Installment #1: http://cophilosophy.blogspot.com/2017/04/section-8-michelle-boudreaux-power-of.html
The impact a habit has is massive, even if the habit
itself might not seem so large. Habits can be both highly rewarding and deeply
damaging. Some habits are so strong that they can make someone behave in a
truly irrational way. For example, people who bite their fingernails. Stress
plays a big role in this particular habit being formed. People who have this
habit continue to do so even though it can cause infection in their skin as
well as making them physically sick. It also diminishes one’s ability to pick
things up or even do simple activities like scratching an itch. This is because
of either swelling of the finger or just merely the absence of a nail. There is
absolutely no rational reason to bite one’s fingernails, but people will always
continue to do so. Willingness to make sacrifices for good health or
functionality is difficult to do when a bad habit is controlling someone.
Although it is extremely grueling, bad habits can be broken if enough effort is
put forth.
Habits cannot be completely extinguished. They dictate
nearly half of the decisions one makes in a day. Habits will always be there
but can be repressed if enough effort is used. The first step in changing a
habit is to believe that one is capable of creating change. Though it is
impossible to control some habits, like the fight or flight response, all other
habits we are aware of consciously can be changed. At the end of this book, Duhigg
provides a detailed process for changing personal habits by using the Habit
Loop. In order to change a habit, one must identify the reward and routine they
have associated with it. After finding the correct reward and routine match,
one should make a list of possible cues. This will allow them to understand the
reasoning for their habit, which in turn, allows them to replace the unhealthy
reward with something more fulfilling. “Obviously, changing some habits can be
more difficult… But once you understand how a habit operates- once you diagnose
the cue, the routine and the reward- you gain power over it.”
Duhigg attempts to convey this argument with an
example about children and marshmallows in a Ted Talk he did in 2013. It starts
at about 9:25 in the video. Duhigg explains that the children were told not to
eat the marshmallow. If they complied, they would be rewarded with an extra
marshmallow to eat along with the one they had to resist eating. All of the
children except one were unable to resist the marshmallow and were not rewarded
with another. The one child who resisted was rewarded with the second
marshmallow. His strategy for resisting the initial marshmallow was to not look
at it. If he happened to sneak a glance, he pictured an invisible square around
the marshmallow, tricking himself into thinking it was just a picture instead
of an edible snack. This was his modified routine to resist the marshmallow, or
cue, which lead to a reward, a second marshmallow.
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