This is an update to my original review which is included below. I originally gave the book 2 stars, but have now changed that to 4 stars.
In my original review talked about how I felt the book didn't cover the "how to change" part of the title. I later discovered that it did in the Appendix to the book. I read this book in the form of an eBook on the kindle reader which requested the review before I got to see the appendix.
So. How to change is covered in the appendix, and it collects all the information together in a short example of changing a habit. This tied up the loose ends for me and I felt that I now had some tools to help me deal with all my unwanted habits.
In the end I would recommend the book, but be ready to stick at it through some of the chapters.
------ original post ------
I found this book in parts interesting and in parts a chore to read. For me the content dragged on at times, and a maybe in too much detail that was not needed.
At the end of it all I feel the "why we do what we do" was covered, but the "how to change" was not. Or at least "how to change" was not clear enough to me.
Maybe another read through the book will make a difference.
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The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business Paperback – 7 January 2014
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Product details
- Publisher : Duhigg, Charles; Reprint edition (7 January 2014)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 416 pages
- ISBN-10 : 081298160X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0812981605
- Dimensions : 13.18 x 2.26 x 20.24 cm
- Best Sellers Rank: 14,452 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Review
"Sharp, provocative, and useful."--Jim Collins "Few [books] become essential manuals for business and living. The Power of Habit is an exception. Charles Duhigg not only explains how habits are formed but how to kick bad ones and hang on to the good."--Financial Times "Entertaining . . . enjoyable . . . fascinating . . . a serious look at the science of habit formation and change."--The New York Times Book Review "Cue: see cover. Routine: read book. Reward: fully comprehend the art of manipulation."--Bloomberg Businessweek
"A fresh examination of how routine behaviors take hold and whether they are susceptible to change . . . The stories that Duhigg has knitted together are all fascinating in their own right, but take on an added dimension when wedded to his examination of habits."-- Associated Press "There's been a lot of research over the past several years about how our habits shape us, and this work is beautifully described in the new book The Power of Habit."--David Brooks, The New York Times "A first-rate book--based on an impressive mass of research, written in a lively style and providing just the right balance of intellectual seriousness with practical advice on how to break our bad habits."--The Economist "I have been spinning like a top since reading The Power of Habit, New York Times journalist Charles Duhigg's fascinating best-seller about how people, businesses and organizations develop the positive routines that make them productive--and happy."--The Washington Post "An absolutely fascinating . . . book [that explores] a startling and sometimes dismaying collision between the increasingly sophisticated scientific understanding of habits--how they're formed, how they can be disrupted and changed--and, among other things, companies' efforts to use that knowledge to steer your habits and money their way."--Wired "If Duhigg is right about the nature of habits, which I think he is, then trying to get rid of these bad habits won't work. Instead, what is needed is to teach the managers to identify the cues that lead to these bad habits and rewards, and then learn alternative routines that lead to similar rewards, i.e. business and personal success."--Forbes "The Power of Habit is chock-full of fascinating anecdotes . . . how an early twentieth century adman turned Pepsodent into the first bestselling toothpaste by creating the habit of brushing daily, how a team of marketing mavens at Procter & Gamble rescued Febreze from the scrapheap of failed products by recognizing that a fresh smell was a fine reward for a cleaning task, how Michael Phelps' coach instilled habits that made him an Olympic champion many times over, and how Tony Dungy turned the Indianapolis Colts into a Super Bowl-winning team."--Los Angeles Times
"A fresh examination of how routine behaviors take hold and whether they are susceptible to change . . . The stories that Duhigg has knitted together are all fascinating in their own right, but take on an added dimension when wedded to his examination of habits."-- Associated Press "There's been a lot of research over the past several years about how our habits shape us, and this work is beautifully described in the new book The Power of Habit."--David Brooks, The New York Times "A first-rate book--based on an impressive mass of research, written in a lively style and providing just the right balance of intellectual seriousness with practical advice on how to break our bad habits."--The Economist "I have been spinning like a top since reading The Power of Habit, New York Times journalist Charles Duhigg's fascinating best-seller about how people, businesses and organizations develop the positive routines that make them productive--and happy."--The Washington Post "An absolutely fascinating . . . book [that explores] a startling and sometimes dismaying collision between the increasingly sophisticated scientific understanding of habits--how they're formed, how they can be disrupted and changed--and, among other things, companies' efforts to use that knowledge to steer your habits and money their way."--Wired "If Duhigg is right about the nature of habits, which I think he is, then trying to get rid of these bad habits won't work. Instead, what is needed is to teach the managers to identify the cues that lead to these bad habits and rewards, and then learn alternative routines that lead to similar rewards, i.e. business and personal success."--Forbes "The Power of Habit is chock-full of fascinating anecdotes . . . how an early twentieth century adman turned Pepsodent into the first bestselling toothpaste by creating the habit of brushing daily, how a team of marketing mavens at Procter & Gamble rescued Febreze from the scrapheap of failed products by recognizing that a fresh smell was a fine reward for a cleaning task, how Michael Phelps' coach instilled habits that made him an Olympic champion many times over, and how Tony Dungy turned the Indianapolis Colts into a Super Bowl-winning team."--Los Angeles Times
About the Author
Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and the author of The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better. A graduate of Harvard Business School and Yale College, he is a winner of the National Academies of Sciences, National Journalism, and George Polk awards. He writes for The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, and other publications, and is the host of the podcast How To! with Charles Duhigg.
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Reviewed in Australia on 24 October 2017
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8 people found this helpful
Helpful
Reviewed in Australia on 15 April 2018
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I like this book; its easy to read and its made me more aware of how much habits dictate so much of our behaviour. BUT I think it overreaches the data in later chapters when it looks at organisational and keystone habits . It simply doesn't have the data to state those big conclusions. the Amcol and Phelps stories in particular seem to be very narrow looks at far more complex situations... with other important elements being ignored
4 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in Australia on 10 March 2020
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I really loved the layout of this book. It provided good evidence to support Charles' conclusions on how one can change their habits. Using real life examples. I would recommend this book to everyone and give it as a gift. A great and ready to read book with so much wisdom, advice and helpful instruction. I chose my rating because any book I'd give away is worthy of it.
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Have been fortunate enough to have read a number of books on habits and how they impact our lives and this is the best one i've come across. Very interesting scientific research included and practical ways to think about your own habits
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in Australia on 25 October 2019
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Liked this book and the examples it has but personally I was expecting a bit more of a guidance of where to start with this given that there are so many habits and sometimes is even harder to actually figure out what you are doing wrong.
One person found this helpful
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Reviewed in Australia on 3 April 2018
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Great understanding of what human intelligence is REALLY all about. Makes you realize just how lucky we are to have so much of what we do on "auto-pilot". But don't EVER make fun at a row of sheep wondering across a paddock.
Reviewed in Australia on 1 May 2018
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You can pretty much get the gist of it in the first third of the book. I did enjoy the stories and anecdotes making it an easy read to the end. It made me think a little differently about habits too. What more could a book ask for?
Reviewed in Australia on 24 December 2020
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Interesting read. I’m fascinated by Habits and how to break or shape them. The examples in the book are a nice touch.
I think Switch could be a better book if you want to understand the whole picture not just neurologically.
I think Switch could be a better book if you want to understand the whole picture not just neurologically.
Top reviews from other countries

Callum
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredible
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 September 2018Verified Purchase
Believe me or not, but everything i’m Writing here is true.
I’m a 20 y/o pretty normal male, living in England
And this book has completely changed my life.
I was a regular smoker of both tobacco and cannabis, and the routine change taught in this book, and the methods of distraction taught in this book has helped me so much. I just want to say Thanks to Charles for making such an enjoyable book, which has taught me a lot about habits.
10/10 would read again.
Callum
I’m a 20 y/o pretty normal male, living in England
And this book has completely changed my life.
I was a regular smoker of both tobacco and cannabis, and the routine change taught in this book, and the methods of distraction taught in this book has helped me so much. I just want to say Thanks to Charles for making such an enjoyable book, which has taught me a lot about habits.
10/10 would read again.
Callum
174 people found this helpful
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Liam Kelleher
3.0 out of 5 stars
25% incredibly useful, 75% drivel
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 August 2019Verified Purchase
“Self-help books” are like chain restaurants. There are too many of them, most of them are rubbish, but you can’t deny that they are useful.
Habit is a book that is extremely useful. We start off with some obvious but solid reminders of how what we perceive as excellence is habit. It’s not about “grit” as some other books would say.
Simply setting a reminder to go to bed and putting your trainers next to your bed every night is a better way to get exercising than watching motivational videos on YouTube. Humans look for the way way out. Make things easy. Create a reward loop and you will develop a habit.
After a solid start the book falters and diverges quickly. Stories become way too drawn out and - I would argue - not relevant to the reason most people buy this book. We get a long chapter on how supermarkets are monitoring our shopping habits via reward cards and can tell if your are pregnant from your food grocery list.
We have a chapter that massively drags on how a cassino kept a gambler coming back but stimulating her habit and reminding her of the rewards (debt in this case).
Like many self help books, you want to throw it out the window at times. But it’s got a solid thesis. I now keep my trainers next to my bed and have created a habit I never thought feasible. Thus the book is worth it’s weight of gold. It’s just got a core of lead to go along with it.
Habit is a book that is extremely useful. We start off with some obvious but solid reminders of how what we perceive as excellence is habit. It’s not about “grit” as some other books would say.
Simply setting a reminder to go to bed and putting your trainers next to your bed every night is a better way to get exercising than watching motivational videos on YouTube. Humans look for the way way out. Make things easy. Create a reward loop and you will develop a habit.
After a solid start the book falters and diverges quickly. Stories become way too drawn out and - I would argue - not relevant to the reason most people buy this book. We get a long chapter on how supermarkets are monitoring our shopping habits via reward cards and can tell if your are pregnant from your food grocery list.
We have a chapter that massively drags on how a cassino kept a gambler coming back but stimulating her habit and reminding her of the rewards (debt in this case).
Like many self help books, you want to throw it out the window at times. But it’s got a solid thesis. I now keep my trainers next to my bed and have created a habit I never thought feasible. Thus the book is worth it’s weight of gold. It’s just got a core of lead to go along with it.
64 people found this helpful
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Janie U
4.0 out of 5 stars
Surprised how interesting I found this book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 August 2018Verified Purchase
I bought this book so I could learn more about habits within an organisation. I quickly realised those habits were too deep and moved on so the book became less relevant. Picking it up again several months later, I see that it explores habits of individuals and society rather than just organisations so I decided that it might be interesting.
Quickly I found myself engrossed by the ideas explored in this book. Lots of examples and research is examined to look at how habits form and how they can be changed.
The book is split into three sections - individuals, organisations and society in general. I found the first two sections extremely engaging but thought that the society narrative was slightly less well defined and held my interest less.
Very cleverly, real people are used to prove theories and familiar companies are used as examples of habit changes.
I was surprised how interesting I found this book and have talked about it to various people whilst I was reading.
Quickly I found myself engrossed by the ideas explored in this book. Lots of examples and research is examined to look at how habits form and how they can be changed.
The book is split into three sections - individuals, organisations and society in general. I found the first two sections extremely engaging but thought that the society narrative was slightly less well defined and held my interest less.
Very cleverly, real people are used to prove theories and familiar companies are used as examples of habit changes.
I was surprised how interesting I found this book and have talked about it to various people whilst I was reading.
73 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Fascinating
Reviewed in India on 12 May 2018Verified Purchase
Habit is a choice that we deliberately make at some point and then stop thinking about it, but continue doing, often every day. Author in this book examines why some people and organizations struggle to change while others seem to rediscover themselves by building a compelling argument around the power of habits.
This book is divided into three parts. Each part explains a different aspect of why habits exist and how they function.
The examples used in this book are so powerful and relevant that reader will feel a lot of wow moments. This is one of the books which we need to read again and again.
This book is divided into three parts. Each part explains a different aspect of why habits exist and how they function.
The examples used in this book are so powerful and relevant that reader will feel a lot of wow moments. This is one of the books which we need to read again and again.
115 people found this helpful
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Paul Gleave
5.0 out of 5 stars
Complex subject simplified
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 January 2019Verified Purchase
I really like this book as it explains the theory behind why we have habits, in a way that anyone can understand. It provides multiple examples of some well known and lesser known cases, and breaks each one down into easy to understand components. The way this is done, in a logical and structured manner, really helped me to understand the theory.
If like me, you are open and logically minded, this book will suit you.
After explaining the theory, the book then goes on to explain a simple process for understanding any habit that affects you in your daily life, which previously would have been unknown to you. You can then delve deeper into understanding the Cue, Routine and Reward. Once understood, you can then choose to change your habits, in a simple, methodical, less emotional manner, than for example like me, you realised you’d put on a few too many pounds, and without understanding root cause, just went headlong into another diet, to try and put a sticky plaster on the issue.
I’m now in the process of testing this new knowledge on some simple personal habits before applying the theory to my major life challenge of reducing my body weight, and should it help to achieve that, then I will have proved in the best way possible, the value of this book.
If like me, you are open and logically minded, this book will suit you.
After explaining the theory, the book then goes on to explain a simple process for understanding any habit that affects you in your daily life, which previously would have been unknown to you. You can then delve deeper into understanding the Cue, Routine and Reward. Once understood, you can then choose to change your habits, in a simple, methodical, less emotional manner, than for example like me, you realised you’d put on a few too many pounds, and without understanding root cause, just went headlong into another diet, to try and put a sticky plaster on the issue.
I’m now in the process of testing this new knowledge on some simple personal habits before applying the theory to my major life challenge of reducing my body weight, and should it help to achieve that, then I will have proved in the best way possible, the value of this book.
34 people found this helpful
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