James Clear

James Clear is an author and speaker focused on habits, decision-making, and continuous improvement. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Entrepreneur, Time, and on CBS This Morning.

His website receives millions of visitors each month and hundreds of thousands subscribe to his popular email newsletter at jamesclear.com. He is a regular speaker at Fortune 500 companies and his work is used by teams in the NFL, NBA, and MLB. Through his online course, The Habits Academy, Clear has taught more than 10,000 leaders, managers, coaches, and teachers. The Habits Academy is the premier training platform for individuals and organizations that are interested in building better habits in life and work.

“My writing is focused on how we can create better habits, make better decisions, and live better lives. I combine ideas from a wide range of disciplines including biology, neuroscience, psychology, philosophy, and more,” his website reads.

Clear was born and raised in Hamilton, Ohio before graduating from Denison in 2008. His major, biomechanics, was individually designed. Outside of class, Clear spent time at the baseball field and played on the team all four years.

Perhaps it was his ambitious drive, evident in his individualized major and commitment to his team that gave him the tools for an entrepreneurial career. After graduating in biomechanics, Clear focused on writing about creating a better lifestyle for all. “It would have been hard for me a few years ago, but I have had to read a lot in order to write weekly articles for last 5 or 6 years. As a result, I have a pretty solid backlog of reading and research material,” said Clear.

“I’ve been an entrepreneur for 8 years now and I’ve had two particularly tough periods. One of them was during the first two years, which were very hard,” said Clear. “I didn’t know what I was doing. I didn’t know how to make money. I didn’t have any entrepreneurs in my family to talk to. It took me at least 18 months to make enough to pay my bills, and I lived at home with my parents for part of that time. I took on a variety of side gigs during the first year, mostly building websites for small businesses, just to make a little money every now and then.