{Bring Value}

I’ve been thinking about how I could bring value here—how to help people improve their lives in this small community. At a time when everything seems to be falling apart, when the news bombards us with chaos like AI taking jobs, companies laying off employees left and right, and an overall sense of economic instability. You might be asking yourself: “How can I adapt, grow, and stay ahead of the game?”

I’ve read countless self-improvement books, but only one has truly changed how I think, act, and live day-to-day. That book is Atomic Habits by James Clear.

{What is Atomic Habits}

So, what is Atomic Habits, you might ask? What’s it all about? It’s a book that focuses on a simple but powerful idea: building positive habits through tiny, daily actions—and designing your environment to eliminate negative ones. Instead of relying on willpower, it teaches you to make good habits effortless and bad habits nearly impossible.

{Example from LA to NY}

To grasp this concept, let’s consider an example.

Imagine a plane flying from Los Angeles to New York. If the pilot adjusts the course by just 1 degree, the plane lands in Washington, D.C. instead of New York. That tiny shift changes everything. Atomic Habits teaches us the same principle: small, consistent changes compound into extraordinary results.

{Rise or fall}

James Clear argues that we don’t rise to the level of our goals—we fall to the level of our systems. This means that your daily routines and the environments you create are far more influential than your aspirations alone. If you want to eat healthier, stock your fridge with pre-cut veggies. If you want to waste less time on your phone, delete social media apps. Make good habits easy and bad habits hard.

{Share the Core Philosophy}

The author teaches us that tiny habits are like invisible superpowers. They’re so small they feel insignificant, but over time, they compound into life-altering results.

Think of it this way: 

If you read 10 pages every night, that’s 3,650 pages a year — equivalent to about 12 Tolstoy novels.

If you walk for 15 minutes daily, that adds up to 91 hours of movement a year.

Habits aren’t just actions—they’re identity shifts. Every small action you take reinforces the kind of person you are becoming.

Starting is the hardest part. Once you begin, you build momentum, and it'll become easier to push forward over time.

(ADD NEGATIVE EXAMPLE TOO)

• Every time you save 5000 Forints from your paycheck, you're not just putting money aside—you're becoming "a financially responsible person."
• Every time you write one paragraph, you’re not just typing—you’re becoming “a writer.”
• Every time you spend 10 minutes learning a new phrase in a different language, you're not just memorizing words—you're becoming "a polyglot".

That’s the power of atomic habits: Small efforts don’t just add up—they multiply.

And the best part is that you don’t need perfection. Miss a day? No problem. Just don't miss twice. Because consistency, not intensity, is what rewires your brain.

{Where I used it}

One part of Atomic Habits that really stuck with me is the idea of: “You don’t need to be motivated, you need to be consistent." I used to wait until I felt like doing something. But motivation is unreliable. Some days I felt focused, other days I didn’t. And when I didn’t, I’d beat myself up for being lazy. But now I don’t rely on motivation— I used the techniques I've learned, and the action becomes automatic and easy. Now, I don’t wait to feel ready. I just start. Because consistency, in the end, beats everything.

{Closing}

That’s the power of atomic habits. You don’t need to be perfect—you just need to be consistent. We can’t decide our future, but we can decide our habits, and our habits decide our future.

Reading time: 4 min 36 sec