I have received a copy of The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg for the purposes of featuring this book as part of my Reading Resolution series, this post contains affiliate links.
When observing other peoples success it can be easy to shrug off as somehow they caught a break that wasn’t awarded to you or that they are an exception, a rare breed that others can not possibly live up to. It’s easy to tell yourself that no matter how much effort you put in, you couldn’t possibly achieve the results that others have.
This lets you off the hook, allows you to not try at all. It will keep you in your comfortable place that never challenges your habits, no matter how much potential you have to do something great. You have been doing things this way for your entire life so it’s easy to ask yourself the questions that always lets you off of the hook, Why start now?
We have all heard the phrase “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results” that has been credited to Einstein, Alcoholics Anonymous, and often, the actual dictionary. While I don’t know who said it first, I do know that after a quick google search to a credible place like Merriam-Webster dictionary you will find that actual definition is something a bit different.
While the first definition, a severely disordered state of the mind usually occurring as a specific disorder seems a bit harsh to describe this behavior pattern, the second definition fits better, something utterly foolish or unreasonable. That does a good job to describe the state of mind that one must be in to assume that they are not capable of changing their ways. After reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, I have started to see my own bad behaviors in a whole new way.
The Power of Habit explores why we do what we do in life and business by diving in deeper to different scenarios and lives, using science to understand how habits work, both positive and negative. As someone who enjoys observing other people and even predicting their behavior at times, learning about how habits work as well as how to go about breaking them, is very interesting. Changing our bad habits and replacing them with good habits seems like such a simple concept although it has proven to be one of the hardest things to get a grasp on. Understanding how our habits work may be the key to helping transform our negative habits into positive ones.
Maybe you want to lose weight or quit smoking. You may want to stop chewing your nails or maybe you want to start a reading resolution like myself and begin reading regularly. You may even want to get a better understanding of those around you to gain a new perspective on their habits, learn why they make the choices that they do.
The Power of Habit will help you tap into all of those things. Enter below for your chance to win a copy. Don’t forget to check out the book featured in January’s installment of my Reading Resolution or click here to learn what a Reading Resolution is and how you can benefit from it, too.
Sharon Freemantle
Wednesday 20th of February 2019
Sounds an interesting read