I hit the snooze button and slept another half an hour, yet again. That’s the third time this week and its Wednesday. I lost count how many times it has been this month.

The result of my love affair with the snooze button is I am now running through my morning routine. It is not therapeutic, and if I believe everything I read about morning routines, I am not destined for “success”.

I know that if I just wake up early and have the kind of morning routine I could write a book about, I will be successful. In fact, I will probably be the next Steve Jobs.

The building of habits and routines is very difficult. This is where “The Power of Habit” proved to be an excellent and thoroughly worthwhile read. In recently finishing “The Power of Habit”, I thought I would share my greatest take away.

“The Power of Habit” discusses a number of scientific and theoretical approaches to changing and creating habits, which as you read the book, you will dive deep into scientific models. But the one concept I found thoroughly enlightening is the concept of the baseline habit, or the habit that if changed, would transform a number of other habits. So lets put this in real terms.

The habit I currently want to change is my morning routine, or improve it. I want to have enough time in the morning to thoroughly enjoy bacon, eggs, coffee, and a shave. My huge issue though is the alarm clock snooze button. I think this is a common problem.

So as I deconstruct what is infringing on my morning routine, I find that it is this alarm clock snooze button. As I found in the book, I have to go further back into my morning issues and now tackle my alarm clock habit, which is hitting the snooze button. After a bit of research I find myself looking at sleep quality. My sleep regimen is now my next stop on the path to morning routine optimization, and when looking at sleep, it is my evening routine. So in order to change the one habit I want, my morning routine, I have to turn the clock back all the way to my evening routine.

Looking at my key take away from “The Power of Habit”, the one habit that will change other habits is my evening routine. The adjustment to my evening routine will allow me to get enough sleep, which then I will be rested, less likely to hit snooze, and therefore wake up on time.

Whether sleep is a habit you think you should improve, or another habit, “The Power of Habit” is a great book to add to your book list. Examples range from P&G getting customers to use Febreeze, to how making your bed in the morning can help give you a productive day.

Whatever your habits, hopefully you will find this book as enlightening as I did.

Good luck and good selling!