Atomic Habits - James Clear Page 0,88

PA: Carnegie Press, 1951), 177–190.

By the end of the experiment, nearly 75 percent of the subjects: Follow-up studies show that if there was just one actor in the group who disagreed with the group, then the subject was far more likely to state their true belief that the lines were different lengths. When you have an opinion that dissents from the tribe, it is much easier to stand by it if you have an ally. When you need the strength to stand up to the social norm, find a partner. For more, see Solomon E. Asch, “Opinions and Social Pressure,” Scientific American 193, no. 5 (1955), doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1155–31; and William N. Morris and Robert S. Miller, “The Effects of Consensus-Breaking and Consensus-Preempting Partners on Reduction of Conformity,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 11, no. 3 (1975), doi:10.1016/s0022–1031(75)80023–0.

Nearly 75 percent of subjects made the incorrect choice at least once. However, considering the total number of responses throughout the experiment, about two thirds were correct. Either way, the point stands: group pressure can significantly alter our ability to make accurate decisions.

a chimpanzee learns an effective way: Lydia V. Luncz, Giulia Sirianni, Roger Mundry, and Christophe Boesch. “Costly culture: differences in nut-cracking efficiency between wild chimpanzee groups.” Animal Behaviour 137 (2018): 63–73.

CHAPTER 10

I wouldn’t say, “Because I need food to survive”: I heard a similar example from the Twitter account, simpolism (@simpolism), “Let’s extend this metaphor. If society is a human body, then the state is the brain. Humans are unaware of their motives. If asked ‘why do you eat?’ you might say ‘bc food tastes good’ and not ‘bc I need food to survive.’ What might a state’s food be? (hint: are pills food?),” Twitter, May 7, 2018, https://twitter.com/simpolism/status/993632142700826624.

when emotions and feelings are impaired: Antoine Bechara et al., “Insensitivity to Future Consequences following Damage to Human Prefrontal Cortex,” Cognition 50, no. 1–3 (1994), doi:10.1016/0010–0277(94)90018–3.

As the neuroscientist Antonio Damasio: “When Emotions Make Better Decisions—Antonio Damasio,” August 11, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wup_K2WN0I

You don’t “have” to. You “get” to: I am indebted to my college strength and conditioning coach, Mark Watts, who originally shared this simple mind-set shift with me.

“I’m not confined to my wheelchair”: RedheadBanshee, “What Is Something Someone Said That Forever Changed Your Way of Thinking,” Reddit, October 22, 2014, https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/2jzn0j/what_is_something_som....

“It’s time to build endurance and get fast”: WingedAdventurer, “Instead of Thinking ‘Go Run in the Morning,’ Think ‘Go Build Endurance and Get Fast.’ Make Your Habit a Benefit, Not a Task,” Reddit, January 19, 2017, https://www.reddit.com/r/selfimprovement/comments/5ovrqf/instead_of_thin....

“I’m getting an adrenaline rush to help me concentrate”: Alison Wood Brooks, “Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement with Minimal Cues,” PsycEXTRA Dataset, June 2014, doi:10.1037/e578192014–321; Caroline Webb, How to Have a Good Day (London: Pan Books, 2017), 238. “Wendy Berry Mendes and Jeremy Jamieson have conducted a number of studies [that] show that people perform better when they decide to interpret their fast heartbeat and breathing as ‘a resource that aids performance.’”

Ed Latimore, a boxer and writer: Ed Latimore (@EdLatimore), “Odd realization: My focus and concentration goes up just by putting my headphones [on] while writing. I don’t even have to play any music,” Twitter, May 7, 2018, https://twitter.com/EdLatimore/status/993496493171662849.

CHAPTER 11

In the end, they had little to show for their efforts: This story comes from page 29 of Art & Fear by David Bayles and Ted Orland. In an email conversation with Orland on October 18, 2016, he explained the origins of the story. “Yes, the ‘ceramics story’ in ‘Art & Fear’ is indeed true, allowing for some literary license in the retelling. Its real-world origin was as a gambit employed by photographer Jerry Uelsmann to motivate his Beginning Photography students at the University of Florida. As retold in ‘Art & Fear’ it faithfully captures the scene as Jerry told it to me—except I replaced photography with ceramics as the medium being explored. Admittedly, it would’ve been easier to retain photography as the art medium being discussed, but David Bayles (co-author) & I are both photographers ourselves, and at the time we were consciously trying to broaden the range of media being referenced in the text. The intriguing thing to me is that it hardly matters what art form was invoked—the moral of the story appears to hold equally true straight across the whole art spectrum (and even outside the arts, for that matter).” Later in that same email, Orland said, “You have our permission to reprint any or all of the ‘ceramics’ passage in your forthcoming book.” In the end, I settled on publishing an adapted version, which