Charles Duhigg: Power of Habit (2013, Penguin Random House)
400 pages
English language
Published Dec. 15, 2013 by Penguin Random House.
A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed. Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern -- and with a slight shift in advertising, Febreze goes on to earn a billion dollars a year. An untested CEO takes over one of the largest companies in America. His first order of business is attacking a single pattern among his employees -- how they approach worker safety -- and soon the firm, Alcoa, becomes the top performer …
A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has transformed almost every aspect of her life. She has quit smoking, run a marathon, and been promoted at work. The patterns inside her brain, neurologists discover, have fundamentally changed. Marketers at Procter & Gamble study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, on track to be one of the biggest flops in company history. Suddenly, one of them detects a nearly imperceptible pattern -- and with a slight shift in advertising, Febreze goes on to earn a billion dollars a year. An untested CEO takes over one of the largest companies in America. His first order of business is attacking a single pattern among his employees -- how they approach worker safety -- and soon the firm, Alcoa, becomes the top performer in the Dow Jones. What do all these people have in common? They achieved success by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of our lives. They succeeded by transforming habits. In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation. Along the way we learn why some people and companies struggle to change, despite years of trying, while others seem to remake themselves overnight. We visit laboratories where neuroscientists explore how habits work and where, exactly, they reside in our brains. We discover how the right habits were crucial to the success of Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps, Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, and civil-rights hero Martin Luther King, Jr. We go inside Procter & Gamble, Target superstores, Rick Warrens Saddleback Church, NFL locker rooms, and the nations largest hospitals and see how implementing so-called keystone habits can earn billions and mean the difference between failure and success, life and death. At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. Habits arent destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives. - Publisher.
This book provides a good introduction into the psychology of habits. Many entertaining case studies throughout the book explain how habits form. Great the author included reference to scientific journals at end of book.
While reading this book, I sat down and really spent time working on myself.
There is no quick fix, you have to put the work in and The Power of Habit helps you get on that track.
Super boring and mostly about like, how target and other corporations exploit us using our habits and not in a critical way. I don't care teach me how to not drink 4 cups of coffee a day god that's all I want
Habits are something that permeates our lives, and learning how they work and how to change them can make an enormous difference. A lot of what we do in our daily lives can be broken down into habits, and if you know how to change it, you can exchange harmful patterns to healthy ones. That's why this book had so much potential in my eyes.
It delivered in many aspects, as I did learn quite a bit about habits and how they are formed, which is, in the end, what the book proposes to do, but it was also lacking in others: some chapters felt dragged, and some stories were entertaining to read but didn't add much to the point being made.
The biggest problem I had with this book was that it felt purposeful too long. The anecdotes and researches were fun to read, but often one would suffice …
Habits are something that permeates our lives, and learning how they work and how to change them can make an enormous difference. A lot of what we do in our daily lives can be broken down into habits, and if you know how to change it, you can exchange harmful patterns to healthy ones. That's why this book had so much potential in my eyes.
It delivered in many aspects, as I did learn quite a bit about habits and how they are formed, which is, in the end, what the book proposes to do, but it was also lacking in others: some chapters felt dragged, and some stories were entertaining to read but didn't add much to the point being made.
The biggest problem I had with this book was that it felt purposeful too long. The anecdotes and researches were fun to read, but often one would suffice to illustrate a point and, instead of moving on, another anecdote would start to be told. And so on and on and on.
It seemed like, as the book went on, less and less from each chapter would be interesting. Everything after chapter four seemed more about reinforcing the points made in earlier chapters or simply showcasing more anecdotes and stories of habit change. As I read on, I found myself skimming more and more, just kind of eager to get to the end.
While the book did deliver in telling how to change a habit, forming a new one from scratch was left a bit on the wayside.
However, the writing was entertaining - the anecdotes were told very well, the talk about researches was actually fun to read, and the book has an easy and fluid language that even laypeople will understand. It's easy to follow the argument along, even with the constant interruptions of one story to tell the other.
The anecdotes chosen were pertinent to the point being made and helped illustrate well what was being talked about. It was easy to understand what the author was saying, and also how to apply that to your own life. The first part, where habits are explained, was the best part of the book, with the chapter on keystones habits on the second part following close behind.
The appendix on how to use the ideas explained was great and helpful - more than the rest, I'd say, but at the same time, reading the whole book is essential to really understand what is in the appendix, unless you're already familiar with habits and their mechanisms.
All in all, I found this book to be helpful. It's not a magical formula, and should never be seen as such, but it can offer some insight on how to make changing habits a bit easier - or at least, doable. Still, if you're interested in understanding how habits work, and how you can tweak them to your advantage if you have the strength and will to put in the task, this is definitely an entertaining and worthwhile read.
Blog Review
“Willpower isn’t just a skill. It’s a muscle, like the muscles in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things.”
مطالعه این کتاب یکی از نقاط عطف زندگی من بود، بعد از درک عمیقی که این کتاب نسبت با مفهوم عادت بهم داد خیلی تغییرات زیادی توی زندگیم اتفاق افتاد.
بعد از مطالعهاش شروع کردم به تحلیل کردن عادتهایی که داشتم در حال و گذشته، و نتایجش عجیب بود، اینکه اکثر عادتها به خاطر یک پاداش بخصوص شکل گرفته بود منجر به یک خودشناسی خیلی ظریف شد.
Really interesting book and definitely worth reading, but a lot more long winded than it needed to be.
A good introduction to the subject of habitual behavior and how we can go about changing it.
An insightful book into the unknown psychology of our everyday actions. Duhiggs’ book empowers the reader with knowledge about how habits work through detailed descriptions of the cues, cravings, and sensations that motivate us to do what we do.
What I personally learnt from this book is that, to change/create a habit it is important to isolate the cue (the initial instigator), habit (what you want to change/ trying to do), and reward (why you are having that habit, what you are craving/ what is the purpose).
This reward may be a sensation, the cooling effect of minty toothpaste, that you eventually start to crave. In the case of exercise, this may be the dopamine rush afterwards. To create a habit clearly identify the reward that you want to be if it from. You can also practice the habit at a particular time or sandwich the new habit between two …
An insightful book into the unknown psychology of our everyday actions. Duhiggs’ book empowers the reader with knowledge about how habits work through detailed descriptions of the cues, cravings, and sensations that motivate us to do what we do.
What I personally learnt from this book is that, to change/create a habit it is important to isolate the cue (the initial instigator), habit (what you want to change/ trying to do), and reward (why you are having that habit, what you are craving/ what is the purpose).
This reward may be a sensation, the cooling effect of minty toothpaste, that you eventually start to crave. In the case of exercise, this may be the dopamine rush afterwards. To create a habit clearly identify the reward that you want to be if it from. You can also practice the habit at a particular time or sandwich the new habit between two habits so that the time/previous habit becomes your cue. E.g. homework at 6pm everyday or homework after shower and before bed
To change a habit, keep the cue and reward and change the habit itself only. Then practice it numerous times until it becomes automatic. You can keep visual cues to remind you that you are changing the habit and not just following your previous one. If this doesn’t work perhaps you haven’t correctly identified the reward and should dig deeper to find the true base problem.
Overall, I highly recommend a read as my summary does not suffice to explain the great wealth of information hidden in the book.
This book was a clear window into my basal ganglia. If you want to know how your habits tick, and how to recognize and change your habits, this book is the answer. It is clear, concise, informative, and practical. I'm already implementing this information in my daily life.
Okay, but productivity methods are not a one-size-fits-all phenomenon, so I'd advise taking what works for you and leaving the rest.
Half the book was really interesting information about habits. The other half was random anecdotes only tangentially related to habit .
More corporate and less insightful than I'd hoped, most of this book rests on summaries of the type of psychological research that seems completely obvious to the layman. Some good tips and briefly good motivational sections, but this is an airport read at best.
Good explanations of rudimentary habit formation and maintenance, and then most of the book is historical examples that I think were meant to be motivational and didn't contribute to my understanding.
One of the most fascinating books I've ever read. I listened the audio book, but I want a copy of actual book to re-read.
Mostly anecdotal. Narrator was blah. Interesting stories though!
