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How do some of us wake up for 6 a.m. jogs every day? What leads people to develop gambling addictions? Why do people brush their teeth every day while never remembering to wear sunscreen? Charles Duhigg answers these questions and more in The Power of Habit, a well-researched book on what motivates us to make the decisions we do in everyday life and in business.

Duhigg's background as a reporter shows in this book. He does a good job of stringing together a wide variety of topics to fit his thesis that revolves around habit, and for the most part he writes about the cue-routine-reward cycle. To illustrate how that pattern works and what we can do to change it, Duhigg explores ideas like smoking addiction, sleepwalking, Target tracking down pregnant women, and more. His writing shines when he compares the man who murdered his wife while asleep to the women who lost an enormous sum of money to compulsive gambling: I still find myself thinking about the neurological and moral implications of the distinction he presents.

However, the writing in this book faltered at times. In certain sections Duhigg would break up anecdotes and combine them in odd, confusing ways. Sometimes he selected scenarios that did not align too well with his arguments, like his exploration of how "Hey-Ya" became popular. The book as a whole veered more toward reporting than research, so bear that in mind if you decide to pick it up.

Overall, a decent read I wanted a little more from when I finished. Recommended to those who want to get their feet wet when it comes to habit formation or psychology that deals with motivation. I will end with a quote from The Power of Habit that stood out to me in a good way:

That, in some ways, is the point of this book. Perhaps a sleepwalking murderer can plausibly argue that he wasn't aware of his habit, and so he doesn't bear responsibility for his crime. But almost all the other patterns that exist in most people's lives - how we eat and sleep and talk to our kids, how we unthinkingly spend our time, attention, and money - those are habits that we know exist. And once you understand that habits can change, you have the freedom - and the responsibility - to remake them. Once you understand that habits can be rebuilt, the power of habit becomes easier to grasp, and the only option left is to get to work.