Good Habits, Bad Habits
by Wendy Wood
The researcher who established that about forty-three percent of daily actions are habitual explains what habits actually are, why willpower and goals barely touch them, and why context, friction and repetition do. It is more scientific and less tactical than the popular habit books, and it corrects several of their myths.
Read it if…
you want the science behind the habit advice and are willing to read a researcher.
Skip it if…
you want a quick protocol; read Fogg or Clear for that.
Three things you will actually use
- Control context; it drives behavior more than intention.
- Add friction to bad habits, remove it from good ones.
- Repeat in stable contexts until it runs itself.
Do this first
Change one piece of context around a bad habit, where the snacks live, where the phone charges, and leave willpower out of it.
Our verdict
Authoritative and myth-correcting; the science of habit.
Compare with other Habits books
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