The Power of Habit Book Review

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO INTERPERSONAL SKILLS 1
Introduction to Interpersonal Skills
Student’s Name
Institution

INTRODUCTION TO INTERPERSONAL SKILLS 2
Summary
The power of habit book by Charles Duhigg is one of the practical books on how to break the
habit. The author explains why habit exists and how we can change if not eliminating them. He
starts by pointing out that there are numerous scientific practices on how one can change a habit
but there is no single method that is more reliable than the other considering the complexities of
human behaviors and different habits(Duhigg, 2012).
Duhigg provides a scientific-practical framework for diagnosing and reshaping habits in our
lives. To start with, the framework consists of identifying the routine, experiment with rewards,
isolate the cue and have a plan. Basically, these are the steps to follow when diagnosing the habit
to reach a point of changing it. The first step is identifying the routine in which there is a habit
loop consisting of three parts: a cue, a routine, and a reward. Each of these is discussed in details
to show how each influences the other and how altering the cycle assists in reshaping the habit.
Second is experimenting with rewards. Here, Duhigg gives illustrations like going to the
cafeteria and buy a cookie and chat with people. In this case, a cookie is the reward to satisfy the
craving. To change this habit, you have to change the reward so that you identify the craving at a
particular time. The third is isolating the cues which lead to a particular routine. At this point, the
author uses the illustration on how people are likely to misrepresent the fact due to various
events happening in their life while others are capable of giving a chronology of events with
significant accuracy. To identify the cue, the author states that, one has to scrutinize the patterns
of events that lead to the behavior. The last in the framework is the plan on how to alter the cues,
routines and eventually the habit. The plan involves changing the timing of occurrence of events,
routines, and habits. For instance, instead of going to the cafeteria between 3:00 and 4:00, you
can interchange that timing to do other things like chatting with a colleague in the office.
However, he points out that changing habits various and some can be difficult to change but the
understanding of the framework gives the power to overpower the habits (Duhigg, 2012).
Application of class concepts
The book resonates well with the learning of interpersonal skills. In this case, various
interpersonal skills concepts can be explained in reference to the book illustrations. In this
section, concepts of power, self-disclosure, and strained relationships will be discussed.
Power in the interpersonal communication refers to the ability to control what happens, to
influence things to happen the way you want, and to shield what you don’t want to happen
during the process of communication. The parties to the communication have this power over
their way of communication and interaction. The overlap is observed where the author provides a
framework for reshaping the habit. In this respect, the parties to the communication identify the
habit loop that affects their effective communication hence the areas of weakness during
interactions (Gill, 2010). Duhigg says that “Tomorrow, you promise yourself, you’ll muster the
will-power to resist. Tomorrow will be different.” This means that during interaction both parties