Book Club Week 1

In his sophomore year of high school, Mr. Clear was accidentally struck in the head with a baseball bat. This injury led to many seizures, visual problems, and physical impairments. He attended rehab for months to regain back his basic motor functions. During this time, he began to feel depressed, feeling as though he had lost a part of his identity. Months after his accident he was back on the field but was getting very little play time. However, he was determined to play baseball in college. As a freshman at Denison University he had made it on the baseball team, again with very little play time. He used his extra time to build small habits to help him in other aspects in life that he could control. He would keep his dorm room clean by establishing good cleaning habits and got good grades by maintaining good study habits. Eventually his habits included lifting weights weekly which helped him bulk up. By this time, it was his sophomore year of college and he began pitching for his team more consistently. By his junior year he became captain, and by his senior year he was selected as his university’s top male athlete and was presented the President’s Medal, in honor of his academic achievements. He credited his achievements to the small, seemingly insignificant habits he had built over the years. After graduating, Mr. Clear had gone on to publish articles, within years he slowly gained a larger following. He states that he never saw himself as much of a writer but by publishing biweekly, he got better each time. In 2016 he was published by notable magazines such as Forbes and Times, this reached millions. Eventually leading to the Atomic Habits book deal signing.

As a future recreation therapist, I feel overjoyed by the optimistic view that Mr. Clear had regardless of his setbacks at the time of his accident. After people get injured or diagnosed with a disability they may become depressed and feel like all of their hopes and dreams are over or put on pause. It is normal to feel this way initially after dealing with a traumatic event. Mr. Clear even said he dealt with his fair share of depression after his injury. What makes his story stand out was his ability to see beyond his limitations and use his strengths and interests to build his future back up again and even find new paths in life. By creating small habits, he was able to succeed both in his academic life and his student athlete life. Mr. Clear even began pursuing a life as a writer, something he never considered himself good at but he was consistent in his craft. He wrote biweekly for years and improved his writing skills which ultimately led to his success as a published author. He did not let this set back stop him from reaching success in his life, and I think many people can learn from Mr. Clear and be inspired by what he created for himself after his injury.

When Mr. Clear states “You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems” he is saying that our habits need to change if we want to reach our goals. You cannot expect to see results if you are using a failing system (bad habits). It is important that we create good habits in order to reach our goals. For example, when you are trying to lose weight you will probably not maintain your exact diet, therefore you need to create better eating habits. If you continue to eat poorly you are participating in an unsuccessful system which will eventually lead to your failure in reaching your goal. This goes for any goal that you want to achieve, you must create good habits to see results and ultimately reach your end goal.

RUBRIC:

Reference:

Clear, James. (2018). Atomic Habits: An easy & proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. New York, NY: Penguin Random House LLC.