Is not the first time that James Clear and his book Atomic Habits pops up here, maybe because it is one of the best books I've came across that better synthesizes the essence of establishing New Habits and the nature of Behaviour Change.

One of the most important ideas of AH is that small and incremental changes can result in massive results. If you improve 1% everyday in anything for a full year, you end up 37 times better by the end.

But I want to talk about something else today, something that is extremely important when adopting a new habit:  Progress doesn't happen overnight.

As you know already, you don't simply work out for one month and see a huge body transformation. You may not even see anything at all, more than experiencing exhaustion and confusion. Discouraging, eh? Even frustrating! Despite the effort, the time, the commitment? What the hell is going on?

The thing is that habits -the new ones that we are trying to establish- appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold and unlock a new level of performance.

James Clear describes it as a Valley of Disappointment in the early and middle stages, where you are expecting to make linear progress.

However those most powerful outcomes are delayed.

To make a meaningful difference, habits must persist past the Valley of Disappointment and Cross the Plateau of Latent Potential. This is crucial, if you don't take this into consideration you might give up before being able to see the blossoming of your efforts.

In this video you can find the fundamentals of AH magnificently explained. Thanks Med School Insiders for it.