Charles DuhiggThe Power of Habit is a work of nonfiction. Nonetheless, some names and personal characteristics of individuals or events have been changed in order to disguise identities. Any resulting resemblance to persons living or dead is entirely coincidental and unintentional.
Copyright © 2012 by Charles Duhigg
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Random House, an imprint of
The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Duhigg, Charles.
The power of habit : why we do what we do in life and business / by Charles Duhigg.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
eISBN: 978-0-679-60385-6
1. Habit. 2. Habit—Social aspects. 3. Change (Psychology) I. Title.
BF335.D76 2012
158.1—dc23 2011029545
Illustration on this page by Andrew Pole
All other illustrations by Anton Ioukhnovets
www.atrandom.com
v3.1
CONTENTS
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
PROLOGUE
The Habit Cure
PART ONE
The Habits of Individuals
1. THE HABIT LOOP
How Habits Work
2. THE CRAVING BRAIN
How to Create New Habits
3. THE GOLDEN RULE OF HABIT CHANGE
Why Transformation Occurs
PART TWO
The Habits of Successful Organizations
4. KEYSTONE HABITS, OR THE BALLAD OF PAUL O’NEILL
Which Habits Matter Most
5. STARBUCKS AND THE HABIT OF SUCCESS
When Willpower Becomes Automatic
6. THE POWER OF A CRISIS
How Leaders Create Habits Through Accident
and Design
7. HOW TARGET KNOWS WHAT YOU WANT BEFORE YOU DO
When Companies Predict (and Manipulate) Habits
PART THREE
The Habits of Societies
8. SADDLEBACK CHURCH AND THE MONTGOMERY BUS BOYCOTT
How Movements Happen
9. THE NEUROLOGY OF FREE WILL
Are We Responsible for Our Habits?
APPENDIX
A Reader’s Guide to Using These Ideas
Acknowledgments
A Note on Sources
Notes
PROLOGUE
The Habit Cure
She was the scientists’ favorite participant.
Lisa Allen, according to her file, was thirty-four years old, had started smoking and drinking when she was sixteen, and had struggled with obesity for most of her life. At one point, in her mid-twenties, collection agencies were hounding her to recover $10,000 in debts. An old résumé listed her longest job as lasting less than a year.