The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do and How to Change It
by Charles Duhigg
Random House (March 6, 2012)
As you get over 60 you begin to see your earned self in the mirror. Gradually, you begin feeling the results of your behavior. You may have consciously chosen earlier to build habits that have now become automation in your lifestyle.
Your habits may have changed you into something that now might not feel right or intended. You begin to understand how, as an old guy, you’ve gotten to where you are. The option of rebuilding reconstructive patterns is a choice you can make.
It’s obviously difficult to find and practice new helpful routines whenever you recognize the habits that got you worn out. I’ve found that breaking down old unconscious habits to be difficult, but it seems even harder to stick with new ones even though they add to life’s pleasures.
The Power of Habit has come along to help those like me to chisel away at a father time’s work. It’s about creating new patterns (constructive and conscious) so that they become automatic as any other routine.
Habit change is grounded in two basic rules. First, find the oblivious cue and second, clearly define the reward. Studies have found that people who have successfully started new exercise routines stick with their workouts better if they find a specific cue. My cue for exercise right now is 7:15 a.m. Research on dieting that predetermines cues (i.e., planning meals in advance) helps define rewards and more consciousness of behavior results.
The Power of Habit is divided into three sections.
Part One: The Habits of Individuals
Individuals are explained by using loops: cue, routine, reward.
These loops can become instilled in our behavior, then become unconscious and lead to cravings and addictions. Habits can be changed by changing the loop, keeping the cue and the reward the same but changing the routine.
Through consciously changing the routine, you can build new and more constructive habits yielding a similarly rewarding experience.
Part Two: The Habits of Successful Organizations
I found this section to be the most interesting. I think anyone interested in doing better work should read this section. Work is so constant that bad habits can seem almost acceptable to the individual. Unconsciously, bad habits unfairly affect coworkers which bring down the whole group work ego, individually and collectively.
Example: The powerful effects of cell phone in our social media age feed the desire to be distracted from your work efforts. Constant interruptions leading to non-productivity in your work day. An unconscious phone habit (or addiction) is a poor routine for maximizing rewards from effort.
Our work habits are so important because the product is also reflected in our ability to have a positive lifestyle outside of work.
Part Three: The Habits of Society
Duhigg uses Rosa Parks and the Montgomery bus project to explain his point on group habits. For us Southerners, this example is insightful and easy to relate to. This fine book concludes by addressing our free will and the responsibility we have for ourselves. We choose for ourselves the amount of awareness we have about our habitual behaviors.
I think anyone interested in self improvement would benefit from reading The Power of Habit. I feel we all could use more habit awareness, increasing the ability to have more good habits and a happier, more actualized life.
The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg (Random House, March 2012)
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