If you've ever struggled to break out of an unhealthy routine—from smoking to eating a bowl of ice cream every night—you know how strong a habit can become. In fact, many of our choices every day happen unconsciously, triggered by a certain cue and delivering a particular reward that has become routine and effortless. This is actually very good news: once we recognize the cue and the reward that surrounds the behavior, we can work to change it.
New York Times reporter Charles Duhigg's new book, The Power of Habit , lays out a simple method for changing old habits and creating new ones, using scientific studies and personal stories of real-life change. By harnessing the momentum of our habits, we can consciously improve our lives in drastic ways—even that early morning run or yoga  class can become an automatic behavior, something you do without even thinking about it.
Watch this video interview with Duhigg to learn about how habits work and how you can make them work for you.
Skip ahead in the video to hear Charles Duhigg discuss...
0:18 What a habit is
1:37 Why we form habits
2:20 How to change a habit or create a new one
5:12 The role of willpower in habit formation
6:24 What keystone habits are and how they work