A book that changed your thinking

I'd like to talk about a non-fiction book called Atomic Habits by James Clear, which I read about two years ago during a long semester break when I was feeling quite unproductive.

A friend lent me her copy and said it was "the most practical self-help book" she'd read. I'm usually a bit doubtful about self-help books, because many of them repeat obvious advice, but this one was different.

The main idea is that big changes come from very small habits repeated over time, and that instead of setting huge goals, you should focus on building systems. For example, rather than saying "I'll read twenty books this year," you decide to read two pages after dinner every day. The author also explains how your environment shapes your behaviour; if your phone is next to your bed, you'll check it first thing in the morning, so the solution is to charge it in another room.

It changed my thinking because I used to believe that success depended mainly on motivation and willpower. I'd start something with lots of energy and then give up after a week, and I blamed myself for being lazy. The book made me realise the problem wasn't my character but my system. So I started tiny habits, like writing fifty words in English every morning. It sounds silly, but after six months it had become a full journal, and my writing improved much more than in any class.