The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business

What are the habits you do without thinking every single day?  What is your morning routine?  Do you brush your teeth first or check your email?  Our lives are based on a series of habits, most of which we have come to do so automatically, that we don't even realize the pattern or meaning related to our actions.

In his book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life and Business, author Charles Duhigg begins by explaining his own personal experience in watching the power behind habits.  He was a newspaper writer stationed in Bagdad several years ago, when he had noticed a military general had not only built his life around various habits, but had also made it his job to study the habits of those around him, even to the point of preventing bombings in his area, simply because he watched and learned what habits surrounded certain activities.

Duhigg also describes an obese woman named Lisa who had begun smoking cigarettes as a teenager, and whose husband eventually left her.  At a low point in her life, she made a decision that she wanted her life to be different, and the only way she would be able to reach these self-made goals was to break old habits and nurture new ones to continue moving toward her goals.  Over a short period of time, she stopped smoking, started jogging, ran a half marathon, then a marathon, went back to school, bought a house, and became engaged.  Scientists were fascinated with her changes, and studied her brain patterns over a period of time, to better understand how changes take place.

"I want to show you one of your  most recent scans," a researcher told Lisa near the end of her exam.  He pulled up a picture on a computer screen that showed images from inside her head.  "When you see food, these areas"--he pointed to a place near the center of her brain--"which are associated with craving and hunger are still active.  Your brain still produces the urges that made you overeat.  "however, there's new activity in this area"--he pointed to the region closest to her forehead--"where we believe behavioral inhibition and self-discipline starts.  That activity has become more pronounced each time you've come in." 

Lisa was the scientists' favorite participant because her brain scans were so compelling, so useful in creating a map of where behavioral patterns--habits--reside within our minds.  "You're helping us understand how a decision becomes an automatic behavior," the doctor told her.  Everyone in the room felt like they were on the brink of something important.  And they were.

So why are these two examples so profound?  What makes them relevant to your everyday life, both personally and professionally?  Duhigg writes:

Each chapter revolves around a central argument:  Habits can be changed, if we understand how they work...In the past decade, our understanding of the neurology and psychology of habits and the way patterns work in our lives, societies, and organizations has expanded in ways we couldn't have imagined fifty years ago.  We now know why habits emerge, how they change, and the science behind their mechanics.  We know how to break them into parts and rebuild them to our specifications.  We understand how to make people eat less, exercise more, work more efficiently, and live healthier lives.  Transforming a habit isn't necessarily easy or quick.  It isn't always simple.

But it is possible.  And now we understand how.

We are all driven by habits.  The question that begs to be answered is whether we are willing to closely examine those habits to see which ones are leading us toward our goals, and which ones are diverting and distracting us from what we truly desire to achieve.

What one habit could you benefit from breaking?  
What one new habit could you adopt in its place?

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