THE POWER

OF HABIT
Champions don’t do extraordinary things;
They follow the habits they’ve learned.

Charles Duhigg
MEMORIZATION BOOKLET
 WHY YOU NEED TO FILL OUT THIS BOOKLET!
Why you need to fill out this booklet!
Theory is useless compared to action.
This booklet is what will separate you from every-
one else.
The science is unequivocal: Learning science has
shown that retention increases dramatically when
new information is immediately recalled (verbally or
via writing), as well as when it is practically applied
to your life.
NOW WHAT?
Watch the video online or on your USB Flash Drive.
Pause the video as needed to fill out the booklet.
Don’t worry about finishing all at once. Stop. Start.
Come back. It’s all up to you.
Apply the techniques discussed in the booklet to
your life.
Notice the results.Then double down on what espe-
cially works for you.
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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
1. Everything you do in your life is a habit: when you
wake up, who you spend time with, how much mon-
ey you have, your happiness or sadness, your physi-
cal health—everything is a consequence of what you
choose to do or not do.
2. Many of our most intensely ingrained beliefs and
routines are just simple habit loops. They are “what
we’re used to”—sure, but they are not us. They are
not who we are at our core. We can change them!
3. If you learn to control your reactions to outside
stimuli, if you learn to step between the world’s
events and your reaction to them—you have a su-
perpower.You are no longer a victim of your circum-
stance.You are now in control.
NOTE
You do NOT need to read The Power
of Habit to learn and apply its key
points. You should read it, but you
don’t have to.
 Big Idea #1: The Habit Loop

HABIT LOOP HABITS AREN’T DESTINY

The habit loop can be broken down into three dis-
tinct processes: cue, routine and reward. Consider
your evening routine. Let’s say you go home every
day, turn on the news and sit down in your favorite
lounger to enjoy a glass of wine. Would you be satis-
fied with water and a yoga class instead? Highly un-
likely. Your habit loop subtly dictates that you follow
the same pattern each day even if you planned on
changing things up. Cue: Returning Home. Routine:
News & Wine. Reward: Relaxation.
When a habit becomes a concrete, automatic pro-
cess, the brain goes into autopilot—making decisions
for you without your input. Unless you counteract
the task deliberately each day—incorporate new
routines—you’re powerless. Understanding how the
habit loop functions will give you control over your
own behavior.
By learning to observe the cues and rewards, we can
change the routines.

“Particularly strong habits produce addiction-like

reactions so that ‘wanting evolves into obsessive
craving’ that can force our brains into autopilot,
‘even in the face of strong disincentives, including
loss of reputation, job, home, and family.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | Habits Aren’t Destiny

FILL YOUR DIAGRAM LOOP

QUESTION EXERCISE

What cues and rewards can you identify when you’ve Plan for a new habit you would like to develop. Iden-
been to fast food restaurants or businesses that in- tify what you can use as a cue, the steps involved in
centivize you to consume more? creating a routine and the reward this new habit will
deliver.

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 Big idea #2: A Cue

THE ROOT OF EVERY HABIT

A cue is a prompt that stands at the root of every
habit. Oftentimes, a cue is urged forward by a crav-
ing. You’re usually unaware that a craving is driving
your behavior.
By figuring out how to spark a craving and rewarding
it, creating a habit becomes easier.
Jared loved Subway sandwiches. Most of America
does too. In fact, even if you don’t, you’ve probably
found yourself craving a Subway sandwich when you
least expect it. That’s because Subway executives
want the smell of baking bread to waft down hallways
and around corners uninterrupted, so that passers-
by will alter their lunch plans for a six-inch. In fact,
Subway uses scent packets in their ovens which are
much more powerful than the average bread batch.

“Researchers have learned that cues can be almost

anything, from a visual trigger such as a candy bar
or a television commercial to a certain place, a
time of day, an emotion, a sequence of thoughts,
or the company of particular people. Routines
can be incredibly complex or fantastically simple
(some habits, such as those related to emotions,
are measured in milliseconds). Rewards can range
from food or drugs that cause physical sensations
to emotional payoffs, such as the feelings of pride
that accompany praise or self-congratulation.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | Attacking Cravings

ACTIVITY QUESTION

Pick a habit you’d like to eliminate. Fill out the fol- ating the symptom of the cue will help you strategize
lowing for this habit’s cue. a long-term solution to alter your behavior.

Example:The average mobile phone user checks their Consider your product or business. What cue could
phone every 6.5 minutes during the day. Consider you closely associate with your product or brand
the fact that your phantom vibration is a physical in order to entice customers to spend their money
manifestation of a craving. What is the true circum- with you?
stance that made you want to check your phone?
Are you expecting a text message? Are you procras-
tinating? Are you avoiding a social interaction? Evalu-

1. Location

2. Time

3. Emotional State

4. Other People

5. Senses

6. Immediately Preceding Action

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 Big Idea #3: The Golden Rule of Habit
Change

CHANGE THE ROUTINE

Any behavior can be transformed if the cue and re-
ward stay the same. It’s the routine that must change.
It’s easy to spend a day or two implementing change.
It’s more difficult, but much more lasting to incor-
porate that lifestyle change into an already formed
habit loop.
Cue + Good routine – Bad
Duhigg describes Mandy, the habitual nail biter.When
Mandy gets bored, she starts nibbling. Only when she
completely eradicates her nails does she feel a sense
of completeness. Mandy’s therapist recommended
awareness training. Each time Mandy went to bite
her nails, he suggested she check a box on an index
card. By being aware of her cue, Mandy would be
able to sense the moment to introduce a replace-
ment routine such as rapping her knuckles on a desk.
Each time she overrode the habit, Mandy made a
hash mark on the index card to fulfill her sense of

Routine + Reward = completion.

Lasting Success

“Once people learned how to believe in something,

that skill started spilling over to other parts of their
lives, until they started believing they could change.
Belief was the ingredient that made a reworked
habit loop into a permanent behavior.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | Go for Gold

PRINCIPLE ACTIVITY

You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change What is the reward your bad habit gives you? List a
it. How it works: Use the same cue. Provide the same few possible activities that would fulfill the craving
reward. Change the routine. you are seeking to satiate, but in a healthier way:

Example: At the cue of hunger, change the routine Example: I watch television because I want to zone
for healthy food; get the reward of satisfaction. out after a hard day or work. But what if I took up
meditation instead?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Experiment with your ideas and examine the results

objectively. If you are still indulging in the craving, take
a step back and try and find out why. Play detective
without judgment.
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 Big Idea #4: Belief

PERMANENT HABITS

For a habit to become permanent, you must first

believe change is possible.

Even if you adopt a better habit, it doesn’t repair the

root of the damaging behavior. Eventually a bad day
will happen and no new routine is going to make
everything worth pushing through. What will make a
difference is believing that you can prevail.

Publicly declare your commitment to a behavioral

change—whether that’s by announcing your goal on
social media, speaking with a therapist, telling friends
and family, or attending a supportive group.

“Once people learned how to believe in something,

that skill started spilling over to other parts of their
lives, until they started believing they could change.
Belief was the ingredient that made a reworked
habit loop into a permanent behavior.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | A Man Is What He Believes

QUESTION QUESTION

Who is the one person in your life that you most Who will keep you accountable?
look up to?

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 Big Idea #5: Keystone Habits (Negative)

CHAIN REACTIONS

Keystone habits matter more than most habits be-
cause they cause a chain reaction, changing many
other habits in the process.
By pinpointing one of these Keystone Habits, you
can start a process that, over time, will transform
every other aspect of your life.
But first you must identify your keystone habits.
Self-awareness, as usual, is the first step.
One major keystone habit that may seem complete-
ly ordinary, but may have the potential to transform
your life—Gather around the dinner table every
night. Having family dinners can alter the trajecto-
ry of your children’s lives. A family meal emphasizes
togetherness, the chance to share stories and the
opportunity to plan your collective future. Families
who eat together raise children with better home-
work skills, higher grades, greater emotional control
and more confidence.

“Keystone habits transform us by creating cultures

that make clear the values that, in the heat of a
difficult decision or a moment of uncertainty, we
might otherwise forget.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | Nixing Negative Nancy

ACTIVITY ACTIVITY

Approach the problem like a scientist; do experi- Post a little note on your mirror: “Eliminate (insert
ments to focus on just one small habit change at a bad habit) to fix the rest.”
time, testing your hypotheses. Which bad habit will
have the most positive affect if eliminated?

Example: Let’s consider Jane, who never starts the

morning on the right foot. She skips breakfast, miss-
es her train, comes to work rumpled, shows up a
few minutes late for her first meeting, etc. Which is
the true culprit? Strangely enough, it’s binge watch-
ing television. Staying up too late equals a bad night’s
sleep. A bad night’s sleep equals a bad day’s work.The
negative keystone habit, therefore, is watching too
much television.

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 Big idea #6: Keystone Habits (Positive)

POSITIVE CHAIN REACTIONS

It can be difficult to find the critical habits that can

impact other routines, but you have to do it! No
excuses.

Once these critical habits are identified and changed,

they have the potential to have wide-reaching effects!

While unbelievably difficult, running a marathon can

be an incredibly positive keystone habit. Those that
take up this journey often introduce other positive
habits by simply as a chain reaction. They pick up
exercising and drink more water. A person that ex-
ercises tends to eat healthier and wake-up earlier.
They are more productive and more likely to save.
You create a community and increase your self-es-
teem. The effects are profound.

“Keystone habits can create a new organizational

culture that embodies new values. Particularly during
times of uncertainty, a new culture can transform
behaviors, and make decision making an automatic
outgrowth of an organization’s values.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | A Domino Effect

QUESTION QUESTION

Brainstorm five positive keystone habits that you see Is there a reward beyond making work easier that
in other people that make them much more produc- would incentivize my team to change their keystone
tive. habits?

Which one of these would work best for you?

How can you implement them into your own life?

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 Big Idea #7: Small Wins

INCREMENTAL CHANGES

Small wins fuel transformative changes by leveraging

tiny advantages into patterns that convince people
that bigger achievements are within reach.

Small wins are exactly how keystone habits create

widespread change.

The Gay Liberation movement is a wonderful exam-

ple of how small wins worked to create an American
nation that has embraced identity. By targeting incre-
mental changes such as reclassifying the definition
of gay in dictionaries, inserting openly gay individu-
als into political office, and bringing counseling into
school districts, the movement slowly built momen-
tum. This process took decades, but each small win
was capitalized upon in order to succeed.

“Once a small win has been accomplished, forces

are set in motion that favor another small win.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | States of Thought

QUESTION EXERCISE

Can you think of a small success that did not make
it onto your radar, but can be a touchstone when
you’re faced with adversity?
Break down your larger goal into small manageable
chunks. Plan rewards to incentivize you to reach
these milestones.
Example: Say you’d like to achieve success in your
small business. Set small goals to keep you motivated
to work hard at this goal daily. 1) Receiving your first
inquiry from a potential customer. 2) Getting your
first sale 3) Achieving your first income milestone 4)
Getting your first client referral, etc.

1. Small win:
Reward:
2. Small win:
Reward:
3. Small win:
Reward:
4. Small win:
Reward:

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 Big Idea #8: Willpower
A LEARNABLE SKILL
Willpower is the single most important keystone
habit. It’s also a learnable skill that can be taught, but
keep in mind that willpower is just like a muscle. It
can only be exerted a finite amount each day.
Because willpower is a keystone habit, strengthening
that muscle in one aspect of your life will spill over
into other areas.
“If you want to do something that requires
willpower—like going for a run after work—you
have to conserve your willpower muscle during
the day.”
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STORY TIME
Duhigg recounts an experiment that measured will-
power. Two groups of students were locked away
with radishes and warm, chocolate chip cookies. One
group was allowed as many cookies as they liked.
The other could only eat the radishes. Both groups
were confined there for a set amount of time. At the
end of the timeframe, they were given an unsolvable
puzzle. The group only ate radishes spent much less
time trying to solve the puzzle than those that ate
cookies. Why? Their willpower was overexerted!
 APPLICATION TO LIFE | Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way!

ACTIVITY QUESTION

Reflect on the last unhealthy choice you regretted. What is one task that you want to achieve tomor-
Was there a stressor that day that exerted the last row above all else?
of your willpower.
Example: Whenever I don’t eat well during the day,
I end up getting in a fight with my spouse. I know
it’s just because I’m hungry, and that I’ve had a hard
day’s work—so my patience and willpower are all
drained…

Can you reschedule your day to prioritize that task

at the very beginning of your day, so that you’ll have
your full energy available in order to accomplish it
effectively?

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 Big idea #9: Habits in the Workplace

BALANCED PEACE STORY TIME

Creating successful organizations isn’t just a matter
of balancing authority. For an organization to work,
leaders must cultivate habits that both create a real
and balanced peace, and, paradoxically, make it abso-
lutely clear who’s in charge.
Even destructive habits can be transformed by lead-
ers who know how to seize the right opportunities.
Sometimes, in the heat of a crisis, the right habits
emerge.
Duhigg recounts the story of Alcoa, a plant plagued
by on-site work injuries. When a new executive,
O’Neill joined the company, he made his mission to
reduce the number of safety incidents to zero.While
safety statistics improved, inevitably an incident oc-
curred causing a young man’s death. O’Neil used this
crisis to pressure management to recommit to the
company mission. He called an emergency meeting.
They painstakingly recreated the accident and re-
viewed security footage. He placed the blame on
everyone in the chain of command. He shook up his
entire team.

“Good leaders seize crises to remake organizational

habits. In fact, crises are such valuable opportunities
that a wise leader often prolongs a sense of
emergency on purpose. They cultivate the sense
that something must change, until everyone is
finally ready to overhaul the patterns they live
with each day.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | The Seven Blind Spots
EXERCISE
Focus less on your next business crisis and more
on the change that will address the root cause of
the problem. What’s the one crisis that you want to
avoid above all else?
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QUESTION
How can you the possibility of such a crisis to make
a lasting impression with your team?
Example: Think of a parent scolding their child when
they get into something dangerous. They may take it
a step too far, but that momentary shame will out-
weigh the peril the child could face if tempted to
revisit the dangerous activity.
 Big Idea #10: Conscious Change

CHOOSE YOUR DESTINY

Oftentimes, we know well in advance that something
going on in our lives needs to change. That doesn’t
mean that we always follow through on our com-
mitments to ourselves. We must make a conscious
change.
Simply understanding the habit loop and believing
in yourself is not enough. You must choose your
destiny.
Don’t continue lying to yourself. Admit your faults.
Then make a change.
David Foster Wallace once addressed a graduat-
ing class in 2005: “There are these two young fish
swimming along and they happen to meet an older
fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and
says ‘Morning, boys. How’s the water?’ And the two
young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one
of them looks over at the other and goes ‘What the
hell is water?’” The water is habits, the unthinking
choices and invisible decisions that surround us ev-
ery day—and which, just by looking at them, become
visible again.

“The behaviors that occur unthinkingly are the

evidence of our truest selves…just as a piece of land
has to be prepared beforehand if it is to nourish the
seed, so the mind of the pupil has to be prepared in
its habits if it is to enjoy and dislike the right things.”
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 APPLICATION TO LIFE | How’s the Water?

ACTIVITY EXERCISE

Ask a person close to you what you complain about Every time you find yourself starting to complain
most. Choose to change it. about that situation. Make a note of it. Plan and im-
plement a new habit routine for each notation.

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MY OWN NOTES

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MY OWN NOTES

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MY OWN NOTES

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MY OWN NOTES

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MY OWN NOTES
MY OWN NOTES

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MY OWN NOTES

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