Book Report: The Power of Habits

The Power of Habits, by Charles Duhigg, is a book that can give one a different perspective on the power of habits because of its ability to control our lives and our societies. This book gives us the ability to see how we don’t realize how much power habits have over our life and our societies because he talks about how habits become automatic responses meaning they become innate to the point we don’t even realize we are doing a specific action because we have normalize it. That is why in this book it goes into further detail on how awareness can help us tap into our habits and see which habits uplift us or bring us down. It’s a book that helps one to know how to break unhealthy habits and become conscious. Now, one of my favorite parts in this book is chapter two when he writes about Claude C. Hopkins, who wanted people to buy his toothpaste and convince people into buying his product by promoting better smiles. Better smiles would signal to the brain that the product worked and he constructed a worldwide habit. However, as time went by what was discovered was that people only believed that they had clean teeth if they felt tingles in their mouth as they brushed their teeth, showing me that the sensation they craved lead to their reward. Lastly, this book could help solve real life problems within myself and current issues because of its ability of showing me how easy it is to dismiss unhealthy habits. If we are not aware of our unhealthy habits than how will we realize the unhealthy habits that have taken a toll on lives, so yes this book has the ability to help me solve real issues.