The Power of Habit — Charles Duhigg

Named one of the best books of the year by The Wall Street Journal — Financial Times NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A young woman walks into a laboratory. Over the past two years, she has changed almost every aspect of her life. She quit smoking, ran a marathon and got a promotion at work. Neurologists discovered that the patterns inside her brain had fundamentally changed. Procter & Gamble marketers study videos of people making their beds. They are desperately trying to figure out how to sell a new product called Febreze, which could become one of the biggest failures in the company’s history. Suddenly, one of them discovers an almost imperceptible pattern, and after a small change in advertising, Febreze continues to make a billion dollars a year. An untested CEO takes over one of America’s largest companies. His first task is to attack his employees’ only model of approach to safety, and soon Alcoa becomes the leader of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. What do all these people have in common? They have achieved success by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of our lives.They managed to change their habits. In The Power of Habit, award-winning New York Times business reporter Charles Duhigg introduces us to exciting scientific discoveries that explain why habits exist and how they can be changed. With a penetrating intellect and the ability to distill vast amounts of information into compelling narratives, Duhigg brings to life an entirely new understanding of human nature and its potential for transformation. Along the way, we learn why some people and companies find it difficult to change despite years of trying, while others seem to change themselves overnight. We visit laboratories where neuroscientists study how habits work and where exactly they are located in our brains. We’ll learn how good habits played a critical role in the success of Olympic sports.