It is the end of another work week; we are excited as we look forward to the weekend and the Here’s our recommended read to help us relax and unwind this weekend even as we look forward to the next week;

According to the author, habits are actions we do repeatedly or chains of thoughts we have, or decisions we take without really thinking about them. For example, when we wake up, we get out of bed, go to the bathroom, check our phone, Or the route we drive to go to work, and what kind of food we choose at the restaurant. Or each time we drink excessively when we are depressed, our way of thinking and the choices we make when faced with a particular event or circumstance, and so on.

As you can see, there are many things that we do every day just from habit. Habits function like being on autopilot. It’s a way for us to save energy.

So, habits have a profound effect on our personal and professional life. While some habits have a positive effect, other habits have a negative effect.

The Power of Habits by Charles Duhigg, dives into all aspects of habits at the individual, organization, and society levels and gives us many stories to really understand how habits come into play at all these levels and their impact. And how we can change bad habits and create new positive habits in our life.

Some habits once started have a ripple effect and produce much greater effects. They start like a chain reaction that leads to many more changes over time.

In the example of Lisa Allen, we can see how changing the habit of smoking and replacing it with exercise impacted many other aspects of Lisa’s life. It changed the way she slept, what she ate, how she saved money, and so on.

In the business world, Charles Duhigg gives another interesting story. Paul O’neill was just appointed CEO of Alcoa, an aluminum manufacturer, and unlike any other CEO before, he stated that the only metric he would look at would be Safety. The company would become the safest company to work for.

Working in an aluminum factory means the risk of being injured by accident is much higher than working in an office. So, changing the company culture and putting the habit of safety first had surprising effects on the company results. Accidents diminished as could have been expected but then productivity and profitability of the company increased dramatically. It turned out that the processes put in place to increase safety also led to better processes in manufacturing, thus increasing productivity.

According to the author, taking time to think about a habit you could change or install in your life would help improve your life in the way you want it to.  Think of habits that could have a multiplier effect or could lead to other changes in your life.  This could be to start jogging regularly to be more healthy, meditate for 10 mins every day to be more calm and relaxed, have a meetup with a potential customer or partner every week to expand your business network, or join a debate club for better public speaking skills.

This book is a must-read to ensure we have the necessary information about The Power of Habit. We encourage you to get the complete book and read more about it. This book is sure to leave no stone unturned regarding the questions you might have.

Happy reading!