Book review: The power of habit - why we do what we do in life a

I picked up Charlest Dujibb’ s book: The Power of Habit during the first of week of year 2016, while new year’s resolutions were still in full motion for a lot of people. Gym was crowded, less smokers in front of the building, and more people were lingering the organic produce section in grocery stores. Things usually go back to normal at end of January, people say. No wonder it is always a hot topic on how to sustain a new habit or break an old one in January every year. With great interest, I opened this book and hope to find the secret of success.

The book starts by telling an inspirational story of a lady who transformed her life completely by quitting smoking first. During this process, her brain scans showed prominent progress on areas related to self discipline and behavioral initiation. Another research participant, Eugene, who lost the ability to keep any new memory after an accident that caused brain damage, was able to form new habits. From there, Charles Duhigg goes into a fascinating topic: how the brain works to keep information and how habits are formed. Scientists say, habits emerge because the brain constantly seeks ways to save effort. Therefore, repeated actions becomes mechanical. It is like learning how to drive, in the beginning a young driver must pay ample attention to stay safe on  the road. While years later, everything becomes involuntary. An experienced driver navigates without using much conscious control. Life habits inaugurate easily on the prevalence of convenience as well. Duhigg uses an example of eating fast food. At the end of long day, with starving kids in the car, it is just tempting to drive through a fast food restaurant and be done with it. The cue and reward are immediate and hard to pass. And once a month might quickly change to once a week. There, habits emerge quietly, not necessarily with our permission.

The formation of habits, in Duhigg’s words, goes in a circle. First there is the cue. In this case, hunger; then comes the activity, getting fast food; finally comes the reward, a satisfying meal without the trouble to cook and clean. Most human habits are formed without people realizing it. And organizations have long been taking advantage of this circle. Duhigg gives a few interesting examples, from toothpaste to air freshener, business successfully created cues for people and made their products an everyday necessity to many households. To move it further, Target successfully discovered newly pregnant women by detecting their shopping habit change. These women received tactically customized coupon books and helped target’s revenue go up by a significant percentage.

Duhigg also talked about the power of habits on organizational and social level. In his book, Rosa Parks was able to initiate an influential activity because she had strong social ties. And in another example, he explains instilling keystone habit will have ripple effects of triggering other positive habits.

The discussion about habit vs addiction is an interesting one. I believe this discussion can happen on so many levels: socially, psychologically, mentally and physically. Duhigg used two examples to paint two pictures, one sleepwalker who accidentally killed his wife, and a gambling addict who lost everything. In the elaboration of the two stories, scientists concludes sleepwalking as a “habit” that person do not have control, while gambling is a conscious choice. It is an captivating subject worth more scrutiny. When Duhigg asks the question, what is the difference between spending 50 dollars each week on latte vs drugs? it is obvious the difference is self control.

For people who are only looking for a quick cheat sheet on steps to change or form a habit, you can skip the entire book and go direct to the appendix. This part is probably the most practical chapter out of the entire book. Duhigg explains it step by step on how he quit his habit of getting a cookie every afternoon. Habits goes in the circle of Cue → Routine → Reward. To change a habit, one needs examine the cue carefully. In Duhigg’s case, he asked himself when he wanted a cookie from cafetiera, what was he looking for? Sugar, the need to social or hunger? It is important to understand the desire behind a cue so one can easily change the routine and get a similar reward. Duhigg realized he needed a break in the PM, and a need to socialize. So he set an alarm for 3pm and intentionally went to a friend’s cubicle and talk for 10 minutes. On days he couldn’t find anyone to talk to, he would go to the cafeteria but get a tea instead. It will not always work in the beginning, the old cue, routine, reward circle will always stay. Deliberate efforts are needed especially in the beginning. However, by reinforcing the new cue, routine, reward loop, eventually a new habit will be formed. Contrary to many beliefs, willpower is not a key factor here. Understanding one’s need and the trigger point are more important.

I have mixed feelings about this book. Partly due to the high expectation brought on by the buzz. Habit is such interesting topic, and there are so many angles one can attack. I can tell Duhigg tried hard in his efforts. The fields he touched range from neurology to economics, from psychology to social factors. A few times there is a hint of faith as well. Unfortunately mixing many colors does not necessarily give you a splash of rainbow. I had regrets in many chapters wishing the author could go deeper. And some of the examples are far stretched in my opinion. The transformation of a major football team reads like a fable. And the making of “hey ya” a pop hit is unconvincing. With the target story, out of 40 pages, the analytical part counts about one and half. Personal opinion is it falls short compared to the story telling. Same goes to habits vs addiction discussion, a lot goes to the background of the two characters and vivid storytelling, I hoped to read more insights on the whys and was disappointed.

The main takeaway of this book? Be mindful. Be mindful of what you eat, what you do, what you think, what you see, what you hear. And always be observant. Live at the moment and in control.