Power Of Habits (Lesson 1)

 Hey there, 

I'm ruhi and I am taking notes. Yeah I'm taking notes! Like this in the form of a blog, because writing by hand and organizing the notebook can be a bit of hazard and inconvenience. So I'm comprehending what I learn after reading books. I mainly read self help, romance or health and science and oh yeah Business as well. I've kinda lost track of my old notebooks where I kept my notes otherwise I would have converted them to blogs. Currently I'm reading Power Of Habits by Charles Duhigg. So you can use your time to read the notes I took, it saves time and gives you the essence of the book plus you can know whether or not the book is worth reading or not. Because what's the point in reading a book which cannot be applied in life, as its said knowledge is power or if it can't give you knowledge. Above all you learn more when you know why you're reading a particular book, by the way I learnt it from Simon Sinek a famous author who wrote Start With Why. 

People involved in self-destructive habits changed their life in a very short period of time. habits like smoking, over eating, obsessive Shoppers, drinking etc. Scientists discovered that the neurological patterns of old habits of those people were replaced by new patterns. By focusing on changing one keystone habit (and what could be better than starting with self destructive habits). The neurological activity of old habits were still there but it was crowded out by new urges. As habits change, so does our brain. Participants of research helped doctors understand how "Decisions become automatic behavior".

As per William James if our life was of definite form then it would be a mass of habits. 

The book is divided into 3 parts. First part is to understand how habits emerge in our life. Second part is about the habits of successful companies and organizations. Third part is about the habits of societies. But the core of the book is that habits can be changed if we understand how they work.

A successful major in Iraq had a night, day, organizational routine alongside many others that made his work life easier and brought success quicker. He observed the crowd in Kuba (a city in Iraq) and experimented with different habits to prevent riots, one which worked was to remove the kebab vendors from mosques and no riots occurred after that. People started moving instead of staying, no crowd gathered and no riots occurred thereafter. He understands and urges people to understand the importance of understanding habits whether in the army or not. He is a major of 800 soldiers in one of the most sophisticated fighting organizations in the world and he says that you can do anything if you get the habit right. 

In ancient times we didn't understand why habits emerge, how to change them and the science behind habits mechanics. But now we know how to leverage it.