I am reading again The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg [Kindle]. It’s my favorite behavior change book. Here’s a summary.
A reader alerted me to some supplemental content: a reader’s guide to applying the book’s ideas, and a thorough study guide for teachers.
So I read them and took notes:
- try different rewards until you find one that makes the habit stick
- for a reward to work properly, it must create a CRAVING over time (the way you might crave an episode of Rick and Morty ;)
- all cues (aka triggers) fall into 5 categories: location, time, emotional state, other people, action that came immediately before
- an effective cue should be simple and clear and fall into only a few of the 5 categories. for example, a good cue for exercise could be to hit the gym at 4pm (a time cue), when you return home from work (preceding action cue)
- an activity becomes a habit only when mental activity decreases over time (so you’re not actively thinking about it)
- focus on keystone habits, which are habits that influence other habits. for example, a keystone habit in families is to eat dinner together. i find that meditating for 5 minutes is my keystone habit. it simply makes my day better: i am calmer, get more done, less rushed, more focused, etc etc
- “willpower is the most important keystone habit for success”
See my cheatsheet-summary-review here. If you want to change something annoyingly sticky in your life, read this book!