The Power of Habit

According to an article in 2006 by a researcher at Duke University in North Carolina, more than 40% of the actions we take every day are because of habit. Contrary to what we might think, our lives and the world that surrounds us are not regulated by conscious decisions, but by cycles of habit. Our morning wake-up routine is a habit, as is our journey to work, and the way we relate to people we meet during any given day. Not only that: habits also regulate the company we work for or the one that manages the underground train we travel on every day, the social structure within which we live and move, our circle of friends and acquaintances, as well as influencing our level of involvement in politics and other movements.

The study of habit is a field which has received a big boost over the last ten years: previously very little was known about it and as little as fifty years ago, what we know today, namely that everything around us is actually based on models and cycles, would have been considered almost science fiction. Thanks to the development of studies in neurology and the psychology of habit, not only are we aware today of the complex intersection of cycles, habits and needs that regulate the everyday world, but we also understand how they work, and this allows us to study and modify them. This provides us with the opportunity to positively change our lives and the companies we work for, and in some cases, even the whole world, starting by simply changing a single, tiny habit.