Understand and Change Your Habits
The Power of Habit — Summary
The following post is more like a journal, personal notes, rather than a book review of The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg. It gives you a basic idea about what you will learn by reading this book.
If I had to summarize this book
In one sentence, that sentence would be:
By understanding how habits work, we have the power to change them. 👊
In one image, that image would be:
A river, a steady stream of water, flowing everyday, being able to make its way through the rocks it encounters.
So are habits, through small and constant improvements, we can move mountains.
As William James points out, the best analogy for how a habit works is water, it …
… hollows out for itself a channel, which grows broader and deeper; and, after having ceased to flow, it resumes, when it flows agains, the path traced by itself before.
What I’ve learned from this book
At the core of every habit, there is a loop made up of three elements:
- Cue
- Routine
- Reward
If you understand the implications of each element, you’ll be able to reshape a habit. You can’t quit an old habit, but you can replace it, as Charles Duhigg says:
“The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it.”
The author gives a really good example of how he managed to change one of his bad habits. I’ll let you read the book, but the main idea is the following:
- Firstly, you need to identify the routine. What’s that one thing that you want to change? Like going every day to the cafeteria to eat a cookie.
- Secondly, what is that good feeling that you get by completing the routine? What’s the reward? Is it the satisfaction that you’ve got sugar running through your blood?
- Thirdly, what is the cue? What triggers the routine? It could be anything from location, time, emotional state, other people or immediately preceding actions. Try to isolate it.
- Finally, after you’ve identified the core elements, make a plan to change the habit, because only you have the power to do so.
And remember:
“Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.”
But that’s not all! Habits have many more implications. To make a routine from needing a specific reward, you must be carving for it. Companies know that, and they take advantage of it. Furthermore, to be able to change a bad habit, you must posses strong willpower.
What I’d give bonus points for
Besides the good explanation of how habits work in our daily life, the book gives a few examples of how companies take advantage of our habits. For example:
- Starbucks teach their employees, through habits, how to treat the customers. A good application used by the company is the LATTE method (no, not the ☕️🥛). It stands for Listen, Acknowledge the problem, Take problem-solving action, Thank them, and Explain what you’ve done.
- Target Corporation is able to know what you want to buy before you even buy it, by predicting (and manipulating) your habits.
The author also presents many experiments, demonstrating the involvements of habits and willpower, into our daily activities. A very good example, showing the long term effects of a strong willpower that an individual may have, is the marshmallow test. Probably you’ve heard about it. A group of four-year-olds kids were brought into a room and were offered a deal: they could eat one marshmallow right away, or, if they waited a few minutes, they could have two marshmallows. The long-term outcome is really fascinating. The kids who didn’t eat the marshmallow right away, showed the ability to delay their instant gratification, performed way better in life and obtained higher SAT scores versus the ones who couldn’t abstain eating the marshmallow.
Read this book if…
- You have a bad habit that you can’t quit; you are aware of it, but maybe you don’t have the willpower to do so.
- You want to understand how our brains (and habits) work.
- You simply enjoy reading good books. 😃
📕 If I’ve made you curious about the book, go ahead and read it: The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg.
What’s your opinion on this book? What do you think about habits, in general, and the ability to change them? Are habits helpful or harmful? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
