How Habits Can Change Your Life (and Your Brain)

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In this step, you'll learn about the power of habits. Habits are things that we do without thinking, like tapping our feet when we're trying to sit still. We form habits through repetition, and they can be good or bad. Claude C. Hopkins was a marketing professional who figured out how to make people form a new habit of brushing their teeth every day. He understood that with the right trigger and reward, people can be persuaded to do almost anything. He didn't realize, however, that the reward could create a strong desire for the action. Scientists now know about the special nerve cells in the brain that give us chemical rewards. Habits are hard to break because we've woven new networks in our brain. The best way to break a bad habit is to replace it with a new one. We now know that we have the power to change our brains.