If You Could Start Fresh, What Life Would You Create?
When I originally wrote Atomic Habits, I never could have imagined what it would go on to become. I’d hoped I had written a good book, of course, but I don’t think any reasonable person could expect to sell twenty million copies in the first five years.
Atomic Habits has become a phenomenon with a life of its own, and millions of readers around the world have now embraced the book’s core message: Small changes compound into remarkable results.
The trajectory of your life bends in the direction of your habits. Whatever you repeat, you reinforce. And my readers continually remind me of the influence that habits can have on our lives.
I receive messages every day from people who share how Atomic Habits has transformed their health, relationships, and careers, and made them think differently about the profound power they have over their own lives. These stories remind me why I wrote the book in the first place, which is to help and empower others. To help people who feel stuck find a path toward actual, sustainable transformation. To empower people to feel like they are in the driver’s seat of their lives.
That’s the purpose of my new workbook, too. It breaks down the ideas and exercises from Atomic Habits into simple, actionable steps that anyone can perform.
Read on for a first look at one of those exercises from The Atomic Habits Workbook.
WHERE YOU WANT TO END UP
Clarity is freedom. Know what is important to you and it will grant you the freedom to ignore everything else.
Clean Slate
When imagining where we want to end up, we often assume our current life and commitments are a given and work from there. The trouble with this is that time is a limited resource, and if you never reconsider these commitments, there will never be room for the larger changes that might be necessary.
What if you took the opposite approach? For this exercise, clear the slate. Instead of assuming your current commitments and responsibilities, start from square one. If you were building up your life from scratch, what would you want it to look like? The goal of this isn't to say that you don't need to work within your realities, but rather to let yourself imagine the life you want without feeling limited by your current obligations. In the ideating phase, prematurely limiting yourself only prevents you from discovering what you want.
First, what commitments would you have? Feel free to list both commitments you already have and those you would like to have, but make sure you add in only things you actually want.
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Next, what commitments would you not have? Thinking about what you don't want to spend your time on can be even more important than thinking about what you do want to spend it on.
When you say no, you are only saying no to one option. When you say yes, you are saying no to every other option. No is a decision. Yes is a responsibility. Be careful what (and who) you say yes to. It will shape your day, your career, your family, your life.
Now think about how you want to spend your time. Below, picture your ideal day. What would it look like? How would you use the time? If it's helpful, think about the insights you surfaced during the Time and Energy Audit.
Look at the answers and reflect on what you learned from these exercises. What did you learn about what you want your life to contain? What did you learn about what you don't want your life to contain?
Your Ideal Future
Now let yourself dream big. What are the major goals you're coming into this process with?
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We often think of our goals as occurring at a vague point in the future, but thinking in specific timelines can help you clarify. What do you hope your life looks like…
Reprinted from THE ATOMIC HABITS WORKBOOK by arrangement with Avery, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, A Penguin Random House Company. Copyright © 2025, James Clear.
WATCH: For more from James Clear, watch his Life Above the Noise episode with Maria here.
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