Atomic Habits
Atomic Habits by James Clearby James Clear
Hacker ApprovedRanked 2 of 22 self-help books by recommenders
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.
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.
22 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 20
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 91%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 20 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 10 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Practical tools for changing habits
“Changing the things in your environment is an important tool to break bad habits. The book "Atomic Habits" talks about this at length.”
Comment from 26 Mar 2026 in “Landmark L.A. jury verdict finds Instagram, YouTube were designed to addict kids” “consider reading and adapting a methodology for change like those presented in the books Tiny Habits or Atomic Habits”
Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “Ask HN: How to Be Alone?” “read atomic habits for tools on how to change habits”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: What changed in your life when you started meditating (and how)?” Life-changing, frequently referenced personal impact
“I also found this very helpful and refer to it on a regular basis”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: Ive quit six systems for tracking my illness. What works?” “It didn't hurt that the first book I read was Atomic Habits!”
Comment from 9 Apr 2026 in “Netflix Prices Went Up Again – I Bought a DVD Player Instead” “honestly that book changed my life”
Comment from 7 Dec 2025 in “Vanity activities” - Comment from 21 Aug 2026 in “Any Good Books to Read”
Highly regarded on habit change
“The best book I've read on this topic is Atomic Habits by James Clear.”
Comment from 10 Jan 2026 in “Exercise can be nearly as effective as therapy for depression” “"atomic habits" really good”
Comment from 21 Aug 2026 in “Any Good Books to Read” Useful on identity and goal drivers
“one of the early ideas that get introduced is that identity can play a big part”
Comment from 4 Jan 2026 in “I changed my personality in six weeks” “really helped me think about goal setting and what the underlying driver was”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Has AI already killed self-help nonfiction books?”
Other self-help books people recommend
The four most recommended other self-help books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| How to Win Friends and Influence Peopleby Dale Carnegie | 67 | 25 | 73% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Atomic Habitsby James ClearThis page | 20 | 2 | 91% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Easy Way to Stop Smokingby Allen Carr | 9 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| Feeling Goodby David D. Burns | 8 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | — |
| The Art of Money Gettingby P. T. Barnum and John Woods | 8 | 6 | 57% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
21 of the 22 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Books which can help you: Atomic Habits, How to win friends and influence people, How to measure your life, Deep work.”
“I think I am using some ideas from there”
“"atomic habits" really good”
“I also found this very helpful and refer to it on a regular basis”
“read atomic habits for tools on how to change habits”
“It worked out nicely, I've read a bunch of books over the last year or so”
“really helped me think about goal setting and what the underlying driver was”
“It presumes a lot about how exactly habits are actually internalized”
“It didn't hurt that the first book I read was Atomic Habits!”
“Changing the things in your environment is an important tool to break bad habits. The book "Atomic Habits" talks about this at length.”
“consider reading and adapting a methodology for change like those presented in the books Tiny Habits or Atomic Habits”
“I have learnt a ton of lessons from self help books like the one I mentioned above, Arete, "how to make friends and influence people", Atomic Habits and others”
“a great book for little things like this that make a big difference when compounded with time”
“non really worked, to the point that I’ve accepted that it’s part of my character.”
“The best book I've read on this topic is Atomic Habits by James Clear.”
“one of the early ideas that get introduced is that identity can play a big part”
“This reminded me of James Clear’s: do one pushup.”
“I read Clear's book, though, and like it. Neither book has new ideas, but they both present old ideas in useful ways.”
“The visuals were much better than I anticipated and went with the book content really well.”
“Atomic Habits came close.”
“honestly that book changed my life”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.