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Habits are powerful forces that shape our behavior from "summary" of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life & Business by Charles Duhigg
Habits are powerful forces that shape our behavior. They are the choices that all of us deliberately make at some point, and then stop thinking about but continue doing, often every day. According to neurologists, habits emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort. The brain can't tell the difference between bad and good habits, so it works to create habits for any routine that is repeated consistently. This process is known as "chunking," where the brain converts a sequence of actions into an automatic routine. Habits are powerful because they create neurological cravings. This is why habits are so difficult to change. They are the brain's way of ensuring that we repeat the same actions, over and over, without thinking about them. To change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine. This is known as the Golden Rule of habit change. By understanding how habits work, we can learn how to change them. One way to change a habit is to identify the cues and rewards that drive the habits' routines. By experimenting with different rewards, we can isolate what we are actually craving. For example, if you feel a craving to smoke when you see someone else smoking, it's not the cigarette you want, but the companionship. By identifying the cue and reward, we can change the routine. This is known as "craving" in habit terms. Habits are powerful because they can be changed. By understanding how habits work, we can learn how to change them. This is known as "keystone habits. " Keystone habits are small changes or habits that people introduce into their routines that unintentionally carry over into other aspects of their lives. By identifying and changing keystone habits, we can change our lives for the better.
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