The Power of Habit

Outline

The Power of Habit (2012) explains the science behind why habits exist and how they can be changed. Charles Duhigg describes the habit loop of cue, routine, and reward, and uses stories from companies, sports teams, and social movements to show how individuals and organisations transform their behaviour. The book offers a practical framework for replacing bad habits, building keystone habits, and creating lasting change.

• Every habit runs on a loop of cue, routine, and reward, and seeing that loop is the first step to changing it.
• Bad habits are usually replaced rather than erased, by working with the loop that already drives them.
• Keystone habits are certain habits that can set off wider change in how a person or organisation behaves.
• Duhigg draws on stories from companies, sports teams, and social movements to show how behaviour is transformed.
• The book offers a practical framework for replacing bad habits and creating change that lasts.

Charles Duhigg is an American journalist and author who spent many years as a reporter for The New York Times. He was part of a team awarded the Pulitzer Prize for explanatory reporting in 2013. His books, including Smarter Faster Better and Supercommunicators, apply research from psychology and neuroscience to productivity and human connection.