Book Review: The Power of Habit

The power of habitI just finished reading the book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do In Life And Business by Charles Duhigg (Random House 2012).

It is a fascinating study of human behavior and why people do what they do.

Duhigg uses real life examples like a sleep walker who unknowingly murdered his wife, a housewife who gambled away a $1,000,000 inheritance, as well as success stories of Starbucks and Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church to paint a persuasive picture of how the power of habits to determine our destinies.

If the book stopped there it would be interesting but hardly helpful. Instead, Duhigg goes further by dissecting the habit loop so the reader can learn how habits develop and how they can be successfully reprogrammed.

Duhigg even includes a step-by-step example from his own life at the end of the book that shows how he broke a habit by understanding the cue, routine and reward components of a habit loop.

This is not a Christian book (whatever that is), but it is a book Christians should be interested in reading because Christians should be interested in personal transformation. Becoming more like Jesus means losing bad habits consistent with our corrupt nature and taking on good ones consistent with the character of Christ.

I suspect many will find this book very helpful, others will find it life-changing, but I believe all will find it interesting and engaging. GS

 

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