5-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business — Review

Rating: 9/10

Synopsis/idea: A non-fiction book about habits and how they’re formed, using intriguing and new examples of how habits are formed and maintain using unconventional examples.

Why I picked this off the shelf

Discussing routines and habits has been my central theme this year, so I was naturally attracted to this book!

Three (3) reasons to read this book

[1] Understanding the mechanics of habits

As advertised by a book entitled “The Power of Habit”, the secrets of habit formation as scientifically investigated were laid out intangible, relatable examples. It’s so simple that it all boils down to three steps:

• cue
• routine — I interpret this more as the behaviour, the “what you do”
• reward

As someone who has learned about Pavlov and conditioning for the longest time, I should know this like the back of my hand. Yet, sometimes I simplify it in my mind as simply cue and behaviour, forgetting that the reward is a key part of it. The structure of this 3-step process really supported the rest of the book.

This process within our brains is a three-step loop. First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use. Then there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional. Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future: THE HABIT LOOP. — Excerpt from book.

[2] Intriguing examples discussing the ethics of how habits are used in cases

The highlight of this book is how examples are extended into such interesting corners of behaviours we don’t even think of as habits. We go through an example of someone who has no long-term memories formed and how these conditioned habits can still exist despite not having explicit memories.

We learn about how Target knows and manipulates our habits before we even know it, with the shocking example of how Target knew a teen girl was pregnant before her father did. This was all through analyzing behavioural patterns and extrapolation based on purchasing behaviours. (Is this Black Mirror in real life, or what?)

Finally, there’s such an intriguing discussion on free will and habits using examples related to a murder related to sleep terrors and gambling — a discussion that still sets my brain spinning.

Two case studies form this chapter. One of the growing problems surrounding someone who became a compulsive gambler, the other noting the case of a man who murdered his wife, seemingly in his sleep during a bout of sleep terror. — Excerpt from Chapter 9 summary

[3] One small habit can lead to a large change

The final cool thing I absolutely loved about this book is how I grew alongside the content. There’s one example in the book about researchers asking individuals to start tracking their food intake, and how this one single habit blossomed into numerous other strategies for managing weight and diet.

In parallel, I saw how small habits blossomed. Writing daily Medium posts cascaded into ensuring that I have my daily morning pages, which tipped the dominos to building a regular journal article reading and dissertation writing for my PhD. They’re all seemingly unrelated, but setting up a system helped everything else fall into place.

One (1) thing I wish they did better

I might change this section to “what this left me curious about”. I think this book covered everything in a comprehensive way, leaving no stone unturned. But like point #3, each turned stone split into multiple other new stones, and I’m ready to learn so much more.

This book particularly highlighted a next step in reading about marketing and economics, particularly how behavioural patterns are being analyzed and used to predict consumer behaviour. It’s so dystopian but also so intriguing, because it takes all that I know about human behaviour, and then links it with money. So many stones to unturn!

Lucy (The Eggcademic) [she/her] would love to hear what you thought about this book, or whether you have any additional recommendations! She is currently tracking the rest of her book-related posts and reviews here: