The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business

- Charles Duhigg 

"All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits" - William James

Good habits take time to incorporate and bad ones can take substantial discipline to break. In large part, success is based on doing both. Charles Duhigg, in his best selling book, The Power of Habit, explains the anatomy of habits and what it takes to form good ones and how to ditch the bad ones.

After explaining habit principles as they apply to individuals, he present a number of examples of how they relate to organizations too. His stories about how changing habits helped to make Pepsodent and Crest toothpastes, and Febreze freshener successful are fascinating. This is one of the best books I've read. I recommend it highly. It can help anyone who's serious about making changes.

 A paper published by Duke University found that more than 40% of the actions people perform each day weren't actually decisions, but habits, so if we can improve them, we can have an excellent influence on our upward trajectory.

The process, in which the brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine is known as "chunking". There are dozens, if not hundreds of behavioral chunks we rely on every day. Some are simple, like brushing our teeth, and some are a little more complex.

Scientists say habits emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. The process involves the formation of "A Habit Loop". First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go on automatic and which habit to use. Next is the routine which can be physical, mental or emotional. Then there is the reward which helps you remember whether this particular loop is worth remembering for future use. Over time, this loop becomes more and more automatic and habits get formed.

Once a habit is formed, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. So unless you deliberately fight a habit - unless you develop new routines - the pattern will unfold automatically. Your brain can't tell the difference between bad and good habits, so if you have a bad one, it's always lurking there, waiting for the right cues and rewards. Once someone creates a new pattern, over time, it becomes as automatic as any other habit.

Habits are powerful, but delicate. Even small shifts can end the pattern that's been established. They shape our lives more than we realize. (They can also shape our likelihood of success and our propensity for failing. Notice I said "failing", not failure or "being a failure". We are not "a failure" when we don't succeed at something. Everyone fails. Even the most successful have. It's part of the reason they've become successful. Failing simply provides us with a new pivot point to head us in the right direction again.)

Unless you deliberately fight a habit - unless you find new routines - the habit pattern will automatically unfold. Cravings are what makes cues and rewards work. Craving is what powers the habit loop. What needs to be done is to find an obvious cue with a clearly defined reward to take the place of current behavior. Duhigg says, for example, if you want to start running each morning, it's essential to choose a simple cue, like always lacing up your sneakers before breakfast. Then provide a clear reward, like a sense of accomplishment from recording your miles. Only when your brain starts expecting the reward will it become automatic. The routine must trigger a craving for the reward to come.

The same logic works for eliminating bad habits. There has to be a substitution that takes place. Among other examples, he cites the success "Alcoholics Anonymous" (AA). A drinker wants to find satisfaction. He drinks to get it. It makes him feel better (at least for the moment). To eliminate the habit, the drinker still is seeking satisfaction, but instead of drinking, when he feels the urge to drink, he makes a substitution - he calls his sponsor to help him get through the urge without drinking, and that produces the satisfaction that comes with controlling the urge to drink. Duhigg notes that the urge to drink or to engage in any other bad habit, like nail biting, is always there, so it's vitally important that the established routine continue so that their won't be any backsliding.

This summary is inadequate to truly describe all the benefits that can be derived from this book. I encourage you to read it. It can help promote the good and stamp out the bad - both of which will help lead to success.