Turning Pages, Shaping Perspectives: My Literary Voyage in 2024 - Judgement of the Nephilim & Atomic Habits

I’m taking a break from politics today and sharing with you a few of the books I’ve read over the past month - I hope you enjoy!

At the end of January, I wrote a blog about the books I was reading and the books I planned to read in the coming year.

In February, I finished two of the books I was reading: "Atomic Habits" by James Clear and "Judgement of the Nephilim" by Ryan Pitterson. In this post, I plan to focus primarily on "Atomic Habits."

However, I did want to give you a brief summary of "Judgement of the Nephilim."

Judgement of the Nephilim

If biblical history fascinates you, especially the Genesis 6 story concerning Satan's rebellion and the descent of the fallen angels, this book is for you.

This book explores Genesis 6 in a refreshingly unorthodox way, far removed from anything I ever learned in Sunday school at the Independent Baptist Church I grew up attending.

It dives deep into the saga of the Nephilim—the formidable half-human, half-angelic beings—and covers Satan's and the fallen angels' insurrection and how they intended to thwart the Messiah's birth, revealing new insights into this ancient conflict.

This book was a fascinating read and will provide you with a new perspective on how you view biblical events. I plan to do a much more in-depth review on this book later.

Atomic Habits

At the beginning of 2022, I dove full-time into my business. It was my first year as a fully self-employed person.

As the year progressed, I took note of areas that needed improvement and what I wanted to achieve.

Setting goals was easy, but establishing a process to accomplish them wasn’t.

Towards the end of last year, I resolved to read more and actually implement what I read. Oftentimes, we read a book, reflect on the lessons learned, and put it back on the shelf.

This time, I wanted to implement the things I learned, and one way I can do that is by telling you what I’ve learned and what systems I’ve implemented in my life to help me achieve my goals.

Over the coming weeks, I will write recaps of each part and chapter of "Atomic Habits." So, without further hesitation and unnecessary filler words, here are my thoughts on "Atomic Habits."

This book is broken down into six parts:

1. The Fundamentals: Why Tiny Changes Make a Big Difference

2. The 1st Law: Make it Obvious

3. The 2nd Law: Make it Attractive

4. The 3rd Law: Make it Easy

5. The 4th Law: Make it Satisfying

6. Advanced Tactics: How to Go From Being Merely Good to Being Truly Great

The Fundamentals: Why Tiny Changes Make a Big Difference

James Clear starts this book with a deeply personal and traumatic event that happened to him during his sophomore year in high school.

To summarize his introduction, he was playing baseball with his friends when he suffered a serious injury.

A bat flew out of his friend’s hand after taking a full swing and crushed his face: a broken nose, multiple skull fractures, and two shattered eye sockets.

He was taken to one hospital and then airlifted to another.

Spoiler Alert: James survived and went on to write this book. I know you were wondering.

Chapter 1 is all about the power of atomic habits.

James talks about something I had never really considered before: getting 1% better every single day.

Nobody is an “overnight sensation” like the world would have you believe.

Their success is a result of continually getting better, little by little, day by day.

Success is the product of daily habits — not once-in-a-lifetime transformations.

- Atomic Habits

Small improvements in your daily life will have a significant impact on your life. The math doesn’t lie.

From the book:

Here’s how the math works out: if you can get 1 percent better each day for a year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done. Conversely, if you get 1 percent worse each day for one year, you’ll decline nearly down to zero.

This approach might seem dumb at first, but think about it. How many times have you tried to go from 1 to 100 and failed?

How I’ve Implemented This Philosophy

Late last year, I got on the scale, and it, in no uncertain terms, told me I weighed 230 pounds.

I then had some routine bloodwork done, and the doctor told me, “Everything looks okay, but you really need to lose some weight.”

Okay, got it. Lose weight. I’ve been telling myself that for the past two years…and it hasn’t happened.

During this time period, I was reading "Atomic Habits." I conceptualized that I needed to get 1% better every day, but I hadn’t really implemented it.

So, I decided I was going to make a change. I started doing one pushup, a couple of situps, and walking the dog a little bit more each day.

I didn’t go from 1 - 100.

I went from 1 to 2, 2 to 4, 4 to 7. Gradually improving every day.

Soon, I was doing more pushups each day, walking a few miles a day, reading more books, and taking the initiative to get one percent better every day.

Humble brag: I’ve gone from 230 pounds to 213. I still have a long way to go until I hit 190, but with the processes I’ve implemented, attaining that goal is more in reach now than it ever was before.

Gradual success and small wins day after day compound into bigger success over time.

Many people don’t want to admit that in this Amazon Prime, next-day delivery world we live in, but it’s the truth.

To remind me of this principle, I took out a sticky note and wrote on a permanent marker: Get 1% Better Every Day.

That’s my takeaway from Chapter 1. Stay tuned for my thoughts on chapter two next week.

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Chapter 1 Chapter Summary

• Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. Getting 1 percent better every day counts for a lot in the long run.

• Habits are a double-edged sword. They can work for you or against you, which is why understanding the details is essential.

• Small changes often appear to make no difference until you cross a critical threshold. The most powerful outcomes of any compounding process are delayed. You need to be patient.

• An atomic habit is a little habit that is part of a larger system. Just as atoms are the building blocks of molecules, atomic habits are the building blocks of remarkable results.

• If you want better results, then forget about setting goals and focus on your system instead.

• You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.