Charles Duhigg • The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

Constraints give your life shape. Remove them and most people have no idea what to do: look at what happens to those who win lotteries or inherit money. Much as everyone thinks they want financial security, the happiest people are not those who have it, but those who like what they do. So a plan that promises freedom at the expense of knowing what ... See more

I felt arrows of rage rising in me, fraught images spreading like bloodstains. There’s no point, I told myself. I reached for the ordinary decoys. It won’t get you anywhere. Think of the outcome you want and make sure you are moving towards it. Got to be practical. That’s what I always told the girls at school. There is so much in life that doesn’t... See more

I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of giving ourselves clear, useful constraints to direct our lives. And it sounds like he had a strong set of values for his work, and that made the resulting discipline, if not easy, at least obvious. It reminds me of “flow” psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who wrote that when you choose to invest in a m... See more