In this article, I'd like to share 30 “one-sentence stories” about building better habits. (They are not all exactly one sentence, but they are very short.)

None of these stories are mine. They were sent to me by readers of Atomic Habits. My hope is that these examples will illustrate how real people are putting the book into practice. They will show you what people are actually doing to build good habits and break bad ones. And hopefully, they will spark some ideas for how you can do the same.

I have divided the stories into categories that roughly correspond to different sections or ideas in the book.

Identity-based habits

One of the central ideas in the book is the concept of building “identity-based habits”, which essentially recommends focusing on the type of person you wish to become rather than the outcome you wish to achieve.

One reader named Robert employed this idea to help him quit smoking. He wrote, “I recently stopped smoking and the difference between “I don't smoke” and “I can't smoke” is a powerful trainer of my brain. The positive message of “I don't smoke” is that I have not “given up” anything. I am not sacrificing a pleasure; I am investing in my future happiness and wellbeing.”

Another reader named Roland used the idea to improve his eating habits. “I stopped eating unhealthy food via identity change. I tried many times in the past, but it became easy — natural — only after I had made the conscious decision that I want to be someone who eats healthy. Instead of aiming for “I want to stop eating bad food,” try changing the mindset to “I am/want to be someone that eats healthy/lives a healthy life”; it changes how you approach things.”

Like most strategies in the book, the concept of identity-based habits can be combined with other habit building tactics. For instance, one reader used an external reward of $10 to reinforce the desired identity. “I told myself I am no longer a drinker. Then, after each day of non-drinking, I gave myself $10 to buy something nice rather than poison (like clothes and household items). Today, I no longer need the allowance and I'm six years sober.”

Chapter 2 of Atomic Habits covers these ideas in much greater detail.

Changing the Cues

Another way you can change a habit is by identifying and altering the cues that prompt your behavior. This is precisely what many readers have done.

One woman named Lisa, cultivated a reading habit by increasing her exposure to read cues. “I've read more books by continually having 20-30 books on hold at the library,” she said. “It saves time on browsing for books. I always have new things to read with a three-week deadline.”

Heather used a similar strategy to reinforce the simple habit of drinking more water. “I use color and placement for visual reminding and motivation. I poured water in a bright aqua water bottle – my favorite color – and placed it on my nightstand so I couldn’t miss it when I woke up.”

Other readers have done the opposite. They reduced exposure to negative cues. One man named Max managed to eliminate his e-cigarette habit. “I quit e-cigarettes with a combination of determination and also quitting coffee at the same time, which was a trigger for me as I'd smoke and drink coffee together in the morning.”

And still others have identified the cue that prompts their habit and then used it as a signal to perform a substitute behavior. One reader told me, “At home I would go out to my back yard to smoke, so I put a weight bench out there and every time I wanted to smoke I'd go out and do some reps instead. After that, my craving was reduced.”

Habit Stacking

Another popular tactic in the book is something I call “habit stacking.” It's strategy I first learned from Stanford professor BJ Fogg. He refers to it as “anchoring” because you anchor—or stack—your new habit onto a current habit.

I loved this strategy for learning a new language that one reader shared with me. “When I first moved to China and started to learn Mandarin, I committed to strike up a conversation with the taxi driver whenever I went into a cab (I took a lot of cab rides, 5+ daily). No matter the time of day or how tired I was. I did it for 2 years. I now speak fluent Chinese.”

Similarly, a reader named David told me, “I meditate for 20 minutes after brushing my teeth in the morning. Linking new habits onto a keystone one seems to work.”

You'll find all sorts of examples in Chapter 5 of Atomic Habits.

Environment Design, Part I

I have written about the power of the environment and the importance of choice architecture in the past. The simple truth is our environment often shapes our behavior. Many readers are using this fact to their benefit by installing some of the environment design strategies I share in the book.

For starters, you can increase the friction in your environment. This can be a helpful way to break bad habits.

One woman named Cyd curtailed her snacking habit with the following strategy. “My husband still loves his Pringles, as do I, but they’re now kept in a locked car that’s parked in the cold. It works!”

And multiple readers are learning to wake up earlier. Daniel told me, “I jump out of bed every morning without any hesitation. The reason: The only way to turn off my alarm is to scan a QR Code in the bathroom. This worked wonders for me.”

And as I have mentioned already, you can combine this strategy with other tactics. Chris utilized both environment design and habit stacking to stop sleeping in. He wrote, “I have a bad habit: Hitting snooze. To eliminate it, I “made it hard” and put phone in the bathroom, which was a habit stack to the first thing I do when I wake up (go to bathroom, brush teeth, etc.).”

Typically, we think of designing physical spaces, but you can use the same principles to shape your digital environment as well. For instance, a reader named Matthew wrote to me and said, “I significantly cut down on mindless Instagram time. Simply logging out of the app makes a big difference.”

Another reader named Viet went even further. “I used my own laziness to my own advantage [with my bad habit of browsing Facebook]. Deleting Facebook and having to go through the one extra step of going to website and logging in manually was enough barrier for me to not get back on.”

And Rahul did something similar to kill his video game habit. “For gaming addiction, I removed my graphic card. For excessive net surfing on mobile, I uninstalled apps and removed the Chrome browser.”

These steps sound small, but I can tell you from personal experience that they can be effective. For a period of time, I would log out of social media apps after each use. And when that was enough, I would log out and delete it after each use. If I wanted to get on Instagram again, I would have to ask myself, “Is it worth downloading and logging in?”

One of my favorite examples was sent to me by J. Money, the personal finance blogger. He wrote, “I brush my teeth right after putting my kids to bed every night (8pm), which has prevented me from eating or drinking (alcohol) at night for years… ‘Cuz who wants to re-brush them again!”

It's a great example of creating just enough friction to keep your bad habits at bay.

Environment Design, Part II

Of course, you can also rearrange your environment to make cues more visible and reduce the friction of taking action. This is a great approach for building good habits.

Natalie started picking up her cluttered clothes and building better cleaning habits by making a simple change. “I quit leaving my socks all over the floor by putting a little basket beside the door to collect them in.”

Similar strategies can be particularly useful for building new exercise habits. One reader named Justin sent me the following message. “I started going to a gym that was less than a mile from my house. This took away the time and inconvenience excuses. I was never consistent at exercise and now I work out 8-10x a week. Crossfit, running, and cycling. Being going strong for 2.5 years.”

Another reader wrote, “I've been running at 6 A.M. for the past two years. I always put my running gear (Garmin, compression sleeves, shoes, etc.) into a neat pile the night before. When I get up, I just get dressed and go out the door.”

I've even heard from readers who go to sleep wearing their running clothes. All they have to do is stumble out the door in the morning.

For more on environment design, see Chapters 6 and 12 of Atomic Habits.

Habit Tracking

Now it's time to cover one of my favorite strategies: habit tracking. Here's how a few readers are using it…

Cindy sent me an email saying, “I purchased a large wall calendar and started building the chains. This really works for me. I like to build that chain. There are 6 months of red X's on my calendar. I am healthier, have lost 30 pounds, feel stronger, exercise more, garden, read more, work on my small business, and practice my French.”

Damn, I'd say Cindy is on the right path. I wish I did half of those habits.

As I explain in the book, you don't have to track your habits on a calendar. For example, Qiana used a little math and a clever visual trick. “I stopped drinking soda,” she wrote. “I added up all the sodas I drank for the week and counted how many tablespoons of sugar were in those soda cans and bottles. I began to scoop the amount of sugar into a enormous bowl … The visual did it for me. Had to break that habit.”

The easiest way to start tracking your habits is to use the templates provided in the Habit Journal. It will make the whole process a breeze.

Habit Substitution

In many cases, it is helpful to replace the bad habit with a good habit.

I significantly cut back on beer consumption. Used flavored sparkling water to replace and asked the wife to stop having beer in the fridge for a while. Once I replaced the habit (was mostly stress drinking after work), I was able to add beer back into my life.

– Mark, Twitter

I was addicted to drugs and alcohol. To beat my addiction, I started working out. Now I am planning to compete in powerlifting meets.

– Suraj, Twitter

I replaced drinking beer every day in a succession of replacements, going through fruit juice, then iced tea, then seltzer water. I did it over about nine months by having one less drink a week. Once I finally quit, I got past the cravings in only two weeks. I haven’t had a drink in over a year now.

– Marc, Facebook

I decided to quit smoking and used fun-sized Snickers candy as a substitute until the major cravings went away. Still smoke-free years later.

– Shawn, Facebook

“I stopped biting my fingernails mostly by making sure clippers were always close at hand – especially at work.”

– Anonymous, Twitter

Make it easy

“I've done a simple workout every day for over half a year now. I managed to stick to it by changing the scope: when I don't have time for a full set or don't feel like it, instead of skipping altogether, I do an abbreviated session. I also mark it in my calendar according to Seinfeld.”

– Günter, Twitter

Reframe your mindset

“I quit smoking by saying a mantra out loud every time I wanted a cigarette (“your brain tricks you”) which I think changed my thinking from the subconscious part of my brain to the logical part.”

– Anonymous, Twitter

“I quit smoking by assigning my cheat days progressively farther in the future. I never quit “for good,” I only quit until my next cheat day. This helped with cravings, because the choice wasn’t between “right now” or “never,” it was “right now” or “later.”

– Caelan, Twitter

“I started small with quitting bad habits (eating McDonalds all the time and drinking soda). I told myself I’d take a week off, then said two weeks. That continued until I made it four years this month without McDonalds and 15 months without soda.”

– Ken, Twitter