The Power of Habit

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business is a book by Charles Duhigg, a New York Times reporter, published in February 2012 by Random House. It explores the science behind habit creation and reformation. The book has reached the best seller list for The New York Times, Amazon.com, and USA Today.[1][2][3][4]

The book was long listed for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award in 2012.[5]

The Habit loop: The Habit Loop is a neurological loop that governs any habit. The habit loop consists of three elements: a cue, a routine, and a reward. Understanding these elements can help in understanding how to change bad habits or form good ones. To begin, a habit loop is always started with a cue, or something that triggers an individual's senses. This process within our brains is a three-step loop. First there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.[6] Although the habit loop is known to be accurate, it is missing one key ingredient: Craving. Craving drives all habits and is essential to starting a new habit, or destroying an old one. Charles Duhigg incorporates a prime example of how Proctor and Gamble manipulated the market by using the concept of the habit loop and cravings in order to make a fortune.

Golden Rule of Habit: The Golden rule of habit is a rule to follow that will help you stop your addictive habits and place new ones. It states that if you keep the initial cue, replace the routine, and keep the reward, change will eventually occur. Although, individuals who do not believe in what they are doing, will likely fall short of the expectations and give up. Belief is a critical ingredient that can be structured in a number of ways including group settings. Often people who plug themselves into groups such as accountability groups are better off than an individual alone. Charles Duhigg, used several examples in order to prove his argument such as the case of Bill Wilson, an ex alcoholic who found Jesus and created Alcoholics Anonymous. By understanding habits, the golden rule of habit, and how believing is a crucial role to them, he was able to start a foundation that led to the savings of tens of thousands of alcoholics.

Keystone Habits: A keystone habit is an individual habit that is unintentionally capable of triggering other habits in the lives of people. Duhigg wrote about the company Alcoa, and how the new CEO Paul O'Neil, was able to rise the companies market capatilzation by 27 billion. By attacking the safety in the work environment, Paul said, "I Knew i had to transform Alcoa," . . . "But you can't order people to change. thats not how the brain works. So I decided I was going to start by focusing on one thing. If i could start disrupting the habits around one thing, it would spread throughout the entire company." [7]

References

  1. ↑ "How You Can Harness 'The Power Of Habit'". NPR. 2012-02-27. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  2. ↑ Charles Duhigg. "How Companies Learn Your Secrets". The New York Times. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  3. ↑ USA Today, March 2, 2012, page B1, "Even the signs have eyes these days"
  4. ↑ Rainman, Ryan (2013-07-06). "The Power of Habits in Basketball shooting". Basketballjumptraining.com. Retrieved 2013-08-16.
  5. ↑ Financial Times.com
  6. ↑ Duhigg, Charles (2012). The Power of Habit. Random House. p. 19.
  7. ↑ Duhigg, Charles (2012). The Power of Habit. Random House. p. 100.

External links


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