Book Review: Power of Habit

I was traveling out to Phoenix, AZ this week to work with UK Track and Field.

One of the things I like to do is download an audio book for the plane trips. This book is called "Power of Habit" by Charles Duhigg. This seems to be a popular choice as I saw it featured in Men's Journal and Outside Magazine.

It's a pretty interesting book combining both psychology, social interaction, athletics, health and the the reasons behind the Why.

Throughout the book Duhigg gives example after example of real life cases that reinforce the premise of his point.

The barebones of the Power of Habit is 3 steps. Cue, routine, reward. Understand and analyze the cue and reward and you can change your routine. You won't change the cue or reward.

To change a habit, belief is critical. Belief is much easier in a social setting. It can be as small as two people. This is a critical aspect in organizations like AA. I personally feel this is why Crossfit has become so popular. There is a community that people lack at work or in their personal life.

Figure out Keystone Habits. Maybe it's as simple as laying your workout clothes at night so they are right there when you wake up in the morning. When keystone habits change, other habits follow.

The book gives great examples from Alcoa, Starbucks, Michael Phelps, ect. It delves into will power and the science behind that. This was pretty interesting. More and more research is being done to understand will power.

One study showed that kids that could delay eating a marshmallow had greater success in other things. But, will power is not infinite. You have a reservoir, so understand what you use your will power on.

This was a worthwhile book, understand your cue, why you value that reward, get in some type of social circle that is congruent with what you want to accomplish, believe that it can be done, create small wins and "don't eat that marshmallow."




-train out pain-train in performance