I first became interested in the science of habits eight years ago, as a newspaper reporter in Baghdad.
When I was almost done with this book, I had to figure out how to write the prologue. (A weird thing about most books is that the first thing in the book is the last thing that gets written.) I was really struggling with the prologue. This was my first book, and the prologue seemed really important - I kept picturing someone standing in a book store, picking up this book, and deciding whether to buy it or not based on the prologue. I had Lisa’s story, but that didn’t seem like enough. I needed another narrative to show that this book was about more than just personal transformation stories. I wanted to show that the influence of habits ranged from companies to armies to schools to social movements. I needed another story.
Trying to figure out which story to use was really stressing me out. And so, one morning, I decided to go for a run without my iPod, so I could think about the prologue. I was kind of desperate at this point. As I was jogging through Prospect Park in Brooklyn, I began trying to figure out why I got interested in this topic in the first place - and then I thought, ‘well, it really all started in Iraq.’ And that’s when I knew what story I should use as the second narrative in the prologue.
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