James Clear

James Clear is an American writer. He is best known for his 2018 self-help book ''Atomic Habits.''

Early life and education

Raised in Hamilton, Ohio, Clear received his degree in biomechanics from Denison University in 2008, where he was the captain of the baseball team. During his time at university he took part at the St. Gallen Symposium twice and won the Global Essay Competition in his second year attending.

''Atomic Habits''

Building on exchanges he had with readers of his e-mail list, in 2018 Clear published his book Atomic Habits on how to build tiny, frequent habits that have a large beneficial and cumulative effect on one's life. According to the intro of his book, he had to build such habits when rehabilitating from a severe cranial injury that he suffered when playing baseball.
In his book, he also argues against formulating goals and plans as a large majority of people do not have trouble designing them, but following them in everyday life. This is reminiscent of the implementation intentions that emerged in the research activities of German psychologist Peter Gollwitzer.