The Power of Habit: By Charles Duhigg

Barrett Sykes

Professor Staples

PY 101

6 November 2014

Reading Comprehension Paper

The Power of Habit: by Charles Duhigg

According to Merriam-Webster the word habit means “a behavior pattern acquired by frequent repetition or physiologic exposure that shows itself in regularity or increased facility of performance”. In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg lets us know habits are not permanent. We can replace our bad habits by good habits that relate. Our body will have trouble adapting at first, but it will gradually become easier. The process becomes second nature eventually and the bad habit becomes replaced by what we want to keep doing in life. We are in control of our lives, and with a little willpower, strength and patience, we can change our lives into what we want it to be.

The chapter on Starbucks is definitely focused on willpower. Willpower is the ability to control yourself physically and mentally. It is what allows you to do something difficult like run a marathon, or quit smoking. Having a tiny amount of willpower can go a long way. Duhigg goes on to introduce us to two Starbucks employees. One is a store manager and the other is a bit more important, Howard Schultz, Owner and Founder of Starbucks. Neither of them would be where they are today without willpower and determination. He studied experiments in which he concluded that willpower was like a muscle and if it’s overworked, after a while it will eventually tire out. He also looks at Megan Oaten and Ken Cheng’s experiments in which they concluded that once people build one good habit, it would create a chain reaction and have them spill over other parts of their lives, it is like working out the willpower muscles. People are changing their lack of self-discipline. Further, Duhigg highlights the fact that in order to have strong willpower, people must expect the unexpected; they must anticipate the turning point where things could go wrong and how to react to the unknown. The chapter concludes with people having the need to have a sense of voice; if they feel like they don’t have autonomy, their bodies automatically shut down and their willpower gets lost somewhere in between that process. Finally the chapter highlights the fact that no matter how smart or good people are at doing something, if they don’t have self-discipline, it won’t have the same effect as a person who does.

Duhigg uses the term “habit loop” and discusses it as a three part process, the first being cue. For example, in the company of other chronic coffee drinkers; when one of them initiates the routine of brewing I am obliged to join. Once the cue has been realized, the habit takes its actual form. Duhigg dubbed this second element of the loop the “routine”,