Power of Habit overview

I’ve bought this book some time ago and only recently spent time reading it. Overall it is a good book – reading it made me think of my habits and also the habits of my close ones.

When a habit occurs, the brain stops participating in making decisions – unless we actively fight against a habit (find other routines), this model will happen automatically. Habits are the brain’s way to save energy.

A habit is a formula our brain automatically follows: When I see CUE, I will do ROUTINE in order to get a REWARD.

The Habit loop: 1) signal/cue – activator that tells the brain to go “automatic” mode; 2) routine – physical/mental/emotional; 3) reward – whether this pattern/model is worth “saving” in the brain for the future. With time, the signal/routine/reward cycle becomes automatic.

The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it. […] Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine.

Some reflections so far:

Made me think of a few good questions to ask self: Is the action I’m about to do habituated or not? Is it a good or a bad habit? Do I need to perform additional calculations – are those worth the effort?
It also made me think how reading a few books or doing some actions triggers me to do metathinking – is that worth converting to a habit though, given its trade-offs?
We can see how a person socializes with others, what their habits are (the way they ask questions, etc.), and will learn tons about them.

Habits are powerful because their reward creates yearnings and expectations which reinforces the activation of the Habit loop.

Habits are ordered – some are more powerful than others. Powerful ones can cause a chain reaction and change other habits, giving them the possibility to come to the surface.

Habits make the organization’s culture, and they make hard decisions easier (e.g. firing a director, when a person disrupts the culture). Another example of habits at the organizational level is blindly following processes.

Willpower* and self-discipline** can become automatic habits – these are more important than IQ or other factors.

Sometimes it looks like people with great self-control aren’t working hard – but that’s because they’ve made it automatic

“The point of this experiment is to test taste perceptions,” a researcher told each student, which was untrue. The point was to force some students to exert their willpower.

Interesting how psychologists run experiments 🙂

When environmental cues said “we are friends” – a gentle tone, a smiling face – the witnesses were more likely to misremember what had occurred.

If [people] feel like they have no autonomy, if they’re just following orders, their willpower muscles get tired much faster. […] A standard way to measure willpower – paying attention to a boring sequence of flashing numbers requires a focus akin to working on an impossible puzzle.

How do you take advantage of someone’s habits without letting them know you’re studying every detail of their lives? – Target on customers’ data

There is evidence that a preference for things that sound “familiar” is a product of our neurology. – On mathematically calculating which songs would “stick”

“Hey Ya” wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t familiar so listeners would change the radio station without making a conscious decision.

“Hey Ya!” needed to become part of an established listening habit to become a hit. And to become part of a habit, it had to be slightly camouflaged at first

Another example of camouflage:

And we found out that as long as a pregnant woman thinks she hasn’t been spied on, she’ll use the coupons. She just assumes that everyone else on her block got the same mailer for diapers and cribs. As long as we don’t spook her, it works. – Target

The only way you get people to take responsibility for their spiritual maturity is to teach them habits of faith.

If you believe you can change-if you make it a habit-the change becomes real.

Framework:

Identify the routine (observe patterns, location/time/emotional state/other people)
Experiment with rewards
Isolate the signal
Have a plan

As a bonus, I skimmed the author’s second book – Smarter Better Faster:

According to studies, people who know how to self-motivate earn more money than their peers, report higher levels of happiness and are more satisfied with their families, jobs, and lives.
When people believe they are in control, they tend to work harder and push themselves more.
Motivation is triggered by making choices that demonstrate that we are in control.
Reactive thinking is at the core of how we allocate our attention, and in many settings, it’s a tremendous asset.
The downside of reactive thinking is that habits and reactions can become so automatic they overpower our judgment.
To become genuinely productive, we must take control of our attention, we must build mental models that put us firmly in charge. When you’re driving to work, force yourself to envision your day. While you’re sitting in a meeting or at lunch, describe to yourself what you’re seeing and what it means. Find other people to hear your theories and challenge them. Get in a pattern of forcing yourself to anticipate what’s next.
People who are particularly good at managing their attention are in the habit of telling themselves stories all the time. They engage in constant forecasting. They daydream about the future and then when life clashes with their imagination, their attention gets snagged.
Thinking “probabilistically” – questioning assumptions and accepting uncertainty.
Use the Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Time-bound framework to set goals and break them down into small chunks.