Habits How They Work by Charles Duhigg focuses on the idea that habits can be changed if we understand them. The book is split into three parts; the first part solely focuses on the neurological background of habit and how habits are formed. During this part, Duhigg also suggests that our lives are a conglomeration of habits. When we think we are making conscious decisions we are actually just using habits we have formed over time. This idea took a while to digest because it changes the way you think you think about choices you make even from small, daily tasks. For example, thought I chose to wash my face before brushing my teeth this morning, but according to Duhigg's ideas that was just a habit I formed.
Also crucial to this section, is the habit loop. It consists of three parts - a cue, routine, and reward. This loop is best defined through the example of how Pepsodent created the world phenomenon of tooth brushing.
Step 1: Find an obvious cue. In this case, Claude Hopkins, the creator of the habit loop and advertiser of Pepsodent, used the idea of plaque (he dubbed it as "film"). This caused him to sell tooth bushing as not a healthy habit but as a "beauty" item and let's face it, who doesn't want to be beautiful.
Step 2: Routine. In order to create a routine, Hopkins said the film gives teeth a yellowish color and causes rotten, brown teeth. People began brushing their teeth (routine) in order to gain the reward.
Step 3: Have a reward. Hopkins pushed a beautiful, white smile as the reward for brushing your teeth. He also used glamorous movie stars to bolster the campaign.
This habit loop is still used today but an aspect that is crucial to the formation of a habit is neurological cravings. We usually don't realize see the developments of these cravings because they develop slowly. Cravings begin when we associate cues with specific rewards which then leads to the beginning of the habit loop. Smoking exemplifies this concept. A smoker see a cue (a pack of cigarettes), then her brain anticipates the hit of nicotine (reward) which in turn creates a neurological craving for the nicotine. If the smoker's craving is unfulfilled then it continues to grow until the smoker unconsciously reaches for a cigarette.
This section of the book was a lot to grasp because I had to spend some time thinking about the novel ideas that were presented to me. Although the text is not difficult to read, new ideas can change aspects of your ideology. Overall, this book is interesting. I enjoy the way Duhigg wrote the book; he compasses examples of well-known products and people (Michael Phelps, Febreze, Starbucks) which helps translate the scientific facts to the reader more easily and he also included diagrams. So far, I'm impressed and I will try to use Duhigg's suggestions to change some bad habits in my life.
Also crucial to this section, is the habit loop. It consists of three parts - a cue, routine, and reward. This loop is best defined through the example of how Pepsodent created the world phenomenon of tooth brushing.
Step 1: Find an obvious cue. In this case, Claude Hopkins, the creator of the habit loop and advertiser of Pepsodent, used the idea of plaque (he dubbed it as "film"). This caused him to sell tooth bushing as not a healthy habit but as a "beauty" item and let's face it, who doesn't want to be beautiful.
Step 2: Routine. In order to create a routine, Hopkins said the film gives teeth a yellowish color and causes rotten, brown teeth. People began brushing their teeth (routine) in order to gain the reward.
Step 3: Have a reward. Hopkins pushed a beautiful, white smile as the reward for brushing your teeth. He also used glamorous movie stars to bolster the campaign.
This habit loop is still used today but an aspect that is crucial to the formation of a habit is neurological cravings. We usually don't realize see the developments of these cravings because they develop slowly. Cravings begin when we associate cues with specific rewards which then leads to the beginning of the habit loop. Smoking exemplifies this concept. A smoker see a cue (a pack of cigarettes), then her brain anticipates the hit of nicotine (reward) which in turn creates a neurological craving for the nicotine. If the smoker's craving is unfulfilled then it continues to grow until the smoker unconsciously reaches for a cigarette.
This section of the book was a lot to grasp because I had to spend some time thinking about the novel ideas that were presented to me. Although the text is not difficult to read, new ideas can change aspects of your ideology. Overall, this book is interesting. I enjoy the way Duhigg wrote the book; he compasses examples of well-known products and people (Michael Phelps, Febreze, Starbucks) which helps translate the scientific facts to the reader more easily and he also included diagrams. So far, I'm impressed and I will try to use Duhigg's suggestions to change some bad habits in my life.
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