The Power of Habit – Charles Duhigg
A habit is defined as a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. I’m sure we’ve all had habits that we’ve wanted to form or break and that can be really hard sometimes, but this book, The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg has some great insight into why we do what we do and how to change.
Highlights
- A community is a giant collection of habits occurring among thousands of people.
- It’s possible to learn and make unconscious choices without remembering anything about the lesson or decision-making.
- Habits, as much as memory and reason, are at the root of how we behave.
- Habits are powerful but delicate.
- The brain has this amazing ability to find happiness even when the memories of it are gone.
- To initially form a habit: Find a simple and obvious cue and then clearly define the rewards.
- New habits are created by putting together a cue, a routine, and a reward, and then cultivating a craving that drives the loop.
- The line separating habits and addictions is often difficult to measure. Addiction is characterized by impairment in behavioral control, craving, inability to consistently abstain, and diminished relationships. Addiction is complicated and still poorly understood.
- If we keep the same cue and the same reward, a new routine can be inserted. But that’s not enough. For a habit to stay changed, people must believe that change is possible.
- The habits that matter most are the ones that, when they start to shift, dislodge and remake other patterns.
- Remember the small wins.
- Not sharing an opportunity to learn is a cardinal sin.
- To succeed, they need a keystone habit that creates a culture to help find the strength to overcome obstacles. Keystone habits transform us by creating cultures that make clear the values that, in the heat of a difficult decision or a moment of uncertainty, we might otherwise forget.
- 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.
- If you want to do something that requires willpower – like going for a run after work – you have to conserve your willpower muscle during the day.
- If you dress a new something in old habits, it’s easier for the public to accept it.
- Habits are what allow us to do a thing with difficulty the first time, but soon do it more easily, and finally, with sufficient practice, do it semi-mechanically, or with hardly any consciousness at all.
- If you believe you can change – if you can make it a habit – the change becomes real.
- Experiments have shown that almost all habitual cues fit into one of five categories: Location, time, emotional state, other people, and immediately preceding action.
We choose who we want to be.
*I take no credit for any of these points.