Tina Fordham
Author, Mad World | Founder, Fordham Global Foresight | Wall Street's First Chief Global Political Analyst | Geopolitics & PQ Expert
James Clear
#1 NYT Bestselling Author, Atomic Habits | 25+ Million Copies Sold | Habits & Behavior Change Expert | Founder, Habits Academy
James Clear wrote the book on habits — literally. Atomic Habits has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide, spent 300 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, and become the definitive guide to behavior change for individuals and organizations alike. His keynotes give audiences a practical, science-backed system for getting 1% better every day — and compounding those gains into results that last.
Want to book James Clear as a speaker for your event? Please provide the info below and we’ll get in touch within 24h:
James Clear biography
James Clear is the author of one of the most widely read books of the past decade and the world’s leading authority on the science of habit formation. Born in Hamilton, Ohio, he attended Denison University on a baseball scholarship before a serious injury — struck in the face by a baseball bat during a teammate’s warm-up swing — left him with a fractured skull, broken nose, and damaged eye sockets, requiring emergency surgery and months of recovery. That experience of rebuilding himself physically, academically, and mentally became the foundation for everything that followed: a sustained inquiry into the mechanisms of behavior change, identity formation, and the compounding power of small decisions made consistently over time.
Bestselling author speaker James Clear published Atomic Habits in 2018. The book spent more than 300 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, was the number one bestselling book on Amazon in both 2021 and 2023, reached number one on the audiobook charts on Audible, has been translated into more than 60 languages, and has sold more than 25 million copies worldwide — making it one of the bestselling nonfiction books of the century so far. The core argument is deceptively simple: outcomes are not the product of goals, but of systems, and systems are built through habits so small they seem almost trivial in the moment. The book gives readers a four-step framework — cue, craving, response, reward — drawn from biology, psychology, and neuroscience, and translates it into a set of practical strategies that organizations and individuals have used to improve performance across virtually every domain. In December 2025, Clear published The Atomic Habits Workbook, the official companion volume, giving readers guided exercises and journal prompts to move from understanding the framework to living it.
The 3-2-1 Newsletter and the Habits Academy
Clear’s influence extends well beyond book sales. His weekly “3-2-1” newsletter — three ideas from him, two quotes from others, one question to consider — is sent to more than four million subscribers every week, making it one of the most widely read personal development newsletters in the world. He founded the Habits Academy, through which more than 10,000 leaders, managers, coaches, and educators have been trained in the application of habit science. He is a MasterClass instructor, featured alongside figures including Serena Williams, Neil Gaiman, and Gordon Ramsay. His work has been featured in Time, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and on CBS This Morning, and he is a regular keynote speaker at Fortune 500 companies including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, JP Morgan Chase, Pfizer, and Procter & Gamble. He donates five percent of his income to the Against Malaria Foundation.
As a speaker, James Clear delivers something that most personal development keynotes promise but rarely achieve: a talk that is simultaneously intellectually rigorous, practically actionable, and genuinely entertaining. His presentations combine personal storytelling, academic research, and the kind of hard-earned experiential wisdom that comes from being a practitioner of the ideas he teaches, not just a reporter of them. Audiences leave not with inspiration that fades by Monday morning, but with a concrete system they can implement that day — and that compounds over weeks, months, and years into meaningful change.
James Clear Speaking Videos
James Clear - How To Build Awesome Habits
James Clear on Getting 1% Better Daily With Stoicism
James Clear Keynote Topics
The signature keynote, drawn directly from the ideas in Atomic Habits. Clear walks audiences through the science of how habits work, why goals are less useful than systems, and how the four laws of behavior change — make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, make it satisfying — can be applied to build any good habit and eliminate any bad one. The talk is structured around the 1% improvement framework, with practical strategies audiences can implement that same day. One-part academic research, one-part personal storytelling, and one-part live experiment, this keynote is consistently rated as one of the most immediately applicable talks audiences have ever attended.
Most people try to change their behavior by focusing on outcomes — lose twenty pounds, close more deals, exercise every morning. Clear argues this approach is backwards. The most durable behavior change happens at the level of identity: when you shift from "I want to run" to "I am a runner," every habit that follows reinforces who you believe yourself to be. In this talk, Clear explores the relationship between identity and behavior, how small actions function as votes for the person you are becoming, and what individuals and organizations can do to build the kind of self-image that makes good habits feel natural rather than effortful.
Designed for leadership and organizational audiences, this keynote translates the principles of habit science into a framework for building high-performance cultures. Clear draws on the British Cycling team's "aggregation of marginal gains" strategy, research from behavioral science, and examples from Fortune 500 companies to show how organizations that focus on systems rather than goals — and on small process improvements rather than large transformational initiatives — consistently outperform those that take the opposite approach. This talk gives leaders a practical toolkit for embedding continuous improvement into the daily habits of their teams.
Beyond habits, Clear has spent years studying how the best decision-makers in the world think: what mental models they use, how they structure choices, and what cognitive habits allow them to consistently produce better outcomes than their peers. This keynote draws on his research and writing on decision-making — including material from his newsletter and ongoing study of psychology, economics, and neuroscience — to give senior audiences a set of frameworks for improving the quality of their thinking on a daily basis. Practical, evidence-based, and immediately applicable, this talk complements the habits keynote for organizations that want to address both behavior and cognition.
Speaker topics
FAQs on Booking James Clear
Why James Clear?
Booking James Clear means bringing to your event the most widely read author on behavior change in the world — someone whose book has sold more than 25 million copies, whose weekly newsletter reaches four million subscribers, and whose ideas have been adopted by leading organizations across every industry from finance and technology to healthcare, professional sports, and education. He is not a motivational speaker who charges audiences up and sends them home with a feeling. He is a systems thinker who gives them a framework, backed by decades of research in biology, psychology, and neuroscience, that they can apply immediately and sustain indefinitely. His keynotes are consistently rated among the highest of any speaker at Fortune 500 events, and the feedback that recurs most often is that attendees changed specific behaviors as a direct result of his talk. For any organization seeking measurable impact from its speaker investment, James Clear is among the most reliable choices in the market. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau to check availability.
What is the core idea behind Atomic Habits?
The central argument of Atomic Habits is that lasting change does not come from dramatic transformation but from the compound effect of small improvements made consistently. Clear introduces a 1% framework: getting 1% better every day does not feel significant in the moment, but over the course of a year it compounds to roughly 37 times better. The book presents a four-step habit loop — cue, craving, response, reward — and builds from it a set of practical laws for behavior change: make good habits obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying; make bad habits invisible, unattractive, difficult, and unsatisfying. Crucially, Clear argues that the most powerful driver of long-term habit formation is identity: rather than focusing on what you want to achieve, focus on who you want to become, and let your habits serve as votes for that identity. The book has been adopted by professional sports teams, Fortune 500 companies, military units, and school systems around the world.
What is The Atomic Habits Workbook?
The Atomic Habits Workbook, published in December 2025 by Avery/Penguin Random House, is the official companion volume to Atomic Habits. Where the original book explains the science and framework of habit formation, the workbook is designed to help readers put those principles into practice through guided exercises, journal prompts, and step-by-step templates. It is structured to take the reader from understanding the framework to building and sustaining specific habits in their own life, bridging the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. The workbook is particularly well-suited for team and organizational use, as a tool for leaders who want to build habit-formation practices across their groups.
What topics does speaker James Clear cover?
Clear speaks on habit formation and the science of behavior change, building systems for continuous improvement, decision-making and mental models, identity and how self-image drives performance, designing environments that make good habits inevitable, and the application of habit science to organizational culture and team performance. His keynotes are particularly well-suited for leadership conferences, sales and performance events, healthcare and wellness organizations, HR and people-development forums, and any organization seeking to build a culture of continuous improvement. Contact Aurum Speakers Bureau for program options and availability.
How to book James Clear as a keynote speaker?
Aurum Speakers Bureau can help you book James Clear as a speaker for your next event, conference, or board meeting. Simply fill out our contact form to inquire about James Clear's availability for a speaking engagement. One of our booking agents will respond to your request immediately and contact the speaker to let them know you want to hire them. We will assist you with obtaining speaking fees, booking information, and confirming availability for James Clear or any other top keynote speaker or celebrity of your choice.
How much is James Clear speaking fee?
James Clear speaking fees are determined by several factors, including the event's date, whether it's a virtual or in-person event, the duration, format, preparation required for their speech, and more. The same applies to the cost to hire any other top expert speakers and celebrities. The Speaker Fee Range listed on our website is simply a guideline and is subject to change without notice. If you would like to hire James Clear to deliver a keynote speech for your event, please fill out the contact form or email us at info@aurumbureau.com with as much detail as possible. One of our experienced agents will get in touch with you and let you know exactly how much it will cost to book James Clear.
How can I contact James Clear?
We only work with James Clear on paid speaking engagements. Aurum Speakers Bureau can assist you in booking James Clear and will handle all negotiations, contracts, and logistics associated with having James Clear speak at your event. We will be your sole point of contact throughout the process. Get in touch with Aurum Speakers Bureau today, and we will reach out to any motivational speaker or celebrity you want to enquire about speaking at your event. If you wish to contact James Clear for any other reason, we will be unable to assist you as we are not authorized to provide personal contact information.
Can I book James Clear for a virtual keynote?
Yes, James Clear is available for virtual keynotes and webinars. To book James Clear for a virtual event, please complete the contact form or send us an email to inquire about the special fees for virtual engagements.
