The Power of HABITWhy we do what we do and how to change

Ebram Tharwat

About the author

Charles Duhigg

A reporter for The New York Times.

Pulitzer Prize winning

http://charlesduhigg.com/about/

Agenda

What is a habit and why it’s important.

The habit loop.

How companies used the power of habit to sell their products.

How to create a new habit or change an existent habit.

What is a habit?

Habits are the choices that all of us deliberately make at some point, and then stop thinking about but continue doing, often every day.

How powerful/important are our habits?

“More than 40 percent of the actions people transformed each day weren’t actual

decisions but habits.”Duke University research, 2006

Early scientific experiments

Eugene Pauley (E.P)

Henry Molaison (H.M)

Rat maze.

Rat Maze

Initially, when a rat heard the click and saw the partition disappear, it would wander up and down the maze, sniffing in corners and scratching at the walls.

Each time a rat sniffed the air or scratched a wall, its brain exploded with activity as if analyzing each new scent, sight and sound.

Creation of the habit loop

At first the brain is working nonstop.

After more trials, the mental activity decreases and the brain starts thinking less and less as it knows what to do.

After a week, not even part of the “memory” is working. Brain learned the task so well that it nearly does not think at all.

It didn’t need to choose which direction to turn, all it had to do was recall the quickest path to the chocolate.

Creation of the habit loop

The habit loop

The craving brainHow to create a new habit

As the habit becomes stronger and stronger, the brain starts to anticipate reward and becomes happy before it comes.

The happiness will come even if the reward doesn’t come.

A habit emerges once we begin to crave the reward when we see the cue.

The brain stops fully participating in decision making.

Power of habit in marketing

McDonald's.

Cinnabon.

Febreze.

Toothbrush.

Blaze boy

How to break a habit

To change an old habit, we must address an old craving, keep the old cue, deliver the old reward but feed the craving by inserting a new routine.

How to break a habit

Charles Duhigg suggested a framework for understanding how habits work and a guide to experimenting with how they might change:

1. Identify the routine.2. Experiment with rewards.3. Isolate the cue.4. Have a plan.

STEP ONE: Identify the routine

To understand your own habit you need to identify the components of your loops.

The first step is to identify the routine; the behavior you want to change.

Next, What is the cue for this routine? And what is the reward. To figure this out, you will need to do a little experiments.

STEP TWO: Experiment with rewards

Rewards are powerful because they satisfy cravings. But we are often not conscious of the cravings that drive our behaviors.

To figure out which cravings are driving particular habits, it’s useful to experiment with different rewards.

After each activity, jot down on a piece of paper. The first three things that come to mind when you get back to your desk. They can be emotions, random thoughts, reflections on how you are feeling or just words.

This forces a momentary awareness of what you are thinking or feelings.

Then set an alarm for 15 minutes. When it goes off, ask yourself: Do you still feel the urge for your behavior(e.g. that cookie)?

STEP THREE: Isolate the cue

There are too much information bombarding us as our behaviors unfold.

Habit cues fit into one of five categories: Location Time Emotional state Other people Immediately preceding action

STEP FOUR: Have a plan

Once you have figured out your habit loop, you can begin to shift the behavior.

You can change the routine by planning for he cue and choosing a behavior that delivers the reward you are craving.

How to create a new habit

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act,

but a habit” Aristotle, 384 – 322 BCE