The Power of Habit Short Summary

The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg is a piece of literature that ventures into the existence of habits in humans and how they can be transformed. The author is a journalist and former reporter. He is also the author of the book Smarter Faster Better.

The Overview

Duhigg developed an interest in why individuals develop some habits and how habits can change.

The different chapters of the book explore the different aspects of habits and even illustrations of live situations for individuals and also businesses. He shows how they arise, why they seem hard to change, and also how possible it is to change habits. Every chapter builds on the previous. Habits are very influential in daily lives than people consider them to be, which makes them very powerful and hence difficult to transform.

They are automatic unless people exert their will power to make changes and will require some steps for individuals to succeed in changing them.

When an individual develops a habit, their brain shows that the faculties of decision making are quite active for the first few times they engage in it. The activity is, however, stopped when a pattern of the behavior becomes developed, and when the brain has learned it. It applies to all avenues in terms of the things people learn, performance in sports, and even business-related ventures. Forming a habit is the main reason why it is quite difficult to accept change willingly. It is the main reason individuals will not consciously succumb to change.

The pattern has to be identified and properly understood for one to be able to change it or even replace it. The book gives the importance of habit to the corporations as well as businesses. This is because they depend on customers developing habits of purchasing products. Various avenues are examined, such as marketing, training, and even business models, to prove the power of habits and how they can be transformed or shaped to increase productivity. The book also explores the downside to habits and how they play in errors and tragedies. It shows how devastating habits can be when they do not serve their owners.

Finally, Duhigg provides a strategy for the reader that shows how to succeed in changing habits. He argues that habits are different and hence require different approaches when changing them. The book provides a general process of changing a habit by providing an example.