The power of habit

Hello friends,
This is Sfd

Today I'm gonna tell you the book summary of    "THE POWER OF HABIT" by Charles Duhigg, in this book we learn how the habit work and how  can we make a new habit in our life.

So let's begin,

How Habits Work - The Reward Loop What are habits and how do they work? In the early 90s, at MIT, researchers started examining a part of the brain to see if it was related to habit: the basal ganglia. They conducted a study where rats were placed in a T-shaped maze behind a gate, and chocolate was placed at the other end of the maze. The rats couldn't see the chocolate, so once the gate opened with a clicking sound, they had to go forward and make a turn to get their chocolatey reward. 

This study (and others) revealed a concept called the reward loop. As the rats went through the maze time and time again, scientists could see a "habit loop" forming. The reward loop has three parts. For the rats, it started with a cue or trigger-the clicking gate, then the brain went into an automatic routine, and then there was a reward-the chocolate, which is how the rats' brains determined that the whole routine was worth learning. 

They also monitored the rats' brain activity and saw that, as the habit developed and grew stronger, their mental activity actually decreased! This demonstrates why habits exist. They allow the brain to relax. 

Habits are powerful: influencing the way we act, often without us even noticing. Only by paying close attention and learning to notice the cues and rewards our habits rely on, can we learn to change the routine.

How to Create New Habits Claude Hopkins became well-known in marketing for his explanation of how to create new consumer habits. His rules became widespread in the world of business, educational reform, and even among politicians. 

When his friend came to him, asking him to help sell a toothpaste called Pepsodent, Hopkins was skeptical. But once he agreed, and Pepsodent became a hit, making toothbrushing a popular new international habit, Hopkins would claim that he found a particular cue and reward, and "fueled a particular habit." He explained that "beautiful teeth" and a "pretty smile" was the reward. The routine? Brushing your teeth with Pepsodent. 

Once people started using Pepsodent, they started craving the feeling they got.. the cool, tingling sensation that Pepsodent gave them. That signaled the consumers that the toothpaste really works, so they began to anticipate that feeling. That sensation was the craving that drove the Pepsodent habit loop. 

We begin to anticipate the reward.. to crave it. That's what motivates us to form a new habit.

How habits determine our lives Although people tend to think that the choices they make every day are conscious decisions, the majority of the actions they take are actually led by habits. 

As the recent movement of understanding human and organizational habits has exploded, so has our interest in trying to understand how we can get rid of our own bad habits and adopt better, healthier ones. 

The Power of Habit explores individual stories and the stories happening in organizations to see how habits have influenced their success, all the while weaving in research that shows us just how complex habits are. 

Though habits vary widely from person to person -and from organization to organization-Charles Duhigg gives us great insight into the factors that influence people and organizations as they form new habits and, gives a fascinating insight into how they've successfully changed old habits.

Thanks for reading for more book summaries please comment or inbox

By - SFD