From the Bookshelf of Blooming Books: Reading for Growth (Self-Development Book Club) …

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

Charles Duhigg

Start date: January 1, 2025

Finish date: February 28, 2025

Discussion: ▶️ Book of The Month (BoTM)

Discussion leader: Trisha

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▶️ Book of The Month (BoTM)

* October 25 - Surrounded by Idiots
By Trisha , Founder · 1 post · 4 views

last updated Oct 01, 2025 05:32AM

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What Members Thought

Apr 02, 2022 Bharath rated it really liked it

While this book kept popping in my feeds and conversations since many years, somehow got to reading it only now.

This is a well-researched book. The underlying premise is a good one – we carry out many actions as a result of habits rather than by careful evaluation, it is the way our brain develops. By recognizing how this happens, we have an opportunity to change our habits. The format of how we act out our habits is a simple loop of a cue which triggers anticipation, after which we follow-up a While this book kept popping in my feeds and conversations since many years, somehow got to reading it only now.

This is a well-researched book. The underlying premise is a good one – we carry out many actions as a result of habits rather than by careful evaluation, it is the way our brain develops. By recognizing how this happens, we have an opportunity to change our habits. The format of how we act out our habits is a simple loop of a cue which triggers anticipation, after which we follow-up a familiar good feeling pattern of action, which results in a reward we crave for. If we can recognize the cues and the rewards we crave, we can make substitutions in our actions to derive an equivalent satisfaction with some other action. Another key requirement is strengthening belief that this can be done. Some keystone habits can have a cascading trigger of effects across many dimensions and this is very well explained.

Most of the examples are good ones though in a few cases apparently, I have different cues or times have changes. Eg: Pepsodent really took off and in fact more people starting including paste in their med-kits and brushing as a result – the message “there is a film which forms around our teeth and Pepsodent helps you get over it”, and the tingling sensation most pastes now leave in your mouth. There are other good examples – why some people are unable to resist the urge to gamble, intake drugs or smoke. There are others – how Target customizes its coupons (including marketing to pregnant women subtly), the Starbucks induction program to enable employees to handle all kinds of customers, Febreze – odour neutralizer, the ‘Hey Ya’ song which was marketed for success.

This is a very readable book – it has a good mix of neuroscience, research and some interesting stories. The appendix with tips on changing habits should actually be part of the main section itself. Some of the neuroscience quoted is still evolving though. Also, while the habit loop is abstracted to a nice simple flow, it does not ask a key question – what if your underlying reward craving is in itself flawed/misdirected? How can you graduate your thinking to a higher purpose and form habits which address that?

An intellectually stimulating read, which I recommend.

I have this habit of accumulating far more books than I can read. Will I now be able to beat that habit? I think not – but then I do not yet have the belief that I can do it 😊 ...more

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Aug 15, 2019 John rated it it was amazing

Shelves: psych-science-thought, business-mgmt

Really fascinating! If you are looking into a "road map" for how we operate as people, this is a great start. Helps you think about yourself and work within your own parameters to help make positive changes and curb bad habits. ...more

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Apr 04, 2018 Ronald rated it really liked it

This is a must-read for everyone who wants to improve their life. After reading this book I really understood the power of habits. It is then imperative that one develops good habits and disdain from bad ones.

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Feb 19, 2020 Samar Sisodia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: habits

Change your habits change your life

Just loved the way the concept of habit formation is explained here. How do we create habits and the process to break a bad habit is beautifully explained!

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