The Power of Habit

There are many who strive to become famous writers and although some succeed, many do not find such great prosperity. In the words of bestselling author Stephen King, “while it is impossible to make a competent writer out of a bad writer, and while it is equally impossible to make a great writer out of a good one, it is possible, with lots of hard work, dedication, and timely help, to make a good writer out of a merely competent one,” (142). King’s thesis from his novel On Writing can be debated because with “hard work, dedication, and timely help” it is possible for a writer of any skill level to improve to become better. On Writing is intended to teach the basic skills of writing so readers can develop writing skills to progress to be better writers. If one has passion for writing, patience, and the willingness to learn they will succeed in becoming great writers.

In " The Neurology of Free Will," Charles Duhigg puts a special importance on habits –their inner working and how they can change. Duhigg describes how habits work through the cycle of cue, routine, and reward. Angie Bachmann from being a bored housewife to losing all her money through uncontrollable gambling.

To write well, a person must be disciplined. Several writers including Bret Anthony Johnston, Anne Lamott, and Stephen King all agree on this. A person must be able to sit down and put their thoughts on paper. Johnston writes in his introduction to Naming the World that, "What I believe in, as a writer and a teacher, is a dedication. And stubbornness. And discipline. Being a writer is, in the fullest sense of the word, a vocation" (xv). Johnston writes word for word that writing requires dedication, discipline, and hard work. He is correct when he says that. Almost anyone who's written anything can attest to that. Lamott also writes about the hard work and discipline good writing in Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. She writes,

We all know that habitual behaviours are difficult to change (think, for instance, about how hard it is for people to give up smoking.) Habitual behaviours are those behaviours with which we are comfortable. We do not want to move out of our comfort zones to change our habits.

“The power of habitus derives from the thoughtlessness of habit and habituation, rather than consciously learned rules and principles” (Jenkins, 1992, p76)

All of us have formed habits in our daily life. Even though some of these habits only exist in our subconscious and we cannot actually make sure whether they are real or only the conjectures. But it is undoubted that all of our behaviors are influenced by our desires on specific objectives. In the book, the power of habit, Charles Duhigg explained the definition of a habit as an effort-saving instinct. “When a habit emerges, the brain stops fully participating in decision making” (20). To support his opinions on habits, he introduced the three-step model of a habit loop, the theory of golden rule of habit, and the role of a craving brain and belief in the process of a habit changing. Through learning

When it comes to the topic of addiction, most of us will readily agree that it is a miserable trait to possess. An addiction is a physical and psychological state of being that if not treated correctly could result into harmful wrongdoing. In The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg, he recounts a story in which a fatigued housewife named Angie Bachmann lost all of her family’s assets, amounting to a million dollars due to a gambling addiction. Every habit has three components: a cue or a trigger of an automatic behavior to start, a routine the behavior itself, and a reward which is how our brain learns to remember this pattern for the future. According to Duhigg, “you cannot extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it” (63). Duhigg

As I read, I sought to know what amount of power did habits truly have. Gratefully, I gained knowledge of just that. Terms Learned Along the Way The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg used the following

Writing can be time consuming and each author must be passionate in their piece. Vetter explains, “The truth is that writing is a blood sport […] which is why those who are any good at it look older than their contemporaries, snap at children on the street, live alone.” Becoming a good writer takes persistence and patience. As an individual

After I graduated from college three years ago, I wanted to quickly break into the writing world. I knew I had a writer 's mind and a writer 's blood, yet I didn 't acknowledge the true commitment it took to become a good writer.

“Change might not be fast and it isn 't always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped,” Charles Duhigg writes in his book The Power of Habit. Whether a person realizes it or not, habits dictate their daily choices. Often, the choices made out of habit are not what the person really desires; they are just the easy way. They are a crutch… something the person does out of ease or comfort without putting thought into it. At some point these habits started out as a conscious decision, but eventually they became automatic and without mindful viewing of their poor habits, they got stuck. Many people fall into negative habits because of a lack of awareness (knowing what a habit is and what the cue is) and the lack of

Thousands of parents worldwide would love to know how to get your kids to pick up their toys after using them. As a parent, there is lots of bad advice out there about ways to make your kids pick up after themselves. But if you want to succeed in teaching your kids how to pick up after themselves, it’s important to find strategies that are proven by research. In these two texts, “The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg and “The Effort Effect by Marina Krakovsky they describe the work of psychologist Carol Dweck, and also offers strongly supported advice for how to get your kids to pick up after themselves. According to Duhigg, he explains this thing called a habit loop. The habit loop is a nerve based loop that leads and controls any habit. In the habit loop it consists of three elements which are a cue, routine and reward. A cue is a trigger for a behavior to start. A routine is the behavior itself. Then the award is the benefit of taking that nerve of action. On a similar note, Krakovsky suggests that it’s all based on the mindset of the child. Whether if they have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. As a parent, I can use the ideas from Duhigg and Dweck to help my kids by applying a cue, routine and reward.

Human behavior has been a mystery to scientists and psychologists for years. What causes humans to act the way they do? Is it learned by experience, or inherited from prior generations? The human brain is a complex machine driven by numerous intangibles that influence our thinking process directly and indirectly.

We are creatures of habit. Whether they are good or bad, habits shape our actions and help us get through our days. As Charles Duhigg describes in his book, The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, habits “emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort.” They are routines that automate parts of our behavior. Habits can be so firmly ingrained into our neural networks that we aren’t actually conscious of them, and we don’t need to put much thought to follow through them.

Are you noticing a trend about your life like being in or bouncing from one unfulfilled job to the next, hanging around or attracting the same "going nowhere fast" friends and relationships, or having the same amount of money in the bank at the same time each year? We all have habits and habits are what shape our lives. Some habits are very useful and some habits keep us from ever experiencing the absolute best that life has to offer because we decide that the hand we 've been dealt is all there is to have. So if you have found yourself in a cycle that is no longer serving you, here 's what you can do to create a good habit.