Guest: James Clear

[ENCORE] Small Steps, Big Change: Waking Up To The Hidden Power of Our Habits with James Clear

Sometimes a wake up call doesn’t arrive as a crisis. Sometimes it arrives as a quiet realization: the way I’m living isn’t actually working.

In this encore episode, we revisit a powerful conversation with James Clear, bestselling author of Atomic Habits, whose work has helped millions rethink how real, lasting change actually happens. Not through willpower, reinvention, or overnight transformation—but through the small, often invisible choices we make every day.

This conversation is a wake up call to the myth of “someday”, a wake up call to waiting for motivation before we act, and a wake up call to the belief that big change requires big drama.

James breaks down why habits are less about self-discipline and more about identity, environment, and systems—and how the patterns we repeat, often unconsciously, are shaping our lives for better or worse. Together, we explore how paying attention to what we practice daily can wake us up to the lives we’re actually building.

If you’re standing at the edge of change—feeling stuck in patterns you can’t seem to break, exhausted by self-improvement cycles, or longing for a more sustainable way forward—this episode offers a grounded, hopeful reset.

Let this be your wake up call to begin again, not perfectly, not dramatically, but honestly, intentionally, and one doable step at a time.

Embracing Small Habits To Impact Who You Want to Become ft. James Clear

Hey everybody, Jen Hatmaker here, host of the For the Love Podcast. Welcome to the show.We’ve got a powerhouse in today’s episode. So right now, we are deep in our Embracing Change series. The whole team was, like, really excited about this series, especially when we got this guy to say “yes” that he would come on the show. This is an author and a speaker. He’s done deep, deep, deep work and far reaching work about how we can create a life that literally sets us up well to face change, not not only just to embrace changes we didn’t see coming, but really to get out in front of it. To be the ones who are creating change that has like a major, meaningful impact on the whole rest of our lives. His book is probably one of the most, if not the most popularly recommended books in the last several years for people who want to make meaningful change. People who want to cultivate habits that they feel proud of, that moves them toward being the person they want to be, to free themselves from everything that is holding them back. So, of course, I am talking about “Atomic Habits,” an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones. And so obviously we’ve got the one and only James Clear on this show today. 

The thing is sometimes everything around change feels hard, right? It seems hard. And we don’t know where to start, or we don’t know what to do, or we have false started before, or the thing that we are aiming for feels too far away. And so  I get all that. Those are all my hang ups, all the reasons for me to like off ramp off any like meaningful moment of change in my own life. So I am personally enraptured with people who can break down a concept and serve it back to us in a different, non overwhelming way. Do you know what I mean? One thing I’ve said before about myself that I know about myself, I have a tendency toward overwhelm, particularly when an idea is front loaded to me. Like here’s this big idea and then it’s just too big. And, I am easily overwhelmed. So “Atomic Habits” has been an absolute game changer for so many people. Millions and millions and millions of people. Finally, sort of building the life that they want through teeny tiny changes. In fact, the book announces on the cover, tiny changes, remarkable results. And it really is that simple. 

I talked to James today…Well, you’re just going to have to listen in, but I’m like, “first of all, James, you and I are starting with beef.” And so I brought to him my grievances, the airing of the grievances. And so you’ll hear that right out of the gate. But also, you’re going to be just excited to hear from him, like he is just vibrant. This material is imprinted on his DNA at this point, and he still speaks of it in such, like, vivacious and vibrant and fresh ways. In fact, we’re at the very end of the thing. And I’m wrapping up the interview and he’s like, wait, I have something else I want to say. I’m like, bro, bring it. That’s why you’re here. Like, what else do you want to say? We want to hear it. So I think you’re going to love this conversation.