Kyle Chudzinski
08/5/2015
Professor Berg Book
Report – The Power of Habit
It
is often said that we are creatures of habit, meaning that our daily activities
are more of a routine than acts of pointless deliberation. Charles Duhigg suggests
that habits not only play a crucial part of our personal lives, but also have an
integral role in business and other organizations of which we’re a part of. He
also talks about how habits are at the heart of social movements and large
societies. Given that this is the specific case in his book, there is a world
of difference between good habits and bad. Getting our habits right can mean the
difference between success and failure in both our personal and professional
lives, and in the communities in which we live. Although out habits are deeply
ingrained, the author argues that there are effective ways to change our habits.
This book directly relates habits to business and personal life.
The
first portion of the book talks about the role habits play in our personal
lives. This is where the author discusses the habit loop consisting of cue,
routine, reward, and how we can modify the structure of the loop to modify out
habits. Here, we also learn about the power of what are known as “keystone”
habits. These are habits like eating together as a family and exercising. These
initiate a “domino effect” and touch on all other aspects of our lives. The
second half of the book deals with how habits shapes businesses and organization.
Here it’s discussed that the formation of habits and routines within
organizations is unavoidable. We also learn that keystone habits-which are at the
center of our personal lives, are also pivotal when it comes to larger
organizations. The greatest keystone habit of all is discussed, which is
willpower. It’s examined in great detail how this habit can be cultivated to
its fullest.
My favorite section
of the book by far was “The Habit Loop, How Habits Work.” I found this section
to be most appealing simply because it explained how habits work. In went into
full detail about their structure and how they are incorporated into everyday
life. The importance of such habits was the general message in this part of the
book. This section placed a heavy emphasis on conscious decision making and unconscious
behaviors which expressed habits. I also learned that a study was conducted in
2006 out of Duke University. It found that “more than 40 percent of the actions
people performed each day weren’t actual decisions, but habits. I really liked this
part of the book because I felt as if it gave me a behind the scenes look at
how everything comes together and works when it comes to habits. I really
enjoyed how it connected to our online lectures I class. This section touched a
little on habits that dealt with incentives. Incentives reinforce habits and
can encourage certain behaviors. The author discussed how habits that produce
bodily pleasure or incentives are one’s that can either become deeply ingrained
or keystone habits. These habits that produce rewarding incentives become
commonplace long lasting. I felt that I gained the most long lasting knowledge
from this part of the book and I can easily apply what I learned to the real
world.
I have pasted a
link form YouTube that gives a few major healthy business habits. It is a
recorded podcast from the Restoration Entrepreneur. The video is short, simple
and extremely informative. I really feel that this connects to the book
directly, it deals with habits and incentives.
Link is as follows:
I found this book
to be highly informative to both the average student and potential entrepreneur.
It connects so much to both personal life and business. This book used numerous
examples of businesses how successful habits have led them to greatness.
Organizations and businesses like the National Football Conference and
Starbucks. I would definitely refer to this book if I ever wanted to start a
business. This book can help one create successful business habits or improve a
business that is deteriorating. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece of literature
and thought it was phenomenal.
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