The power of habit book was suggested to me by the one and only Janne Roiha. I think it fits well into my book schedule, which is sort of themed by self-improvement. I also thought it might be nice to get rid of a couple of bad habits that I have picked up along the years and maybe learn more and efficient ways to create new ones.

According to the book habits are created because the brain is always trying to function on a higher and more a efficient level. This is why we sometimes automatically do things without thinking about it, it is the brains way of efficiency. Some of the things we automatically do is not always a good habit. Good and bad habits are just as easy to pick up which is why you always have to try and limit yourself on creating the bad ones. Habits are created without our conscious awareness. Forming a habit should be easy and rewarding. It would make sense for your brain to start forming a habit out of negative experiences, it should always be a rewarding process that is when your brain starts to realize what you are trying to achieve.

Let’s take going for a run as an example. You would start by scheduling a portion of the day for this routine. You would put your sneakers in a visible spot where you would always notice them, for example right in front of your door, so if u decided to not go for a run you would feel guilty. It is also a tremendous boost to creating a habit if you have a specific goal in mind on what you would want to achieve. The same would go for reading a book, you would just place the book in a visible spot where you constantly see it and would feel guilty if would not pick it up and give it a read. This is where willpower steps in. If the goal you have in mind is not actually that important it is easy to just move it a day on your to do list.

If you would like to get rid of your bad habits you would also need a kind of reward system for that as well. Instead of rewarding yourself for doing this bad habit you would punish yourself in a minor way. Getting rid of bad habits also requires a lot of willpower. Your goal should always be in mind even if the goal is very minor it is nice to come up with good habits and routines that make you life easier.

I listened to this book and some of the stuff was very familiar, but not all of it. It is easy to let your bad habits take over sometimes, but sometimes you just have to look yourself in the mirror and re-evaluate what is you would like to achieve and what the steps are to get there. I’m definitely going to take what I learned on getting rid of bad habits and creating new ones from this book. I would suggest this to everyone, because let’s face it you always get rid of a couple bad habits and pick up a few new ones to make your life just a little bit easier.