the power of habit book by charles duhigg

“The cue and reward become intertwined in such a way that a powerful sense of anticipation and craving emerges,” writes Duhigg. Over time, this habit loop – cue, routine, reward – becomes more and more automatic. The craving brain: how habits are powered The reward can be anything from a chocolate bar to an episode of your favorite TV show. Finally, there is the reward that helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.Then, there is the routine itself, the most obvious element of a habit, the behavior you wish to change (e.g., nail biting) or reinforce (e.g., taking the stairs instead of the elevator).This can be anything from the familiar music of an ice cream truck to the smell of fresh coffee in the morning. First, there is the external cue, that is, the trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use.In general, all habits share a similar pattern and can be broken down into a three-step loop:

The reason is simple: our brain is constantly on the lookout for new ways to save energy, so when it notices a sequence of actions with a beneficial result, it converts it in an automatic habit and stores it in a primitive part of the brain called the basal ganglia. So, get ready to learn how habits work and how to change the ones you don’t like! The habit loop: how habits workĪccording to a 2006 paper published by a Duke University researcher, more than 40% of the actions we perform each day aren’t actual decisions, but habits. Much more importantly, it is also a manual on how to train yourself out of the bad ones. Widely considered a classic on the subject, Charles Duhigg’s “The Power of Habit” is a 400-page methodical exploration of the nature and the machinery of our habits.

The power of habit book by charles duhigg