Self-discipline has a bigger effect on academic performance than does intellectual talent.

What studies say the number one best way to start an exercise habit is to give yourself a reward that you genuinely enjoy.

The best agencies understood the importance of routines. The worst agencies were headed by people who never thought about it, and then wondered why no one followed their orders.

When people have a willpower failure, it's because they haven't anticipated a situation that's going to come along.

However, to modify a habit, you must decide to change it. You must consiously accept the hard work of identifying the cues and rewards that drive the habits' routines, and find alternatives. You must know you have control and be self-conscious enough to use it -- and every chapter in this book is devoted to illustrating a different aspect of why that control is real.

There’s something about it that makes other good habits easier.

Most of the choices we make each day may feel like the products of well-considered decision making, but they’re not. They’re habits.