The Power of Habit: Influence Willpower

For this paper, I will summarize and reflect the work of Charles Duhigg. This book contains many experiences that are followed by experiments to help support its claims by Duhigg. Habits are a huge part of our everyday life, Duhigg will be pointing out how easily habits are formed, how we can change them, how often habits surround our life, and will also be giving insight on the challenges others have face due to habits created. This book will not only inform you but will also encourage you to reflect on your own habits that you have formed and how to change them. I hope that I was able to capture the main points from this book and provide a few examples of experiments to further support Duhigg claims. I also hope it sparks an interest to want to read the entire book, it is an incredible book to reflect on, as I have in this paper.

Chapter 1 How Habits Work

Eugene was an elderly suffering from brain damage, it was slowly deteriorating his brain. Eugene went into a coma for about ten days, but he was back. His recovery was phenomenal at the beginning however he was struggling. Eugene would do tasks more than once. He would wake up, cook, eat then repeat as if he hadn’t already done it. Eugene had trouble with short-term memory loss and some long-term memory loss. Larry was educated in neurology and vowed to study what was happening in Eugene’s brain because of a similar case he was studying. Larry was studying another person named Henry Molaison, who had similar neuroimages as Eugene however their behavior was completely different. H.M was suffering from seizures; he was given surgery to remove the hippocampus to potentially limit the seizures. H.M had memory loss and could not remember certain things but could remember his mom, and historical events from the past. There was something odd about Eugene, although the same part of the brain was impacted both patients had completely different personalities. Eugene was capable of holding a conversation, he could remember and seem normal however H.M was so fascinated by everything “new” to him that he couldn’t behave like the average person. This is where habits come into play, Eugene could remember habits such as greeting people when they enter, washing your hands after the bathroom, or remembering to turn the faucet off however he couldn’t remember how he got out of bed that morning. The weird thing was that Eugene could remember his way back home every day when he took a walk, but he never could remember that his wife told him to stop. He was then escorted by an individual and when they went on the walk together Eugene was unable to recall how to get back home but he could show you. It is crazy that his brain was retaining the information, but he was unable to verbalize it. How was he retaining these patterns? Testing Eugene was about to open so many doors to understanding why he behaves the way he does and how other people behave the way they do as well. Habits were described as everyday activities such as brushing your teeth or parking in the driveway. In the 1990s researchers began to work with habits and understand how they form. They began studying the basal ganglia, they compared the brain to an onion. Layers are memory, the outside layer is the new added on the information. Inside the brain are structures that control eating behaviors, breathing, and responses to events. Toward the center/front of brian is the basal ganglia that apparently might play a role in Parkinson’s disease and diseases in general and potentially the underlying structure involved with habits. Researchers found that when the basal ganglia were impaired the animals had a hard time remembering how to get through a maze they had already done. They created a new maze and out chocolate on one side as a reward however they found no patterns, the rats were just roaming around and eventually would find the reward, but it would take them some time to find it. However, when the researchers studied the neuroimages they found loads of activity in the basal ganglia. Researchers conducted the experiment over and over and found a decline in brain activity as the rat would think less each round. In conclusion, the basal ganglia stored habits, it was the structure that could recall any patterns that were made before. This was the reason Eugene was capable of remembering how to get back home, he was the rat and the chocolate was his home. “chunking” is the term coined when the brain works fast and efficiently in the beginning however through the experiment rounds the brain activity decreases and the actions become automatic. Routines are made by habits; we are able to perform routinely tasks as well as remember other things because of our ability to create habits that are automatic. Habits are formed to make the brain work less, it keeps are brain from constantly thinking about how to walk, eat or breathe instead the habits store this information so that we don’t have to think about it. A three-step loop was concluded, it was a signal made that told the brain which pattern needed to be used so that the brain can eventually “turn off”, then a routine in which the task is done and then there’s the reward which is the end of completing the task. The main idea of habits was that once the brain creates a pattern for a task it becomes a habit and the entire brain is no longer needed to complete the task.

Chapter 2 How to Create New Habits

Claude C. Hopkins was a marketing man, he could sell anything with a small punch line that captured the attention of many. In this section, Claude had the ability to raise toothpaste sales in a time where the toothpaste was never even thought of as “useful” How did he do so? Claude created a craving of toothpaste; this craving was actually a cue that would lead to a routine and a reward of having good-looking teeth. That was the cue, Claude’s famous line was the film that is on your teeth. He stated that using toothpaste will take that film off and make your teeth appear cleaner and whiter. As a psychologist, Hopkins coined two important rules: the cue that is obvious and the reward that is clear. The cue was the film and the reward was a nice smile. However, there was one more mystery rule that Hopkins did not discover that would later be discovered in another product: Febreze. They were trying to create a spray that would remove odors not just mask them. HPBCD was the chemical that removed the smells from fabrics, it was now time to get it approved and on the market with the name; Febreze. Remember Claude Hopkin's two rules? Well, Stimpson now had to meet those rules. He needed to find a cue that would make a buyer want the product. They created a small commercial for pet odor, but it didn’t work. They tested again and found that the reason people were buying the spray was that most people were unaware their home even smelled. Wolfram Schultz was a scientist who took part in monkey studies of pulling levers and studying the brain of the monkeys, which lead him to finding that an individual who is rewarded will automatically be aware of the reward so they’ll wait for it but when the reward is lagged, the individual will become depressed from withdrawal. his team wanted to understand what part of the brain controlled what. There was another set of monkeys who were tested similar however there were distractions in place. It was concluded that a habit must be formed without impediments in the way. Habit come from a craving; a craving initiates the habit response to continue cycling. How does this habit associate in the real world? Exercising can become a habit but how. They craved the reward, the reward of feeling good about themself after. A cue must be made, whether its tying your shoes or grabbing your water something to initiate the routine of exercising and the final reward of accomplishment. Back to the Febreze commercial, they recorded hundreds of families cleaning and analyzed each video to find habit cues. Eventually, they found it, in every video after a person cleaned up, they showed a sign of pleasure or relief after spraying the room with Febreze. Febreze was the routine, cleaning was the cue and the reward was a relief. Instead of targeting homes with bad smells, they targeted the entire community. So how did Hopkins, the pepsodent inventor have such high sales? it contained citric acid that gave it the minty taste that no other toothpaste. The minty taste was being craved, if It wasn’t there, they would automatically feel like their teeth weren’t clean and they wanted that feeling of cleanliness. The habit loop is a lifestyle, in every habit, a craving is needed to continue the habit.

Chapter 3 The Golden Rule of Habit Change

Tony Dungy believed that he could change a player’s habits by placing new routine in place. He was influenced by the Golden Rule. It was a rule that changed the routine rather then the cue and reward. It maintained the old reward and cue. The Golden Rule is an extremely useful tool to people suffering from bad habits. Dungy was officially hired by the Buccaneers. His belief came to a reality, the team was on its way to the big leagues. However, that did not happen until he was able to instill his belief in each player. The buccaneers struggled, but soon got a grip of the ropes. Upshaw, one of his players demonstrated his belief first. He was taught cues on certain stances of his opponent and he was quickly able to react automatically rather than decision making. The opponents turn over and start struggling because as Dungy mentioned, they started to think about their next move, and they hesitated their moves which gave the buccaneers enough time to react automatically. They were in their spots at the right time, they ended up winning because of their habitual responses that the coach instilled in each of them. Dungy’s tactic was successful in football, he was constantly called from other coaches to help implement the tactics. Isn’t crazy how habits are even useful in sports? The ability to manipulate habits so that the player becomes successful on the field still blows my mind. Not only was is the coach’s part but also the player, the player had to believe in change. So, in other words, we must believe we can break or change habits if we don’t then we always be stuck in our old habits. All this is even more successful with a group. A group that supports you and makes you believe that if they can do it so can you. One big reason Bill Wilson was important to this section was that he was suffering from alcohol addiction. His relationship, his friends, and his job. AA was a program that is still implemented today that helps with addiction, it’s a community that supports and provides insight on the challenges that others face. It’s a program that enforces individuals to find the cue and the rewards. Alcohol is a craving as we mentioned before a craving initiates a habit. The reward is the feeling of being less on edge, free-floating. AA encourages the individual to develop new routines so that the brain no longer craves a drink. It’s a useful program that enables individuals to break away from an addiction, its not a licensed therapy practice however they do work in ways to make you feel at ease and comfortable to make transitions in your life. The brain is capable of breaking habits by changing routines. For example, if you can’t stop biting your fingers you track when you have the urge, you have to track the cue, what makes you want too? Is the big question. Soon enough you will replace that urge by writing it down to where it no longer bothers you anymore. Habits are created because of the reward, the stimulation, or the pleasure. Its what we crave so we are quick to make it a habit so that we get that reward. The Golden Rule is all about replacement, replacing that old habit with a new habit but with the help of a support group and belief in yourself that you are in fact capable of change.

Chapter 4 Keystone Habits, or The Ballad of Paul O'Neill

Paul O'Neill believed in the power of chain reaction habits. So, what are keystone habits? They are habits that influence everything around them. The food, their job, their personal relationships. Habits can shift and alter, but that is a keystone habit. We all know of Micheal Phelps, he was an Olympian who apparently developed a habit for his swimming career. He had a routine, his diet, his workout his practice plan all of it was a part of a habit he created from a routine. The point of the habit is created by “small win” what does that mean? They are apart of keystone habits that change over time. This is a perfect example to use Phelps in, Phelps was challenged every day to be better and to do better these are sort of like small wins. When you accomplish something it’s a small win that pushes you to do even better the next time. So, it’s like replacing an old habit with a new that improves your skills. Think if small wins as a stair case, you reach one by one to get to your main goal. Each step is an accomplishment and a closer step to your goal. Keystone habits are more for good habits, they encourage good habits to occur. Micheal was being interviewed and it was crazy to hear what he had to say, he said that before a competition he doesn’t think. His mind is clear, and his habits that he’s been practicing for so long is now intact. He has an automatic response, even when his goggles became blurry Micheal was calm because he practiced for this. He was already conditioned and created a habit of knowing exactly what to do in this situation. In O'Neills business an incident occurred that killed a fellow employee. However, because of keystone habits, O'Neill and his team analyzed the videotapes in which there was an error. Policies were changed and new habits were implemented. They had the resources to change and employees were now following those new policies which created a new routine for them. Keystone habits are essential in school and work or personal life. They encourage change for the better, they implement a new style to perform better than they did before.

Chapter 5 Starbucks and the Habit of Success

Travis was born in a home where drug abuse occurred significantly. However, he was lifted by a single person who saw something more than just a troubled boy. He began his job at Starbucks, that was the fist step into a changed life. He became successful and turned his life around from being in the dumps, angry and withering away he soon flourished. Travis had the willpower. He was capable of looking beyond the commented of others and pushing himself to succeed no matter what. He instilled this in his employees as well. How does this play inhabits though? Will power creates a habit, having the energy to do it and not coming up with an excuse is willpower. Eventually, that willpower encourages habits to erupt. They say that willpower occurs automatically, by changing the way you think. One of Travis’s employees began to cry over a customer comment, but he pulled her aside and let her know to have willpower. To know that those words mean nothing and to continue on. That choice to ignore it and to have the willpower to continue moving forward is a learned automatic response. It is all about self-discipline, training your mind to look beyond your personal emotions. An experiment was done to test a person’s willpower and you won’t believe the effect it has on not just one aspect but many. The experiment tested children and their ability to hold back. They were given an option to have one marshmallow now or to have two in a few minutes. Some waited some didn’t, later on the researchers asked for the same children to come back. They found that students who waited had better grades, better relationships, a better lifestyle because they had willpower. The ability to have willpower influenced their decisions. Willpower was questioned they concluded that it was a muscle not a skill. How was it a muscle? If you use to much willpower you become exhausted faster. In the cookies vs. radish experiment the individuals stuck eating a radish had to use more willpower to resist the cookie so when they had to do the puzzle, they became frustrated faster because more willpower was used. Another flaw in willpower was found, not only did muscle influence it but also attitude. Another experiment was created to see how this affected willpower. One group was treated with respect and asked politely to do so while another group was not and was demanded to do so. When the time came for the “quiz” the ones who were demanded to do so did poorly and the ones who were asked politely excelled. This brought me to the conclusion that in order for someone to have a strong willpower they must also be in a respectable environment. If they feel ask if they HAVE to do it, they are less likely going to. Willpower is a muscle and its affected by attitude. Its not an attained skill, but once it becomes a habit it becomes an automatic response in the case of a having the energy and being respected in their environment. Which is why Starbucks flourished in customer service, because they taught willpower to their employees.

Chapter 6 The Power of a Crisis

Its hard to hear that even in medical care there are people who have destructive habits that can potentially put a patient at risk. Sometimes its hard for authority to put down that hat and be more self-aware of the decision they are making. There is also the handful that emerges from medical care that actually want what’s best for the patient and will hold others accountable for their destructive habits. The hospital had a huge downfall of mistakes, however, the chief took the crisis and turned it around to create organizational habits for the company. I know at this point it’s unclear what organizational habits are but they create boundaries but also recognize when it’s safe to step up in a time of crisis rather than shying away from it because “authority” said no. the chief trained the medical care employees to not only find truce, maintain authority it also to know when its appropriate to step in a case of crisis. All companies work based off organizational habits; these habits are created from employees’ independent decisions that help the company as a whole, we will discuss how these are implemented later. The habit loop and creating a routine with the company helps employees maintain peace between each other but also get their part of the job done efficiently and—better. How was this implied in the medical case earlier? A corrupt routine was intact within the field of medicine, doctors grasped authority over nurses and belittled the nurses. This was a routine they established over time that became the norm. If the head of the department set a boundary between burses and doctors, set a peaceful environment then destruction and careless mistakes would not occur. An organization will not be successful with just a balance, but it must have the “right” balance. For example, doctors do have more authority as far as patient care so that must be set clear however to an extent. It should be clear but not hostile. However, there can be a downfall to this “truce.” There was a tragic incident that occurred on a train, the train caught on fire but as mentioned before each employee had a role and was instructed to not overstep. So, when the fire came, erupted and killed 31 people it was clear that a truce was not always beneficial for everyone involved. Remember organizational habits? Here’s were that comes into play, they are habits created to first assign authority however it is also to benefit everyone involved. Regarding the fire, each employee should have been aware of who authority is but also make rational decisions that would benefit the train operators and the passengers on the train. Crisis can sometimes be beneficial, as rough as that may sound it is true. Crisis mold habits, they create organizational habits and positively impact the organization as a whole.

Chapter 7 How Target Knows What You Want Before You Do

It is all about buying habits, Andrew Pole was hired to figure out the statistics behind shopping habits. Stores are organized not just randomly; every single item has been strategically placed. It is funny how the vegetables and fruits are right at the front of the store but according to statistics they say that this welcomes in more profit because as you move throughout the rest of the store you’ll see junk food and are most likely to purchase that right after you filled your basket with healthy items. Pole was highly interested in pregnant women, its crazy how much information can be grabbed about you by a database based off your spending habits. Target quite literally targeted pregnant women, its where their revenue came from. New families expecting were more likely to purchase more, they want easy and efficient so Target having diapers and milk and then a carton of orange juice or snacks they are sure to buy both because its “there.” Target analyzes your habits and uses them to send you coupons or discounts on items that you purchase on the daily basis. Another way of habits peeking through it through music. Studies were tested to examine why some songs were praised and others were disliked. It was concluded that people are prone to enjoy music that sounded familiar. Music on the radio did not sound the same but they sounded familiar, the brain was anticipating music that sounds familiar so when it hears a song its okay. It’s called sticky music, its music that sticks in your brain throughout time. If a song was unfamiliar people hated it. our brains crave things that are familiar to us whether its music or even food. How was it that stores, and restaurants were booming in sales? They were strategic in how they manipulated habits. Having familiarity in items manipulated your habits, when a recognizable cue is triggered a routine is intact and the reward is established from it being familiar to something you knew of before. The take-home message as that if you want to implement a new habit dress up the old one, make it sound familiar and boom, there’s the manipulation inhabit. So next time your trolling through life think about what habits are being manipulated without you even knowing. We found that music stations use the familiarity tactics, stores and not just Target, even foods are presented in way that makes it sound familiar so that you are more prone to try it. the organization already knows what you want before you even have to say anything, it’s all the continuous habits.

Chapter 8 Saddleback Church and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Everyone knows the story of Rosa Parks; however, did you know this was a form of social habit? It was a social habit that was about to change segregation, it was the start of a movement. Movements are actually said to stem from social habits, how so? Rosa Parks was apart of a community that was constantly being suppressed so everyone who was like her also felt the same way. This created a community of people who were willing to stick up for one another, so it became a social habit to follow her lead. For a movement to be successful however there are three key factors, there must be a tight community of people, the community must grow as a whole and finally because it gives that specific community a sense of self, as though they are important, and their movement is powerful. Having a strong relationship with your peers can lead to a strong movement these however are called strong ties. There are also weak ties, not meaning they are rivals but people who generally are not affected by the suppression. Weak ties are for example if you see some people you know protesting you will too. If you see someone you know being treated unfairly, you’ll step in. That’s how these protests work to this day still, it’s not just the community being affected but people who empathize. For example, today we have the LGBTQ community, right? Sometimes there are protest for legality of same-sex marriage. Some people do not define themself as LGBTQ, just heterosexual. When they see some of their friends being pushed around or treated unfairly. They are the weak tie that will advocate for the LGBTQ community. Sometimes this can be seen as peer pressure though. I’ll explain how it can be looked as that. In the example, if your friend is being treated unfairly sometimes you might be a person who doesn’t interfere with conflict however you feel pressured to do so because hey that’s your friend stick up for them. Peer pressure isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. Although peer pressure targets mainly weak ties it’s an encouraging factor in both weak and strong ties to get the entire community going in a movement as a whole. A social habit is formed by these weak and strong ties coming together to build/encourage a movement to better the community.

Chapter 9 The Neurology of Free Will

Angie created a habit loop for the casino, the craving was a feeling of numbness from all the pain. The cue was the arguments and the feeling lonely, which led to the routine of hitting the casino, the reward was the money and the feeling of satisfaction. An experiment was done to further gather information on how the casino habit was created. The answer was “near misses” what does that mean? It means that an addicted gambler does not look at the loss of money as a complete loss, near misses were an almost win. It gave them the confidence to try again because they were “so close”. To a non-gambler, the near-miss was a complete loss so eventually, they topped because there was no good to come from the next time. The basal ganglia and the brian stem were important in this finding, it’s where the habit is formed and maintained.

Habits can also be formed unconsciously, for example, sleepwalking. What else would explain why people wake up every night to walk outside or eat etc. In a murder case, a man accidentally killed his wife during sleep, although he was persecuted, they rule that we are not always responsible for our habits. As we switch from unconscious to conscious our brain is said to be constantly working. For Angie, it was a conscious habit but for Thomas it was unconscious. It is sad to see that both had different outcomes even though their actions were formed based on habits. I understand that it was an accident and unintentional so I can see how it is fair. Angie made her decision to continue her bad habit, yet Thomas did too because he didn’t get enough therapy or anything to help him overcome sleepwalking so maybe we should hold him accountable? However, that is hard to say that when Thomas didn’t want to hurt his wide, he loved her, and Angie wanted to go to the casino and feel the pleasure of gambling. So, in way yes it fair. Both made claims on their behalf that they formed habits, but only one we can sympathize for. Habits are formed unconsciously and consciously but only YOU can change them. They’ll be hard to break but with determination to fix the old habit, a new habit will form. Belief in yourself to overcome a bad habit it essential, if you believe that you can break the habit you will. We have the ultimate decision when it comes to our choices for our life, if we vow to change our ways, we will achieve that however if you don’t believe you can you won’t get far. Habits surround us every day, the choice we make eventually becomes a habit good or bad, and its our job to break the bad ones and replace them with good one, but only we can implement those changes.

Charles Duhigg did such an amazing job as capturing the audience and bringing them forth to understand the concept of habits. I’ve learned so much from this book, I learned that habits aren’t just addictions however the choices we make every day that lead us to make that same choice the next day. I have struggled trying to create a habit of going to the gym every day, but I just can’t, I realized it’s because I have no cue that initiates the habit. So next time around I am going to implement a cue and add a reward like a protein shake to help me crave the protein shake. The most important thing I have learned in this book was that we have the control in our life, we make the decisions and we are capable of change as long as we believe in ourselves. Belief and willpower are two important aspects that inhabit changing, and I think it is essential that we first believe in ourselves and secondly that we carry the willpower to push forward in every circumstance. Our life is filled with habit forming, where we see it or not habits create our daily routines, the cup of coffee I have every morning is a habit. It is crazy how big habits play a part in our personal life, at work, at school, in relationships, and even in friendships. Reading this book really made me reflect on the habits I have formed since a child both good and bad, now that I am capable of knowing the habit loop I can potentially change some bad habits by finding what triggers the craving and what is the reward that I apparently look for. As long as I believe in myself, I can manipulate my habits into good ones.