The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do and How to Change

by Charles Duhigg

People’s buying habits are more likely to change when they go through a major life event.

new parents’ habits are more flexible at that moment than at almost any other period in an adult’s life.

Listeners are happy to sit through a song they might say they dislike, as long as it seems like something they’ve heard before.

To change people’s diets, the exotic must be made familiar. And to do that, you must camouflage it in everyday garb

“Managing a playlist is all about risk mitigation,” said

If you dress a new something in old habits, it’s easier for the public to accept it.

To market a new habit—be it groceries or aerobics—you must understand how to make the novel seem familiar.

How Movements Happen

A movement starts because of the social habits of friendship and the strong ties between close acquaintances. It grows because of the habits of a community, and the weak ties that hold neighborhoods and clans together. And it endures because a movement’s leaders give participants new habits that create a fresh sense of identity and a feeling of ownership.

For an idea to grow beyond a community, it must become self-propelling.

Movements don’t emerge because everyone suddenly decides to face the same direction at once. They rely on social patterns that begin as the habits of friendship, grow through the habits of communities, and are sustained by new habits that change participants’ sense of self.

the will to believe is the most important ingredient in creating belief in change.

one of the most important methods for creating that belief was habits.

If you believe you can change—if you make it a habit—the change becomes real. This is the real power of habit: the insight that your habits are what you choose them to be.

THE FRAMEWORK: • Identify the routine • Experiment with rewards • Isolate the cue • Have a plan

every habit, a loop that consists of three parts: a cue, a routine, and a reward.

Experiments have shown that almost all habitual cues fit into one of five categories: Location Time Emotional state Other people Immediately preceding action

The reward I was seeking was a temporary distraction—

a habit is a choice that we deliberately make at some point, and then stop thinking about, but continue doing, often every day.

a habit is a formula our brain automatically follows: When I see CUE, I will do ROUTINE in order to get a REWARD.