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Book-Summary - The Power of Habit - Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

Habit has 3 parts - a trigger which indicates the brain to analyse the situation and switch to automatic mode, the fixed steps that will be done as part of your habit and finally some reward for the habit. The reward determines whether habit needs to be retained or not. But once the habit is ingrained, reward does not matter. Even if the final result of doing the fixed steps leads to harmful effects, still our mind will do those steps. So, we can alter or stop these habits by doing small changes. By constantly observing the trigger and rewards of a habit we can take necessary steps to alter or stop these habits. To develop a habit, we need to identify the trigger which will make us start the routine and define what is the final reward of doing that routine. For a habit to sustain, we need a craving/desire to run this loop of habit - a cue, routine and reward. To develop a habit or to get out of the habit, we need to understand 3 things - what is the trigger or cue, what is the reward and finally what is the desire/reward which is driving this habit. Starting point or cue of the habit not only has to trigger the routine, it also needs to trigger the craving for the end result. Any product needs to give some form of output which will assure the consumer that it is working. Similarly, any habit we develop needs to indicate that it is working or getting some reward. You cannot extinguish a bad habit, but can only change it. We can change the habit by maintaining the same cue and same reward but we need to modify the routine part of it. Belief makes a habit as a permanent behaviour. A proper group will help to build the belief, as an individual he might have doubts but the good group can remove those doubts by strengthening the belief. In case of habits, there are  few key habits which on changing has a profound effect on other habits. So the key is to identify that  key habit and set it right. We should not be trying to fix each and everything  but rather identify few and fix them. In fixing or setting the keystone habits, concentrate on small wins. These small wins will influence other small changes which will lead to a transformative changes. These small wins generally will not be linear. if step x was success, it does not mean x+1 will succeed rather some random step y will succeed due to the step x. To change a habit and sustain it, we need willpower. Will power has limits. As you spend will power on things, you will have lesser will power of doing other things or abstaining from things.  Its a muscle which has its limit. To make a will power as habit, we need to train for it - decide on the situation or behaviour where you need to spend the will power and prepare yourself how you will be using the will power. If you think you are in control of the things or you are doing for a  personal reason and helping others then will power is sustained more but if you feel you are doing things because you are ordered to do it or you feel you are not in control then will power weakens. “When people are asked to do something that takes self-control, if they think they are doing it for personal reasons - if they feel like its a choice or something they enjoy because it helps someone else - its much less taxing. If they feel like they have no autonomy, if they’re just following orders, their willpower muscles get tired much faster.” In organisation, make sure employees have decision making authority, self control or enjoying their work, this will bring in lot of energy, focus and enthusiasm to work from the employees.  Organisations are guided by the organisational habits and these habits are developed based on each individual employees decision and decision making habits. “Leaders of an organisation need to cultivate habits that create real and balanced peace as well as make it absolutely clear who is in charge.” To make a new thing to be adopted by people, we need to make it familiar and the way to familiarise is via camouflage it as something which is already known i.e to adapt a new habit, dress it as an old habit. For any habit to stick or get adopted or change, we need to believe that we can change.  No matter how much you believe or how much we have will power, we will fall back to old habits. So we need to plan for such falls and relapses. What matters is how fast/early we identify the fall and take necessary steps to make sure those slips do not become a habit. The experimentation and failures are very important in long term habit making process.