The power of habit : why we do what we do in life and business

 by Charles Duhigg.  We all have our habits (even if we're not aware of some of them). Most of our daily decisions even the ones that don't seem like they're part of a routine could be habits. Habits are ingrained in us, the author says, because they're evolutionary: the brain is always looking for a way to be more efficient, and so it creates routines whenever it can. There's a word for this: chunking, converting a sequence of events into a routine. But other habits are the result of a feedback loop: a cue, a routine, and a reward. Advertisers rely heavily on establishing a habit loop: they create a need (the cue, the craving), explain how to incorporate a product into our daily lives (the routine), and show us how happy we'll be with the reward. Large corporations use habit to motivate their employees (Starbucks, for example, teaches its people how to turn willpower into a habit). Broad in scope and always interesting, the book should surprise and educate readers, not to mention telling them perhaps a bit more than they're comfortable knowing about the way their minds work. --Booklist (Check Catalog)