Upāsaka

Building good habits and breaking bad ones is a must while practicing Buddhism. James Clear wrote a book on what he calls “atomic habits”, where he shows how the largest changes result from the smallest habits. For example, to become well-read, it might seem daunting that one must read so many books on so many different topics. If you read zero books today, it might seem impossible. However, forming the smallest possible reading habit, such as reading a chapter of a book each night, has unexpected results. One chapter might not seem like much, but in a year or two from now you'll be surprised at the number of books that you've read and the wisdom that you've gained.

There are a few areas of practice where atomic habits can help one follow a Buddhist way of life.

Meditation

One of the most common and most important forms of practice is meditation. Ajahn Chah is a well-known teacher of the Thai Forest Tradition, and he placed special emphasis on the meditation practice. People consider him to be a meditation master. That title—master—might seem out of reach for a lay person, but Ajahn Chah did not become a meditation master in one night. It took countless years of practice, and not surprisingly, breaking down those years into months, and months into days, and days into minutes, you arrive at a small habit that compounded over time into being a role model for so many people.

The atomic habit of meditation could be five minutes per day for a beginner, or thirty for an advanced meditator. A handful of minutes per day might not seem like much, and it's certainly no meditation retreat, but the small practice compounds over the course of a year into a mind that sees reality more clearly than before.

Mettā

Mettā is like benevolence. It's a disposition to do good and be kind towards others. Again, acting in this way all the time and towards everyone is an admirable goal, but it's unlikely to happen overnight. It can, however, be broken down into atomic habits that will eventually help realize this goal. For instance, one might choose a single person and determine to think of that person and interact with them keeping mettā in mind. After feeling comfortable with one person, the feeling of mettā can be allowed to expand to another person, and so on.

Sutta Study

There is no doubt of the benefit of studying the suttas, the original words of the Buddha, as they can help one understand the teachings from the perspective of those who wrote the texts. This new perspective allows one to apply the teachings more thoroughly and in a wider variety of situations that present themselves in daily life. Given that the Tipitaka is so large, it's another chance to develop atomic habits. You might read and analyze one sutta each week. Not hard at all, but at the end of a year you will have a deep understanding of fifty-two suttas, which is probably a lot more than you have right now.

Conclusion

Creating habits for meditation, mettā practice, and sutta study can be as easy as dedicating a few minutes each day, but the results feel significant over the course of time. The key is to form the smallest possible habit that makes sense in the context of the activity and stick to it—that's the whole point of making the habit atomic. It's supposed to be so small and so easy to do that it no longer feels out of reach.