The Power of Habit

Why we do what we do and how to change
Charles Duhigg
20120228

About This Book

This book is divided into three parts. The first section focuses on how habits emerge within individual lives. It explores the neurology of habit formation, how to build new habits and change old ones, and the methods. The second part examines the habits of successful companies and organizations. The third part looks at the habits of societies.

Each chapter revolves around a central argument: Habits can be changed, if we understand how they work.

(Below we will focus on Part One – The Habits of Individuals.)

How Habits Work

The habit 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 and 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.

Over time, this loop—cue, routine, reward; cue, routine, reward—becomes more and more automatic. The cue and reward become intertwined until a powerful sense of anticipation and craving emerges. Eventually, a habit is born.

How to Create New Habits

1. Find a simple and obvious cue.
2. Clearly define the reward.
3. Create a craving.

• Cue: see the shape on the screen
• Routine: touch the lever
• Reward: receive a drop of blackberry juice
• Craving for juice

• Cue: feel tooth film
• Routine: brush our teeth
• Reward: have beautiful teeth
• Craving for tingling sensation

• Cue: see running clothes next to our bed
• Routine: running each morning
• Reward: feel good
• Craving for endorphin rush or accomplishment

These explain why habits are so powerful: They create neurological cravings. Most of the time, these cravings emerge so gradually that we’re not really aware they exist, so we’re often blind to their influence. But as we associate cues with certain rewards, a subconscious craving emerges in our brains that starts the habit loop spinning.

This is how new habits are created: by putting together a cue, a routine, and a reward, and then cultivating a craving that drives the loop.

How to Change Old Habits