습관의 힘

The power of habit: why we do what we do in life and in business by Charles Duhigg

5/7/2018 ~ 5/19/2018

 

사람들이 가지고 있는 여러가지 습관의 힘에 대해서 기술한 책이다. 

글쓴이가 전문적인 학자가 아니기 때문에, 아주 전문적인 분석이 있는 것은 아니다. 습관이 어떻게 구성되어 있고, 어떻게 분석해야 습관의 변화를 만들 수 있는가에 대해서 서술하고 있다. 이런 습관은 단순하게 개개인의 생활에서 나타나는 것뿐만 아니라, 조직이나 사회현상에서도 찾아 볼 수 있다. 이런 것은 관성, 관습, 혹은 암무적인 공감대와 같은 형태로 나타나서 직접적으로 습관이라고 생각하기 어려울 수도 있다. 하지만, 역시 이런 현상들도 개인의 습관과 유사한 특징들을 가지고 있고, 개인들의 습관 변화와 비슷한 방법으로 접근해야 변화가 가능하다는 설명이다.  몇가지 생각나는 것들이 있지만, 습관은 없어지는 것이 아니라 다른 형태로 나타나게 되고, 중요한 것은 습관의 행동을 유발하는 동기나 행동을 통해서 얻어지는 만족감을 바꾸기는 어려우므로, 그 중간에 있는 행동을 변형하는 것이 효과적인 방법이다. 또한, 여러가지 습관들의 기저에서 동작하거나, 많은 다른 습관들을 야기시키는 중심 습관 - core habit -이 있고,  이 습관의 변화는 다른 전체적인 생활을 변화를 만들어 낸다는 것이다. 내 생활에서 어떤 것이 중심 습관이고 어떤 변화가 있을 수 있을지 찾아보고 싶다.

 

pp. xiv

One set of neurological patterns - her old habits - had been overridden by new patterns. They could still see the neural activity of her old behaviors, but those impulses were crowded out by new urges. As Lisa's habits changed, so had her brain.

 

pp. xv

"All our life, so far as it has definite form, is but mass of habits." - William James , 1892

 

pp. xx

Transforming a habit isn't necessarily easy or quick. It isn't always simple. But it is possible.

 

pp. 19

The habit loop

• First, there is a cue, a trigger that tells your brain to go into automatic mode and which habit to use

• Second, there is the routine, which can be physical or mental or emotional.

• Finally, there is a reward, which helps your brain figure out if this particular loop is worth remembering for the future.

 

pp. 36

• First, find a simple and obvious cue.

• Second, clearly define the rewards.

 

pp.51

The cue, in addition to triggering a routine, must also trigger a craving for the reward to come.

 

pp. 63

If you use the same cue and provide the same reward, you can shift the routine and change the habit.

 

pp. 92

We know that habits cannot be eradicated - it must, instead, be replaced.

 

If you want to change a habit, you must find an alternative routine, and your odds of success go up dramatically when you commit to changing as part of a group. Belief is essential, and it grows out of a communal experience, even if that community is only as large as two people.

 

pp. 109

It's not that a family meal or a tidy bed causes better grades or less frivolous spending. But somehow those initial shifts start chain reactions that help other good habits take hold.

 

Keystone habits offer what is known within academic literature as "small wins." They help other habits to flourish by creation new structures, and they establish cultures where change becomes contagious.

 

pp. 112

Small wins are exactly what they sound like, and are part of how keystone habits create widespread changes. ..."Small wins are a steady application of a small advantage," ... "Once a small win has been accomplished, forces are set in motion that favor another small win." Small wins fuel transformative changes by leveraging tiny advantages into patterns that convince people that bigger achievements are within reach.

 

pp. 137

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.

 

pp. 139

Once willpower became stronger, it touched everything.

 

pp. 146

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. ... When the cue arrived, the routine occurred.

 

pp. 160

<An Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change>  by Richard Nelson, Sidney Winter