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

Pulitzer Prize Winner Wrote This: Charles Duhigg won the Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting in 2013 for his work on Apple and the global economy, bringing that same investigative rigor to this exploration of habit science. He graduated from Yale University and Harvard Business School, combining academic excellence with real-world reporting chops.

Three Million Copies Sold: This instant classic has sold more than three million copies and spent over three years on The New York Times bestseller list. It's been translated into over 40 languages and was longlisted for the Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award in 2012.

The Habit Loop Revealed: The book introduces a simple yet powerful framework: every habit consists of three elements working together: a cue (the trigger), a routine (the behavior itself), and a reward (what your brain gets out of it). Understanding this neurological pattern is the key to changing any habit.

Habits Control 40% of Your Day: According to research featured in the book, more than 40% of your daily behaviors aren't actually conscious decisions but habits you automatically engage in without thinking. These automatic patterns have an enormous impact on your health, productivity, relationships, and overall happiness.

Nearly a Decade of Research: Duhigg spent nearly a decade researching and writing this book, interviewing over 300 scientists and executives to understand the science behind why habits exist and how they can be changed. The result is a masterful blend of cutting-edge research and captivating real-world stories.

From Pepsodent to Febreze: The book is packed with fascinating case studies, including how an early twentieth-century adman turned Pepsodent into the first bestselling toothpaste by creating the daily brushing habit, and how Procter & Gamble rescued Febreze from near-failure by understanding the habit loop and consumer cravings.

Keystone Habits Transform Everything: One of the book's most powerful concepts is the keystone habit, an individual pattern that unintentionally triggers other positive habits in people's lives. The book shows how focusing on just one keystone habit can create a chain reaction of positive change throughout your entire life or organization.

The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can't simply erase a bad habit, but you can replace it. The book reveals that if you keep the same cue and the same reward but change the routine in between, transformation becomes possible. However, belief is critical: people who don't believe in what they're doing will likely give up.

Real Companies, Real Transformations: The book takes you inside major organizations like Starbucks, Target, Alcoa, and NFL locker rooms to show how understanding habits can mean the difference between billion-dollar success and catastrophic failure. You'll discover how CEO Paul O'Neill raised Alcoa's market capitalization by $27 billion by focusing on one keystone habit: worker safety.

Willpower Is a Muscle: One of the most eye-opening insights is that willpower is the single most important keystone habit for individual success, and like a muscle, it can be strengthened through practice but also depleted through overuse. The book explores how organizations like Starbucks have built entire training programs around turning willpower into an automatic habit.

It Sparked a Training Course: The book's impact was so profound that in February 2020, Duhigg partnered with VitalSmarts to create The Power of Habit Training, a one-day course teaching people the science of habit formation and how to manipulate the habit loop to work in their favor.

Habits Never Truly Die: One of the most sobering revelations is that once your brain permanently stores a habit pattern, it's not possible to delete it. The neural pathways remain under the surface, waiting for cues to trigger them. This is why breaking bad habits requires replacing them rather than simply trying to eliminate them through willpower alone.