# Atomic Habits by James Clear

20 Hacker News commenters recommended Atomic Habits by James Clear and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 11 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a practical guide to changing habits, with ideas that have changed some readers' lives. Critics say it assumes too much about how habits get internalized.

## Why people recommend it

- Practical tools for changing habits (3 comments): "Changing the things in your environment is an important tool to break bad habits. The book "Atomic Habits" talks about this at length." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47534229)) "consider reading and adapting a methodology for change like those presented in the books Tiny Habits or Atomic Habits" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47309351)) "read atomic habits for tools on how to change habits" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49014596))
- Life-changing, frequently referenced personal impact (4 comments): "I also found this very helpful and refer to it on a regular basis" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49349477)) "It didn't hurt that the first book I read was Atomic Habits!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47709607)) "honestly that book changed my life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46184064))
- Highly regarded on habit change (2 comments): "The best book I've read on this topic is Atomic Habits by James Clear." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46563543)) ""atomic habits" really good" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49386011))
- Useful on identity and goal drivers (2 comments): "one of the early ideas that get introduced is that identity can play a big part" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46493471)) "really helped me think about goal setting and what the underlying driver was" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48564804))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie](https://hackerapproved.com/p/how-to-win-friends-and-influence-people.md): 67 recommend
- [The Easy Way to Stop Smoking by Allen Carr](https://hackerapproved.com/p/easy-way-to-stop-smoking.md): 9 recommend
- [Feeling Good by David Burns](https://hackerapproved.com/p/feeling-good.md): 8 recommend
- [The Art of Money Getting by P.T. Barnum](https://hackerapproved.com/p/art-of-money-getting.md): 8 recommend
- [The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle](https://hackerapproved.com/p/power-of-now.md): 7 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/1847941842?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9781847941848) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Atomic Habits by James Clear", https://hackerapproved.com/p/atomic-habits/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).