Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer Prize reporter at the New York Times, covering the business section. Having attended Yale and Harvard, Duhigg authored the book, ‘The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business.’ Here is a look at some of the best quotes shared by Duhigg.
“And the best way to strengthen willpower and give students a leg up, studies indicate, is to make it into a habit.”
“At some point, if you’re changing a really deep-seated behavior, you’re going to have a moment of weakness.”
“Belief is easier when it occurs within a community.”
“Champions don’t do extraordinary things. They do ordinary things, but they do them without thinking, too fast for the other team to react. They follow the habits they’ve learned.”
“Change might not be fast and it isn’t always easy. But with time and effort, almost any habit can be reshaped.”
“Companies aren’t families. They’re battlefields in a civil war.”
“Giving employees a sense of control improved how much self-discipline they brought to their jobs.”
How do you know @abexlumberg & @mlieber keep it gritty and real @Gimletmedia? Because graffiti! (and generators!) pic.twitter.com/HTVpW6oPO8
— Charles Duhigg (@cduhigg) June 19, 2015
“Good leaders seize crises to remake organizational habits.”
“Habits are malleable throughout your entire life.”
“Habits, scientists say, emerge because the brain is constantly looking for ways to save effort.”
“If you believe you can change – if you make it a habit – the change becomes real.”
“If you tell people that they have what it takes to succeed, they’ll prove you right.”
“If you want to do something that requires willpower—like going for a run after work—you have to conserve your willpower muscle during the day.”
“Most of the choices we make each day may feel like the products of well-considered decision making, but they’re not. They’re habits.”
“Once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom — and the responsibility — to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work.”
“Rather, to change a habit, you must keep the old cue, and deliver the old reward, but insert a new routine.”
RT @JeffHaanen "The Power of Habit" by @cduhigg just came out in paperback. A great read for New Years – pic.twitter.com/jhxaN1Hun0
— Charles Duhigg (@cduhigg) December 31, 2013
“Self-discipline has a bigger effect on academic performance than does intellectual talent.”
“Simply giving employees a sense of agency- a feeling that they are in control, that they have genuine decision-making authority – can radically increase how much energy and focus they bring to their jobs.”
“Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage.”
“Some say because music is as much about personal expression as listening pleasure, sharing is integral to why songs have value in the first place.”
“Studies have documented that families who habitually eat dinner together seem to raise children with better homework skills, higher grades, greater emotional control, and more confidence.”
“The best agencies understood the importance of routines. The worst agencies were headed by people who never thought about it, and then wondered why no one followed their orders.”
“The brain has this amazing ability to find happiness even when the memories of it are gone.”
“The Golden Rule of Habit Change: You can’t extinguish a bad habit, you can only change it.”
“The key to victory was creating the right routines.”
The brilliant (& charming) @cduhigg paid us a visit. Now I'm even more excited by his new book #SmarterFasterBetter. pic.twitter.com/hwujC9lenF
— William Heinemann (@WmHeinemann) December 15, 2015
“The more you focus, the more that focus becomes a habit.”
“The waste from power plants is essentially what is left over when you burn coal. And as we all know, coal is a relatively dirty mineral.”
“There’s nothing you can’t do if you get the habits right.”
“There’s a natural instinct embedded in friendship, a sympathy that makes us willing to fight for someone we like when they are treated unjustly.”
“This is how new habits are created: by putting together a cue, a routine, and a reward, and then cultivating a craving that drives the loop.”
“This is how willpower becomes a habit: by choosing a certain behavior ahead of time, and then following that routine when an inflection point arrives.”
“This is the real power of habit: the insight that your habits are what you choose them to be.”
“Typically, people who exercise, start eating better and becoming more productive at work. They smoke less and show more patience with colleagues and family. They use their credit cards less frequently and say they feel less stressed. Exercise is a keystone habit that triggers widespread change.”
“Willpower isn’t just a skill. It’s a muscle, like the muscles in your arms or legs, and it gets tired as it works harder, so there’s less power left over for other things.”
Check out the following video by Charles Duhigg as he goes on to discuss the power of habits and how best to break through bad addictions. If you want to transform your life and start making positive and productive strides, check out this invaluable guidance shared by Duhigg.
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