Editor’s note: This article was first published in October 2021. The original title said updated 2021, and the reference to the best book written recently, Atomic Habits (2018), reflects that date.
It may sound like self-help, but I’ll start by saying that changing bad habits is easy if you know how, and to do it we need to understand that the easier we make the process, the better. Fortunately, there are excellent books on how to change bad habits.
I want you to think for a moment about what separates the life you have from the life you’d like to have. Often the answer is habits. That’s why we need to know everything about how they work, why it’s easier to pick up bad habits than good ones, and so on.
And although the internet is crammed with articles on how to change bad habits (ours included), various studies have shown that trying to consume quick content instead of reading a book that explains the subject and goes into habits in depth means we never quite get round to applying the advice.
Researchers have asked more than a million people around the world what their strengths and their greatest weaknesses were.
When talking about their personal strengths, people mentioned honesty, kindness, creativity and other virtues, but they didn’t mention SELF-CONTROL as a strength.
However, when they were asked about their greatest failings, lack of self-control came first.
Is it easy to break bad habits?
Unfortunately, it isn’t simple if we don’t know how our brain works, because, as we’ve discussed in various articles, we’re wired to be drawn to what’s easy: to pleasure.
And pleasure is not the same as happiness. Pleasure is instant and fleeting. We often find pleasure in the very things that rob us of real long-term happiness.
Which books do we recommend for understanding how habits work and breaking negative ones?
The best books to help you break bad habits
1. The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg
Written by Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Duhigg, this recommended book will teach you that 40% of your daily choices aren’t really choices but habits.
For most of the day you’re on autopilot, so if your habits are bad, you could say you’re a robot programmed to ruin your life.
You’ll learn how habits work in your brain, how to get out of the vicious circle and how to acquire better habits. To do so, Duhigg favours not breaking the habit (because habits are very hard to break) but replacing it. It sounds like the same thing, but it isn’t. When it comes to breaking bad habits, this is undoubtedly the book to read.
See also: 8 books to make you smarter and open your mind
2. Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results, by James Clear
Possibly the best book written recently on how to change habits. James Clear explains it in a way that’s easy and enjoyable for the reader. The idea he sets out in this book is that to change a habit you have to:
- Make it obvious
- Make it attractive
- Make it easy
- Make it satisfying
By understanding this, accepting how habits work and applying what the author says, you’ll be able to achieve what the title promises: big results from small changes.
3. The Craving Mind, by Judson Brewer
The method Judson Brewer proposes for ending bad habits combines neuroscience research with mindfulness practices. You won’t depend on willpower, and he won’t suggest replacing bad habits as Duhigg’s book, mentioned above, recommends.
You will, however, need to get to know your brain in depth, which is very interesting and worthwhile. Brewer’s method has been tested in a controlled scientific study aimed at getting smokers to quit.
And not only did his system prove effective, it doubled the effectiveness of other methods. In other words, twice as many people stopped smoking as with other methods and programmes.
In this book you’ll learn to be aware at every moment. When you’re 100% aware of what’s happening in your life and of what rules your life (habits), you’ll automatically start shedding bad habits by instinct. As a side effect of this method, you may find that, for whatever reason, your happiness levels go up.
So if you want to break bad habits, or simply want to stop smoking or drinking, you’ve nothing to lose by reading what this author has to say. The full title says it all: The Craving Mind: From Cigarettes to Smartphones to Love – Why We Get Hooked and How We Can Break Bad Habits.
4. Irresistible, by Adam Alter
We’re tech junkies. Addicts. Obsessed with email and with likes on Facebook and Instagram.
What’s more, since almost everything on the internet is free, we spend hours absorbed in content we’d never consume if we had to pay for it.
In one study, 46% of participants said they would rather break a bone than have their smartphone broken. 70% of office emails are checked within 6 seconds of arriving.
We carry the enemy in our pocket, and it’s very hard to get rid of it through willpower. Like any other drug, technology is seriously damaging our lives and our happiness. Adam Alter talks about this in his book and gives us some guidelines for taking back control of our lives.
One more book about habits
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey
No list would be complete without one of the best books ever written on the subject: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen R. Covey. It isn’t about breaking bad habits but about the habits you need to build into your life, the winning habits. And clearly, every good habit you take on immediately replaces a bad one.
If there’s one thing we can say with certainty today, it’s that people who get exceptional results are doing something that people who don’t get good results in life aren’t doing. Habits rule our lives.
And habits are the first thing we need to change or take on when we want different results. There are habits of success and others that lead you to failure.
Featured image: OFFICIAL LEWEB PHOTOS, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
