The Power of Habit: more notes from one of my favorite books

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!

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