The Power of Habit
Philosopher William James wrote in 1892, “All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but a mass of habits.” Is this true? Similarly, J.C. Ryle, the evangelical Anglican bishop, published a series of children’s sermons called Stories for Boys and Girls in which he writes, “Oh, my dear children, who can tell the power of the littles? The power of littles is very wonderful! No one knows what can be done by a little, and a little, and a little. Oh, the importance of little habits. Habits of reading, habits of prayer, habits at meals, little habits through the day — all are little things. But they make up the character and are of utmost importance.”
Every morning I wake up, make my wife and me a cup of coffee, brush my teeth, and pick up my devotional to read while I get a quick start on my first few hundred steps. My goal is fifteen thousand a day, so I have to start early. I have had the exact same shower routine and the exact same pattern for putting my clothes on, the same way, in the same order, every day for the last thirty years. Am I making those decisions, or am I operating at an unconscious level, not really thinking at all about what I am doing? Which of your behaviors are truly habits, and which are simply quick decisions? Duke University research has suggested that more than forty percent of our actions are not decisions at all, but formed habits.
Paying attention to your habits is an important way of noticing patterns in your life that can lead to startling discoveries. These moments of lucidity allow us to make extremely small changes in the way we conduct ourselves. Noticing patterns can also make a substantial impact well beyond the individual. The prologue relates a story about a military advisor who picked up on the habits governing how crowds formed in Kufa, Iraq — gatherings that often ended in a riot. When the habits were changed, by restricting food vendors in the public squares and removing the kebab stands, people stopped showing up for the rallies and riots became almost nonexistent. Noticing one small habit potentially saved many lives.
The book is divided into three parts: how habits emerge at the individual level, how habits form within organizations and companies, and how habits form within societies. Each section revolves around a central argument — habits can be changed, good ones and bad ones, once we understand how they work. There is very little you cannot do if you get the habits right. Transforming a habit is not always easy or quick. But it is possible, and it may just save your life.