Free The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg

learns that a doughnut box contains yummy sugar and other carbohydrates, it will start
anticipating
the sugar high. Our brains will push us toward the box. Then, if we don’t eat the doughnut, we’ll feel disappointed.”

    To understand this process, consider how Julio’s habit emerged. First, he saw a shape on the screen:

    Over time, Julio learned that the appearance of the shape meant it was time to execute a routine. So he touched the lever:

    As a result, Julio received a drop of blackberry juice.

    That’s basic learning. The habit only emerges once Julio begins
craving
the juice when he sees the cue. Once that craving exists, Julio will act automatically. He’ll follow the habit:

    JULIO’S HABIT LOOP

    This ishow new habits are created: by putting together a cue, a routine, and a reward, and then cultivating a craving that drives the loop. 2.26 Take, for instance, smoking. When a smoker sees a cue—say, a pack of Marlboros—her brain starts anticipating a hit of nicotine.Just the sight of cigarettes is enough for the brain to crave a nicotine rush. If it doesn’t arrive, the craving grows until the smoker reaches, unthinkingly, for a Marlboro.

    Or take email. When a computer chimes or a smartphone vibrates with a new message, the brain starts anticipating the momentary distraction that opening an email provides. That expectation, if unsatisfied, can build until a meeting is filled with antsy executives checking their buzzing BlackBerrys under the table, even if they know it’s probably only their latest fantasy football results. (On the other hand, if someone disables the buzzing—and, thus, removes the cue—people can work for hours without thinking to check their in-boxes.)

    Scientists have studied the brains of alcoholics, smokers, and overeaters and have measured how their neurology—the structures of their brains and the flow of neurochemicals inside their skulls—changes as their cravings became ingrained. Particularly strong habits, wrote two researchers at the University of Michigan, produce addiction-like reactions so that“wanting evolves into obsessive craving” that can force our brains into autopilot, “even in the face of strong disincentives, including loss of reputation, job, home, and family.” 2.27

    However, these cravings don’t have complete authority over us. As the next chapter explains, there are mechanisms that can help us ignore the temptations. But to overpower the habit, we must recognize which craving is driving the behavior. If we’re not conscious ofthe anticipation, then we’re like the shoppers who wander, as if drawn by an unseen force, into Cinnabon.

    To understand the power of cravings in creating habits, consider how exercise habits emerge.In 2002 researchers at New Mexico State University wanted to understand why people habitually exercise. 2.28 They studied 266 individuals, most of whom worked out at least three times a week. What they found was that many of them had started running or lifting weights almost on a whim, or because they suddenly had free time or wanted to deal with unexpected stresses in their lives. However, the reason they
continued—
why it became a habit—was because of a specific reward they started to crave.

    In one group, 92 percent of people said they habitually exercised because it made them “feel good”—they grew to expect and crave the endorphins and other neurochemicals a workout provided. In another group, 67 percent of people said that working out gave them a sense of “accomplishment”—they had come to crave a regular sense of triumph from tracking their performances, and that self-reward was enough to make the physical activity into a habit.

    If you want to start running each morning, it’s essential that you choose a simple cue (like always lacing up your sneakers before breakfast or leaving your running clothes next to your bed) and a clear reward (such as a midday treat, a sense of accomplishment from