get ready for the questions coming in fast. In your book, you teach super practical laws on how to make tiny changes that will produce real remarkable results. Results that Brent Denton thinks are amazing.

(Speaker 2)
Could you break down just a few of the game changing super moves in your book? So broadly speaking, if you want a new habit to stick, you want roughly four things to happen and not all four of these need to happen at the same time, but the more of them that you have working for you, the better of a position you’re in. Those four laws of behavior change are number one, make it obvious. So you want your habits to be obvious, available, visible, easy to see. This is like put the healthy foods on the counter and the junk food tucked away in the bottom of the pantry. Or if you want to read more, like when I wanted to build a reading habit, I moved Audible to the home screen of my phone.

(Speaker 2)
So it was the first thing I saw. And I put books on my desk and by my bed and just kind of like populated the environment with that. So the first law is make it obvious. The second law is make it attractive. The more attractive or appealing a habit is, the more motivating it is, the more likely you’re going to feel like you want to do it. And part of that is tied directly to the third law, which is to make it easy.

(Speaker 2)
So making your habits easy is about scaling them down. I recommend what I call the two -minute rule to a rule the two -minute rule set as take whatever habit you’re trying to build and scale it down to something it takes two minutes or less to do so read 40 books a year becomes read one page or Do yoga four days a week becomes take out my yoga mat So you make it really easy and small got it and then the fourth and final law behavior change is to make it satisfying so And that’s all about associating your habits with some kind of positive emotion. You want your habits to be enjoyable, pleasurable, delightful, satisfying, because that gives your brain a positive signal where it says, hey, that felt good.

(Speaker 3)
You should do this again in the future. So one strategy for that is to select the form of a habit that is most enjoyable to you.

(Speaker 2)
So exercise, for example. Not everybody needs to work out like a bodybuilder. Some people want to rock climb, or to kayak, or to go hiking, or just choose whatever form of exercise brings you the most joy in the moment, because that will associate that positive emotion with the behavior and make it more likely to stick. So make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying. Oh, make it blow my mind. Make it blow my mind.

(Speaker 2)
Now, James, why are systems in your mind, why are systems more important than goals? So let me put a little finer point on what I’m describing here. So your goal is your desired outcome. It’s what you want to achieve. Your system is the collection of daily habits that you follow. And if there’s ever a gap between your system and your goal, if there’s ever a gap between your desired outcome and your daily habits, your daily habits will always win.

(Speaker 2)
Right like almost by definition your current habits are perfectly designed to deliver your current results right like and maybe we could even say like Whatever habits you’ve been using or following for the last say six months are perfectly designed to deliver your current results That’s your system. Whatever system you’ve been running recently, that leads to the outcome that you have. And so I think we could say that you do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems. And so if you want to change, a lot of the time people say, oh, you need to be more ambitious, you need to set bigger goals, you need to think bigger, you need 10X your vision or whatever.

(Speaker 3)
You know, having the goal is really the easy part. I can set a goal right now to sell 10 million books. It took me like three seconds. What you see a lot of the time in many domains is that the winners and the losers, so to speak, in any given field have the same goals. If 20 people are competing for the gold medal, presumably all of the athletes have the goal of winning the gold medal.

(Speaker 2)
Or if 100 people apply for a job, presumably every candidate has the goal of getting the job.

(Speaker 3)
I want to interject something here. I want to interject something, and maybe you disagree. I just want to throw it out, throw it back if you want. You sound like, do you read Mark Manson? Do you read Mark Manson? Yeah, I’m friends with Mark.

(Speaker 3)
Okay, well we had Mark on the show recently and you and Mark Manson, the subtle art of not giving an F, the author Mark Manson, you guys are the future of self -help in my mind because you guys are that practical real talk. And I feel like there’s a lot of good things you can get out of Napoleon Hill and a lot of good things at a Zig Ziglar, but I am so tired of seeing people who are sufficiently motivated going to yet another seminar to set another goal and saying, if I can believe it, I can achieve it. And you’re going, but seriously, in order to get to the top of the search engines, you’re going to need to make your website canonically compliance and your permalinks are wrong. And they go, permalinks are wrong. And then you go, yeah, permalinks. You say your keywords are wrong, your descriptions are wrong, and your site’s not built on HTML, and your sitemap is missing, and you don’t have an XML sitemap.

(Speaker 3)
And they go, I’m done.

(Speaker 2)
for that. I don’t have James Clear. I don’t have time for that. I’m talking about believing it and achieving it. Would you agree that you’re kind of like a new form of self -help? I mean, you guys are like self -help 2 .0.

(Speaker 2)
It’s like that real raw stuff. Yeah, I don’t know. Maybe I’m just trying to share ideas that are true and useful. You know, like that’s that’s kind of like true, useful, clear. That’s that’s like kind of like the three things that I want things to be when I when I write about them.

(Speaker 15)
And so the way that I look at this stuff, if we’re talking about systems or goals or whatever, it’s like what actually helps me get results, you know, like what actually helps move things forward.

(Speaker 3)
And I’m not saying goals are totally useless.

(Speaker 5)
Like goals are useful for setting a sense of direction. They’re also useful as a filter so if people if you know what your goals are and people come to you and they say Hey, do you want to like I have this opportunity? Do you want to join or what I mean? You’re like, well that doesn’t help me achieve my goals So no, so it helps you like say filter out and say no to things but I my argument is that you know, maybe 90 % of the time let’s say should be spent on your habits and building a better system and maybe 10 % of time on checking in on your goals and making sure you’re moving in the right direction whereas a lot of the time it seems like the conversation is reversed that we’re spending all this time talking about building a bigger vision or getting more motivated or whatever and In reality, it’s the system that drives the outcome, you know, it’s like fix the inputs and the outputs will fix themselves That is, that is, that was hot. That was hot. Now, Josh, do you have a question for the best -selling author of Atomic Habits here, Mr. James Clear?

(Speaker 5)
I do, James.

(Speaker 14)
Hey, thank you so much for taking my question and taking your time.

(Speaker 5)
So, I can see why Brett is such a big fan of yours. It’s absolutely fire stuff here that so many of our listeners really need to apply and run out and get your book. My specific question would be, and the two -minute rule, I love that. I love the four points that you brought up. If you were Coaching training teaching your team a team of people and you said, okay.

(Speaker 3)
Well, what?

(Speaker 5)
to form this one habit.

(Speaker 2)
We want to go after this one thing. How would you start with a team of, say, 17 people that work for me? How would you start – In an office environment or in a riot environment? In an office environment. Okay, thanks. How would you start to develop a new habit or a new system?

(Speaker 2)
Yeah, no, that’s a great question. So I do think the two minute rule can be useful or some version of it for the teams in the sense that we say, all right, this is where we’re going to focus. This is what we’ve decided is important for our culture or for our new strategic initiative or whatever. What’s the smallest unit of that? How can we scale that down and try to focus on mastering the art of showing up and at least doing that each time? This is, I think, a deeper truth about habits that people often overlook, which is a habit must be established before it can be improved.

(Speaker 2)
You know, like a lot of the time, especially with strategic planning or talking to teams, we’re so focused on like optimizing, let’s come up with the best plan in theory, let’s come up with the best strategy. And in reality, there’s nothing to improve if you don’t master the art of showing up. And so let’s find a small way that we can get that habit established. So that’s probably the first thing. And then the second piece that came to my mind is, There’s a great book. It’s a business book.

(Speaker 2)
It’s called The Outsiders. It’s not the book that you read in high school. It’s written by William Thorndike. He talks about these eight different CEOs that have performed really well over the last 100 years. One of them is Warren Buffett, but most of the others people haven’t heard of. Anyway, one of the people that he profiles in that book had this very interesting thing where he took over this company starts out this little office thing was in Buffalo, New York and Over the next like 30 years.

(Speaker 2)
He ends up rising up the ranks to become CEO but on that first day he comes in as the manager of this little office and That somebody comes to him and says hey, what? need to we’re due to paint the outside of the building. We need to update the facade. Like, what do you want us to do? And he said, only paint the side that faces the street.

(Speaker 3)
And over the next 30 years, cost cutting was like a really big part of his initiative, a really big part of his strategy. And the great thing about that story is it became kind of this almost like legend. their folklore that could be passed throughout the company, where in every budget meeting and every time they were discussing cost cutting, it could be like, how much do we care about this? Oh, so much that we only paint the side of the building that faces the street.

(Speaker 2)
And so whatever the new habit is that you’re trying to instill in your company, I think that leaders do have a unique position where you can come up with some kind of story, some narrative, some idea, I call this like controlling the narrative and it’s some story that can represent what that value is. So that you can spread that around throughout the team people need they need like a heuristic that they can keep top of mind Whenever they’re the one making the decisions because you can’t be there looking over their shoulder at every minute So some kind of example like that I think is good a lot of companies actually have used the the British cycling example of getting 1 % better each day Yeah that I kick off atomic habits with Anybody who’s like interested in kind of continuous improvement or we want our sales team to get 1 % better or whatever you can use stories like like that to initiate the behavior, give somebody to anchor their behavior on. Now, James, Brett Denton had specific questions he wanted me to ask you, and I said, you know what? I’m going to do it, because you’re the guy who introduced me to the writing of James Clear. So here are the questions that Brett has for you. He wants to know, what is your research method?

(Speaker 2)
It’s a good question. So I kind of, broadly speaking, the real quick summary is broad funnel type filter, broad funnel type filter. And so what that usually looks like for me is most of my research, I read a lot. I’m just kind of not in any like real big, meaningful, like planned out way. I just am like kind of surrounded by it a lot. I keep a lot of books by me. I keep books by my bed, in the living room, you know, whatever, just like on my, web browser, which is usually where I’m at when I’m somewhere in the browser, when I’m on the computer, I usually have 10 to 20 tabs open and maybe three of those are like Gmail and Asana and like business stuff.

(Speaker 2)
And the other 10 ish are usually things that I’m going to read or I’m in the middle of reading.

(Speaker 3)
So, uh, I’m reading a lot, so I’m taking a lot of information in and each day I sort of have a block of time from roughly like eight to noon where Don’t have any calls nothing scheduled. It’s just like thinking and reading and research time and Occasionally when I come across a good idea I toss that into Evernote or a Google Doc if I’m working on a book manuscript and I just try to pile as much stuff in there as possible It starts to take a little bit of shape and I kind of roughly have some headings or different areas themes that are kind of going on but I just put all that in there and when that grows to Degree that I feel like I kind of got everything. I want that’s in there Yeah, it’s like it’s like I’m the hard thing about being a writer is that it’s kind of like being a sculptor But you also have to build the rock to begin with before you chip it away and turn it into a great example is a great explanation into the statue so all the research the broad funnel is the building of the rock and then I in the case of a In the case of Atomic Habits, the first draft was, I think, 720 pages, and then the final version is 250. So I build out that huge 700 -page version, and then I spend the next, you know, so that may be a year or two years, however long, and then I spend the next six months or a year whittling it down to the statute, to the 250 page version. So broad funnel, tight filter.

(Speaker 3)
Final question from Brett Denton here.

(Speaker 2)
He wants to know, what’s the best way in your mind to begin building an email list? And again, he owns a gym called Cavell Fit. He’s really doing well. He has three locations. Things are going great for him. What advice would you have for Brett Denton, the owner of Cavell Fit, on how to build an email list?

(Speaker 2)
Well, people only sign up for emails if they think they’re going to provide them value. Generally people think it’ll provide them value if it’s free and there’s some kind of like interesting idea or insight or content now again This depends on the business you’re building, you know Like J crew is gonna be offering people 20 % off discount codes to get them on the email list They’re not gonna be writing blog posts. So it does depend I don’t know exactly what the best strategy is for someone running a gym but for me my strategy is I’m going to try to write a couple articles a week that are free, or maybe it doesn’t have to be two a week. It could be one week. It could be a one a month, even if it’s if it’s high quality and in depth, just whatever pace you can stick to. And so that’s the strategy.

(Speaker 2)
And then there are some tactics that are important. And, you know, like where do I put the forms on the page? How often do I ask people to sign up? What does the copy say on the actual email form to get people to sign up?

(Speaker 3)
Some of that is highly context dependent on the business, but it does matter. I will offer this if anybody’s interested, Brett included, that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about that for the way JamesClear . com is laid out. So you’re welcome to look at the site and replicate, you know, where the forms are laid out or whatever pieces are useful. But yeah, so I think it’s both strategy and tactics. But ultimately, it comes back to the same thing it always comes back to, which is providing great value for your target audience.

(Speaker 2)
Okay, into the serious questions, and I’ll let you get out of here. Your favorite old school jam.

(Speaker 12)
It’s middle school and go back to me.

(Speaker 2)
What year were you?

(Speaker 13)
What year were you as a high school senior?

(Speaker 2)
What year were you a high school senior?

(Speaker 12)
2004 okay, so doesn’t for it could the year could be now 1999 it could be 98 it could be you know It’s a we’re school dances in a gym yeah, yes, they were in a gym and Anyway, I’m laughing because I don’t know where you’re going with this aside from maybe asking you what what song I would pick I’m just asking would you my first memory of this is that my first dance was sixth grade and I When I was growing up, all my parents listened to were oldies.

(Speaker 2)
And so I did not know that music past, say, 1975 existed. Really?

(Speaker 11)
And so I walked into that gym and everybody was singing TLC, No Scrubs.

(Speaker 3)
Oh, wow. And I had never heard the song before.

(Speaker 2)
Really? And like everybody around me knew every word.

(Speaker 10)
And so I was introduced very late in life, I feel like, to any kind of pop music or new music.

(Speaker 3)
I just had no idea. How often do you listen to No Scrubs now? I mean, is this an atomic habit?

(Speaker 2)
Oh, now it’s on repeat all the time, right? I gotta make up for lost time. Oh, man. Okay, now we’re getting into that deep stuff. Do you have a favorite music artist you like today? A favorite music artist you’re into today?

(Speaker 2)
Yeah, I have a lot of people that I like I the first one that came to me is like Eminem, but just I have a lot of hip -hop that I like it the the thing about him I don’t necessarily agree with him on everything and obviously he’s like super volatile But the level of emotion that is in the music I just it’s like I love stuff that feels authentic and you’re like when he’s singing you’re like Yeah, he’s not faking it.

(Speaker 10)
Like it’s not it’s not an act.

(Speaker 2)
It’s not it’s just like he can’t help but let it out. So I like that on the totally other side of the spectrum I really like Maggie Rogers. I’ve been listening to her a lot recently and there’s actually a great this this ties in actually somewhat well with our Yeah with our conversation so that that question about my research process and what goes into that and like how I think about it I I really love hearing from people who are dedicated to their craft and are just obsessed with it and like they can’t they can’t help but But do anything except get it right. Like it bothers them if the details. Amen.

(Speaker 2)
Amen. And, um, Maggie Rogers is exactly like that. There’s a, she had, I think it was an Instagram post that she put up where one of her songs that has become a hit, she’s breaking it down. She’s showing some of her notes from when it was being recorded and some of the things that she passed back and forth to her producer and editor and stuff.

(Speaker 3)
And the level of thought that’s going into each note, even to each, like, when do we come in with this chime? Why is it there? Can we, Amp this up a little bit. It needs to be 10 % higher or whatever like she cares deeply about all that and I just I love that stuff and I think that You, when you see something really great, it’s almost never an accident. Like how much of a success it becomes that might have some luck to it or whatever, but the fact that the quality is great, it’s very rare that someone like stumbles into mastery. Um, and so I, uh, I, yeah, I love that kind of stuff.

(Speaker 3)
So I really like her work a lot too. Oh man, I, I, I can’t wait to, for the next, uh, two hours of this interview. Man, I appreciate you so much for being on the show.

(Speaker 2)
You are just dropping knowledge bombs everywhere. Folks, go to JamesClear . com to get a clear understanding of how to create these atomic habits, these little tiny changes that will create remarkable results. Check out the website, JamesClear . com. Again, James, thank you so much for allowing us to interview you here today on the Thrivetime Show.

Of course. Thank you for having me.

Transcribed with Cockatoo