The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

“Most of the choices we make each day may feel like the products of well-considered decision making, but they’re not. They’re habits.”

Our habits easily shift from choices into automatic behaviors, settling into the same part of the brain that controls our other basic impulses, including eating and sleeping. The brain cannot discern between good or bad habits. Duhigg argues that people perceive they have control over their daily choices, but in most cases habits control our behaviors. Despite their power, it is still possible to identify and adapt our habits.

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

Every case study within the book grapples with the core tension that surrounds human and organizational habits: Habits are powerful and entrenched, but nevertheless malleable. To change our habits, we must first identify the loops on which they run, or what Duhigg calls the habit loop (cue > routine > reward).

“Habits aren’t destiny.”

Once the brain’s basal ganglia convert routines into automatic habits, we stop making active choices. The habit is now automatic. It’s possible, however, to break the habit loop and create a new set of practices. Every case study within Duhigg’s book features the stories of individuals and organizations that changed their habits and therefore their destinies.