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Lisa Allen is an American woman who overcame a series of destructive habits—like smoking, overeating, and indebting herself—in a very short period of time, after getting divorced and taking a trip to Cairo. A scientific study showed that her brain formed new, stronger pathways to accommodate her new habits—although the pathways associated with her old habits didn’t totally disappear. Duhigg uses Lisa Allen’s story to introduce The Power of Habit because she shows how radical habit change is possible and can transform people’s lives for the better.
Lisa Allen Quotes in The Power of Habit
The The Power of Habit quotes below are all either spoken by Lisa Allen or refer to Lisa Allen . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Prologue
Quotes
She needed a goal in her life, she thought. Something to work toward.
So she decided, sitting in the taxi, that she would come back to Egypt and trek through the desert.
It was a crazy idea, Lisa knew. She was out of shape, overweight, with no money in the bank. She didn’t know the name of the desert she was looking at or if such a trip was possible. None of that mattered, though. She needed something to focus on. Lisa decided that she would give herself one year to prepare. And to survive such an expedition, she was certain she would have to make sacrifices.
In particular, she would need to quit smoking.
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When researchers began examining images of Lisa’s brain, they saw something remarkable: One set of neurological patterns—her old habits—had been overridden by new patterns. They could still see the neural activity of her old behaviors, but those impulses were crowded out by new urges. As Lisa’s habits changed, so had her brain.
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Get the entire The Power of Habit LitChart as a printable PDF.
Lisa Allen Quotes in The Power of Habit
The The Power of Habit quotes below are all either spoken by Lisa Allen or refer to Lisa Allen . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Prologue
Quotes
She needed a goal in her life, she thought. Something to work toward.
So she decided, sitting in the taxi, that she would come back to Egypt and trek through the desert.
It was a crazy idea, Lisa knew. She was out of shape, overweight, with no money in the bank. She didn’t know the name of the desert she was looking at or if such a trip was possible. None of that mattered, though. She needed something to focus on. Lisa decided that she would give herself one year to prepare. And to survive such an expedition, she was certain she would have to make sacrifices.
In particular, she would need to quit smoking.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
When researchers began examining images of Lisa’s brain, they saw something remarkable: One set of neurological patterns—her old habits—had been overridden by new patterns. They could still see the neural activity of her old behaviors, but those impulses were crowded out by new urges. As Lisa’s habits changed, so had her brain.
Related Characters:
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Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
