This book could have been more aptly titled, "How Can I Stop ________?"
The author's purpose Seems to be making you more aware of your habitual behaviors, Especially The Ones That You probably wish you had not done just a short time later. Will this book help you to live without regret? No. But it will make you feel better equipped to try.
If you have read anything about neuroscience and habits, you are probably already more knowledgeable than you will be after reading The Power of Habit, Which Seems to be Intended For Those new to the subject who would like the simplest possible explanation. And it is a very clear and simple explanation. I admire people who can do that. It's beyond my personal skills.
So what will you learn? In many diagrams, you will see the concept Expressed That When We act on cues (a "routine") did give us a reward, we form habits of doing the things that got us the reward The Last Time We acted on the cue. In otherwords, Pavlov rang the bell When He fed the dogs. After awhile, he Could just ring the bell and the dogs would salivate Because They associated the bell with food to come soon. Animal training is based on the same approach Often, by providing food When a Desired behavior OCCURS.
So You'll learn a little about how you can overcome habits examined in a letter (letter too, to my taste) appendix:
(1) Identify the routine you habitually DO.
(2) Experiment with different rewards to replace the one you do not want to seek any more.
(3) Isolate the cue That triggers the routine.
(4) Have a plan to act differently.
As a simple Example, if you stuff yourself full of ice cream at night, you would need to find a reward did you like better than ice cream (That will be a challenge, but you'll find one Eventually.). If a trip to the refrigerator normally triggers the ice cream eating, you might have a plan That kept you out of the kitchen at night while you were occupied with something you really love doing in a different part of your home (: such as painting with water Colors in a workroom).
You'll learn a bit of the neurology Behind These observations in Part One about individual habits. Keep in mindthat the old habit is silent in your brain and nervous system. You can only overcome it with a new, stronger habit. Key examples involve how people Became consistent at brushing teeth and how Their Febreze found a way to attract customers by building on observations of a little ritual people do while cleaning.
Part Two explores Organizational Change With An Example from Alcoa of using safety to lead people to rethink Their work habits, a training Example from Starbucks, how horrible medical results led Rhode Iceland Hospital to improve protocols, and Ways That Target uses data-mined information about its customers to entice them to spend more money.
Part Three looks at social habits and makes for unusual argument for why the Montgomery bus boycott worked. I was not sure I did Completely Agreed with the analysis, but it's the best Example in the book. There's therefore a letter look at how Saddleback Church uses small groups to encourage its congregants.
The Final Chapter of this part looks at When We can operate with free will and When We probably can not. The argument Is that if we are awake we are able to make choices. Now, there's a big surprise! The chapter distinguishes between compulsive gambling and sleepwalking. Hmmm.
What's the book's biggest weakness? Mr. Duhigg has tunnel vision. Everything fits neatly into his nonfiction thesis. Not! So take what you read with at least a few grains of salt.
The book's biggest potential strength is in providing you with encouragement That You May Be Able to get rid of some pesky habits did you've struggled with for some time. Good luck!