The Power Of Habit - Book Review by Charles Duhigg
In my current research on habits, I’ve been reading The Power Of Habit by Charles Duhigg. Duhigg combines a large amount of peer reviewed research with strong anecdotes to explain the concepts of how habits are formed, and how they affect our lives. I’ll explain the key concepts of this book, what makes it good to read, why I liked it (and why you might, too).
Key Concepts
The key concepts of The Power of Habit are in the title. Duhigg explains how much power habits have over our lives, as well as how to understand and leverage that power for our own good. He doesn’t just talk about snacking or fingernail biting either–he focuses on how community habits affected the social justice movement and how corporate habits destroyed massive organizations. Big stuff.
The habit loop is the key takeaway from this book. Duhigg explains that in every habit, there are three stages: cue, routine, and reward. For example, in my afternoon coffee habit, the cue is when I’m feeling groggy. My routine is walking to the coffee shop to order a cappuccino. My reward is being able to take a break and get a caffeine boost to finish the day. Through reviewing extensive research, Duhigg shows his readers that this loop is in play for all the habits we experience.
Duhigg explains these concepts in common language that everyone can understand. There are a number of helpful illustrations within the book, to show the progression of the habit loop in various scenarios. The concept of the habit loop is simple. The application is complex and varies greatly between circumstances.
What Makes It a Good Read
These kinds of books can either be too heady or too fun. The Power of Habit is the perfect balance. Even though Duhigg is synthesizing a great deal of research, he doesn’t expect his readers to nerd out along with him. He explains his research in a digestible way that doesn’t dilute the meaning or insult the intelligence of the reader. On the flip side, while he incorporates dozens of incredible stories, he isn’t simply relying on anecdotes. He makes sure those anecdotes align with the research he presents, and are compelling on their own.
In each chapter, Duhigg uses two or three main anecdotes to give his research context. What makes these stories especially interesting (and what makes these chapters read much quicker than the 300-page text would suggest) is how he arranges these stories. He weaves the narratives together brilliantly–introducing one, leaving a cliffhanger on the next, picking up the first story with an increased pace. What made David Epstein’s Range so long and boring is what Duhigg avoids.
Why I Liked It
I loved this book because I’m a sucker for a good routine. The habits and systems that Duhigg describes in this book often made me teary-eyed. I’m not joking! One story in this book explains how a man, who grew up with drug addicted parents, finally came to hold down a steady job at Starbucks because of their habit training. Due to his upbringing, this man kept finding himself unable to deal with unexpected problems in a constructive way. But when he was introduced to the habit training program at Starbucks, which had him develop and practice plans for dealing with angry customers, his life turned around. I got emotional reading stories like these, as I’m a big believer in the power that routines can carry in our daily lives.
Reading these stories, and understand these theories, made me feel empowered to make changes in my own life and in the life of my community.
Next, I’m reading Atomic Habits by James Clear. Here’s an initial quote breakdown from that book. Follow along with my daily blog to read more.
