The Power of Habit

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.”

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.