Quick Note:

I read through some of them and just wanted to add a quick note. I usually read and wrote at the
same time, so if things don’t make sense or if they get concluded upon in the same chapter of
writing, but later. Sorry!
This Year, Change Your Mind

It really is surprising to think of the things you can do if you’re in the middle of a type of
hardship. Yes, humans can’t regenerate eyes and organs, or even grow limbs. But their brains
can grow some sort of limb on its own. Not physically per say, but almost physical to their
inhabitants.
At the second elementary school I went to (the first one was fishers (lot of richies,
gross)), there was a blind kid who I never really got to know all that well, but he really was adept
at getting to where he needed to be. No cane, no service, and definitely no guide, but this kid
got everywhere he needed to be without guidance. I heard him talking about this to someone
else in my art class one day and he explained it so simply. “I can just feel it”. Thinking about it
now, he probably doesn’t even know how he was doing it. Back then I thought that was straight
up bullshit. Like he must’ve memorized the school layout and just had a good memory. But with
my knowledge of the brain now, It really could have been possible for him to just feel it and not
even know what was going on.
What’s bizarre to me is that it doesn’t even take for someone to have a super plastic
brain like small children do to create these new skills. There are records of fully grown humans
being able to adapt and overcome tragedies just by using their brains in a new and different
way.
What I wonder about the brain though is, is there a limit to how plastic your brain can
be? Is there any limit to making the human brain do things that no one ever could conceive?
Obviously not in the reading, but the difference between the human brain and a primates brain
is almost 1 percent in its entirety though the evolution between us and them. The difference
between quantum physics and simply using tools. Imagine if humans got 1 more percent to their
brains? Is there a possibility that a complicated ideal to us now might seem like simply using
tools to a further evolved brain.
Prologue and Chapter 1

I’m extremely skeptical at this point that habits actually work this way. I know there is
research showing how changing routines can help create those stimuluses that people are
craving, but to turn your life all the way around? I’m not sure if it just takes simple routines to get
your life turned around. I’m guessing it takes a crazy amount of willpower alongside with
wanting to change your life to actually make these new routines the new habit. Also, I don’t think
it's possible for anyone to change their lives like this. There are most likely people who in my
opinion are too far down the rabbit hole of doing things that just even TRYING to do something
different is not going to happen. Like a lot of people can try, but there has to be a population of
people who can even because their habits are too strong for themselves to even handle.
I Could never even imagine to put myself in the shoes of either Eugene or H.M.. The
turmoil of their lives and relationships just crumbling around them just seems so heartbreaking
to even read about. I’ve had a grandmother who has had a stroke recently and her memory and
motor functions have been extremely crippled, but there’s still functionality to her. Having a
family member quickly deteriorate in front of you due to brain trauma just seems so out of this
world to me that I don’t know how I would respond.
So what I’m extremely confused on is how is he able to make the decision to do the
surgery or not. Does he think of his answer then write it down? Hes forgetting it all so fast. But
what if he reads that answer and doesn’t like it? Does he change his mind again. Just seems so
confusing to me to understand what is his lucid answer in going through with the operation.
Along with that, does his wife have any decision making into helping him with knowing what to
do? Or is he 100% having to come up with what he wants on the spot?
Chapter 2

What I find really interesting is the fact that people just used Febreeze and forgot about
it. Something so revolutionary in odor removing tech., and people just forget about it. That habit
of making it the end of a routine activity in cleaning really solidified it, but why does the brain not
just want to use something beneficial in reason. I would think that if someone smelled
something bad they would just use it regularly, not at the end of each room, but everyone is
themselves in that aspect. Also, I found it really interesting that the researchers stayed with one
key concept person, the skunk lady. One person appeared to throw off an entire team of
researchers just because her life changed so much just because of a single product. What I
wonder is has this happened to any other product testing? Like people weren’t using tide pods
correctly and aptly so they remarketed it like Febreeze.
For Julio the monkey, I can almost entirely relate with getting a reward that's half
watered down. Not something like juice, but any reward stimulus. When doing something which
I find pleasing, my expectations are usually too high that if the outcome doesn’t come out how I
want it, I can find myself to be quite irritated. Quite troubling to realize that I’m just like a primate
sadly, but that's where we evolved from isn’t it.
Going back to the whole Febreeze thing, what’s is also troubling to me is that fact that
the marketers in conclusion want you to use their product. But not just use their product within
reason, but to use it gluttonously so they can make more profits. Not only does this happen with
cleaning, but with food and other activities. Sadly, I don’t think people are using things within
reason anymore and are probably just going crazy with using products they don’t need. How I
see it there is real profits these companies make, and then there are profits they make off of
wastefulness and misconception to what their products actually do.
I really liked this chapter, so far has been my favorite thing I've read all semester.
Chapter 3

It’s actually crazy that “The Power of Habit” actually talked about that semifinals playoff
game with the colts. I remember the exact moment where I was that week and what happened.
There was a whole convocation at my elementary school. I was not the biggest football fan, but I
could understand enough to realize how much of a big deal it was to some of the kids and staff.
At this convocation they handed out fake rings and these weird towel things to make sure kids
were paying attention. What is so bizarre is if I went through some moving boxes in my attic at
my moms I KNOW I can find that towel there somewhere. The next time I am at her house I will
search for it. The next part of the story is a sad one of course. They lost and literally it was like
the most debbie downer week for some of the kids. We were in first grade and kids were sad
over football? So crazy to me, but I am not the biggest sports fan like some other people are.
I’m more of a basketball person myself. If you can’t tell I really didn’t like this chapter all too
much and trying to stall a smidge and talk about something slightly irrelevant. But if I had to talk
about it, the most interesting part to me is the failing which occured at the playoffs every
season. The fact that habits can be broken under stress is so fascinating to me just because
everyone has to go through some hardships at some point in their lives. Like if someone’s mom
dies, do you think the most irrelevant habits would resurface which have not been around in
their lives in years? Like if someone broke the habit of eating their boogers at like age 9, and
then their parents get a divorce at age 19, would a habit so insignificant resurface and become
prominent in their lives again. Along with that, is it possible to make new habits off of stress
inducing events. Like if someone always used their turn signals at intersections, but something
is going on in their life, would a new habit form just because that's how the brain works?
Chapter 4

This chapter for whatever reason was even more boring than the last one to me. Like I
find some of the key concepts in this book to be so interesting. Like everyone has habits, and
everyone has habits that they act on, but sometimes the ways to explain how habits work is just
not fascinating at all. Do I think that creating new habits for company safety is important? Yes.
Do I think Duhigg could have found a different topic to explain his key concept here? Also Yes.
The only time I had an interest in this is when the topic of disrupting habits comes up and how it
can spread through an entire company. Some similar experience with this is marching band
(yeah I know, Yikes), but when there are things being messed with one small section, it can
spread to something way bigger than anyone could have ever imagined.
Okay, so my mind about this chapter slightly has changed getting to the Michael Phelps
portion of the chapter.
Keystone habits really do make sense in practice, but in hypothetically never seem to
play out. Like when you think about making a better you, you never think “oh this one thing will
change my entire life”. Maybe that's just me but when I’m wanting to better myself a million
things come up. First have to start with this and then move on to this and on and on. This is a
chapter I did skip in the writing because fuck this chapter, but later on I talk about consistency
and I think that strongly applies here. Trying to always want to better yourself seems to be a
more healthier concept than just thinking one thing will be your life solution. Yes, stopping
smoking might lead to other better health benefits, but telling yourself it will all get better after
one thing is slightly unhealthy in my opinion. Also, I can not stress enough how the people who
usually think this way, are most likely the ones who are probably not going to be succeeding in
getting rid of their bad habits.
Chapters 5, 6, and 7

So funny how looking back on my reflections that I literally mentioned willpower being a huge
key factor in making habits change.
So I’ve always heard Starbucks being incredibly thorough with their employees, but
never to this extent. The fact they put all this work into them really is a testament to how they
treat us. To be completely honest, I have not been to Starbucks a large amount, but I have also
never had a poor experience there. Customer service seems to be number 1. In hindsight it
makes complete sense for a company to put so much emphasis onto making sure their
customers are taken care of. Why would you not do that? But maybe 20-30 years ago, it would
seem ridiculous to put so much time and effort into making sure that not only are your
customers are getting their service, but also enjoying every moment of it. Personally, I am one
of those people who will spend an extra dollar to have higher quality of service. People treating
you nicer is absolutely worth the money every time.
Holy fuck. I could not imagine having doctors be so careless about the health of their
patients. I understand that in some circumstances time is everything, but not listening to other
health care professions just seems insane to me.
I’ve had surgery done on my ear before because of hole in my ear drum, and it’s scary
to think about someone having so much power over you being so careless. Although the
hospital turned round and became super progressive after time, there should still be
remembrance to those times where certain professionals were not being taken seriously. This
just seems
I have never really researched into how ads are placed in coupons, but there was always
a sneaky suspicion that there was some sort of targeted (no pun intended) demographic when
doing them. Scary enough, I was right, but not even more right than I would ever want to be. But
unlike others, I am absolutely okay with being targeted into buying certain products. If it makes
things cheaper that’s alright because I usually target shop, not buy other things along with
certain products.
Chapter 8

Believe it or not, but I am actually an atheist and found a lot more interest in this chapter
than the others. There is something so strong about community that it does not really matter
what the core of the religion is, but the people surrounding it. People will accumulate to where
they see a strong foundation to put their life.
Jumping back to the Rosa Parks aspect of the chapter, I had no idea how connected
Rosa was to all of the communities in Alabama. I thought she was just a woman who took a
strong stand, but after reading, it makes a lot more sense that so many people were willing to
stand behind her. The peer pressure that Duhigg talks about is just so important to how people
work that they can’t even comprehend it in my opinion. I will be the first one to admit that there
are causes I ABSOLUTELY did not care about where I saw myself being part of it. Why you
might ask? Because my friends were and it was expected for me to be too. Even though every
fiber in your body tells you no, there is something that pushes you that's stronger than any will
power can endure to make you have to do it. But what is surprising about peer pressure is the
fact with drugs this does not have any sort of affect on me. I usually push these people away
and just try to ignore them. It’s not that I think drugs or smoking with rot my brain, but I just feel
like I can be happy with myself just doing me and not have to give in to doing something extra.
Random tangent alert: I love being consistent. Drugs just are consistent to me at all. Like
for example if I am practicing my instrument and I do something I have never been able to do
before. Most people would be super excited and whatever, but I never am. The first thing I do is
try it again. I want to be able to have a feeling and ability whenever I want, and when it doesn’t
come I frustrates the fuck out of me. So maybe I see drugs to be this way too. That at some
point a certain high isn’t going to work for me that it might have in the past, so I break down.
Chapter 9

Angie Bachmann is my worst nightmare for myself when I do stupid things. I really do
have reason in moderation. I really do. But the issue is will I ever not understand how my
moderation had grown out of hand. I absolutely did it with junk food. Can’t tell now because I
Lost the most weight, but snacks and things used to be really controlled. Barely happening. But
over time, just started to become a routine. Something that didn’t seem to be a problem at all
until it was a huge problem.
But holy fucking shit I could not imagine being Thomas. Having someone so dear to you
slip away because of something so biological and so stupid. How could you even prepare for
something so stupid? A quick reaction could end you happiness so fast and I don’t think many
people are aware of that. Usually not life or death, but something important can just blow up
without hesitation sometimes. Like my parents divorce, things just seem so calm sometimes.
Then things just abruptly change and feelings are hurt and whole life perspectives are moved.
Do I think Brian should have walked a free man? Sadly, yes. The fact that there is no
active participation in the crime being committed is actually the saddest part of the whole story.
There is no one to blame in the death of an innocent woman, but there is someone who CAN
take the blame. No matter what, his children, his family, and even himself will never forgive him
for doing something heinous even though he wasn’t aware of his actions.
I do think it’s kinda a stretch to explain all of this through a habit loop, but it does make
sense in some sort of way. The only part doesn’t make sense is there shouldn’t be a habit of
murdering someone anywhere in his brain. This is a one off reaction. Maybe other events might
seem the same, but it is definitely not a similar habit to be making. One last thing, the whole
British soldier admitting rape is just a sad sight. The fact he even called it in just makes it even
sadder. Like imagine waking up and realizing how much of a monster your unconscious self is.