Blinkist: Don’t know what the “Power of Habit” is about? Watch the guide and decide if you want to buy it, or not (video in Armenian)
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. Duhigg turned his own experience into a collection o
Usually our New Year's resolutions have to do with either making or breaking habits. Like “I’m gonna start hitting the gym every morning” or “I’m going to stop smoking”. But what actually is a habit?
A habit consists of a cue, a routine and a reward. First, you sense an external cue, say noticing that the bus is a few minutes late. Next, comes the routine, meaning the activity that you’re usually performing when faced with a particular cue. Waiting for the bus you might light up a cigarette to kill time. Finally, you get a reward, in this case a hit of nicotine.
This reward strengthens the mental link between the cue and the routine. It’s craving the reward that makes habits hard to break, but it can be done. The key is not to resist the craving, but to redirect it. So, instead of lighting up a cigarette at the bus stop, make up a new routine that leads to a pleasurable reward in the end. For instance, you could listen to music.
So how do you make use of this insight? If you want to adopt a new habit, be sure to give yourself a reward at the end of the activity. Otherwise, you will always struggle.
Share
