Yet again, as part of Faber series here we are with few excerpts from another Fab Business book “The Power of Habit” by Charles Duhigg.

“Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.” – Charles Duhigg.

The premise of the book is simple. we create and maintain habits to conserve mental energy so we can think about more complex and difficult issues. These habits can be good or bad or neutral, but once established. They never really leave us, but lurk, waiting to be rediscovered; and creating habits is straightforward, but choosing which habits to create isn’t.

In ‘The Power of Habit’, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg takes us to the thrilling edge of scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With penetrating intelligence and an ability to distill vast amounts of information into engrossing narratives, Duhigg brings to life a whole new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation.

There are 9 Key Learnings, which can be taken from this wonderful book

1: The habit loop – How habits work:

When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making. It stops working so hard, or diverts focus to other tasks. So unless you deliberately fight a habit – unless you find new routines – the pattern will unfold automatically.

2: The craving brain – How to create new habits:

Craving is what makes cues and rewards work. The craving is what powers the habit loop:

–          Find a simple and obvious
–          Clearly define the rewards.

3: The golden rule of habit change – Why transformation occurs:

You can never truly extinguish bad habits. Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine. That’s the rule; if you use the same cue, and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit. Almost any behavior can be transformed if the cue and reward stay the same.

4: Keystone Habits – Which habits matter the most:

Some habits have the power to start a chain reaction, changing other habits as they move through an organization. Some habits, in other words, matter more than others in remaking businesses and lives.

5: The habit of success – When willpower becomes automatic:

Willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success. Willpower isn’t just a skill. It is a muscle and it gets tired as it works harder, so there is less power left over for other things.

6: The power of crisis – Creating habits through accident and design:

It may seem like most organizations make rational choices based on deliberate decision making, but that’s not really how companies operate at all. Instead, firms are guided by long held organizational habits, patterns that often emerge from thousands of employees’ independent decisions.

7: When companies predict and manipulate habits:

The first things you see upon entering the grocery store are the fruits and vegetables arranged in attractive, bountiful piles. If we start our shopping sprees by loading up on healthy stuff, we´re much more likely to buy Doritos or frozen pizza when we encounter them later on.

8: How movements happen:

The behaviors that occur, unthinkingly, across dozens or hundreds or thousands of people, which are often hard to see as they emerge, but which contain power that can change the world. Social habits are what fill streets with protesters who may not know one another, who might be marching for different reasons, but who are all moving in the same direction

9: The neurology of free will – Are we responsible for our habits?

As our bodies move in and out of different phases of rest, our most primitive neurological structure – the brain stem – paralyzes our limbs and nervous system, allowing our brains to experience dreams without our bodies moving.

At its core, “The Power of Habit” contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work.

Compiled By : Faber Raveena Rathi & Faber Mayuri Pandya