The Power of Habit (2012) (edit title/settings)

• Rated 0 stars

“This book provides interesting information, case studies and research but is weak on practical application.”

• Rated 2 stars

“Given the number of reviews provided on Amazon, I did not expect the book to be that worse. I found self development books useful if they involve either great deal of in depth analysis and information about the subject, or being inspirational. The news is this book offered neither of them for me. Although there were some of good ideas to be adopted in life, I found most of the book busy with telling stories of people in details that much of the time are not relevant to the subject. There are not much of the constructive arguments or questions that a writer poses in order to make you think about the topic in a different way. There were much of irrelevant information and trivial facts that took from the richness of the book.”

• Rated 5 stars

“Ever wondered how come your company is always late on projects? How about yourself: always brush your teeth twice a day? Exercise? Stay with the budget? You can find many important answers here.
Highly recommended. Education about human habits (some call them rituals) has made a huge leap forward with this book.”

• Rated 0 stars

“Extremely well written book with exceptionally good background and references. Many good example. Some skipping around, but easy to follow.”

• Rated 5 stars

“I devoured the book. I love reading about how the brain works, and the information is presented in an easy to read, and easy to understand format. It was interesting to learn how companies and football teams can instill habits into employees and players to improve improvements where you wouldn't expect them to impact the results. In the end, Duhigg presents some tools to help create and break habits in your own life. I would definitely read this book again, I'm certain I would get even more out of it the second time around.”

• Rated 4 stars

“I can't honestly say what made me pick up this book. I don't consider myself a student of business or human psychology, but I picked it up nonetheless. This book demystifies the "habit loop" with easy-to-digest diagrams and examples.”

• Rated 4 stars

“Habits: ingrained in a special part of the brain (basal ganglia); even in memory lost, habits remain

The habit loop: cue -] (routine) & (craving) -] reward
* If the loop is established, when cue happens, brain reacts as if reward were given
* Starbuck: train employees to respond with planned routines (e.g. LATTE) to known cues
* Pepsodent advertising: build habit loop to people, cue (teeth film), reward (white teeth), craving (mint, feel good), routine (brush teeth)

Will power: limited resource & muscle; can be used up and built up

Keystone habit: a habit that transforms everything by facilitating other habits

Sandwich: people internally want familiarity, sandwich a new song between 2 familiar songs can make the new song gain acceptance
Social habit: weak ties ] strong ties; habit/tendency to act under peer/social pressure

To change a habit
1. Identify the routine, e.g. go to cafeteria & eat cookie
2. Experiment with rewards: try alternatives, jot down feeling/patterns, learn if the crave can be satisfied by other means
3. Isolate the cue: jot down whenever feeling the urge: location, time, emotional state, other people, immediately preceding action
4. Have a plan: when cue happens, try a new routine to get the same reward”

• Rated 0 stars

“I listened to the audiobook for a company book club. While the core principle of the book was interesting, it suffered from the challenge facing many business books: the meat was not enough to carry the entire book and, because of this, the book felt a bit long and repetitive. ”

• Rated 0 stars

“Awesome book. It taught me a lot about habits. Really powerful book. ”

• Rated 5 stars

“This was listed as one of Amazon's top 10 business books of 2012. I wouldn't list it as a business book, but it was very interesting and there are several takeaways that I will try to incorporate into my own life. ”