I think we can all agree on one thing now: the self-help world is a circus.
Every month, there’s a new book promising to change your life, fix your broken willpower, and turn you into a morning person who meditates at 5 AM and runs ultra-marathons on weekends.
Most of them recycle the same old advice, slap on a fresh cover, and leave you feeling like maybe you’re just not “motivated enough.”
But if you’ve dipped your toes into the world of habit-building, two names keep popping up like persistent Spotify ads: Atomic Habits by James Clear and Tiny Habits by BJ Fogg.
Both promise to crack the code on how to build good habits, break bad ones, and become the person you secretly wish you were — without turning your life upside down.
Here’s the thing though: while they might seem like they’re preaching from the same self-improvement gospel, these two books are playing different games.
One’s about optimization and identity shifts, the other’s about starting laughably small and hacking your environment when your motivation is in the gutter.
I’ve read both. I’ve tested their ideas in the wild — in my messy, unpredictable, sometimes glorious, sometimes wild life.
And what I’m about to give you is the kind of brutally honest comparison I wish someone handed me before I wasted time trying to decide which one to pick up.
So if you’re standing in the self-help aisle (literally or metaphorically) trying to figure out which book is your golden ticket to not sucking at habits, this post’s for you.
My bet is, you’ll probably end up reading both — and that’s not a bad thing.
Now, let’s get into it.