Staff Pick
Rubin offers a lively and fascinating discussion of habit strategies, revealing how much easier it is to make changes in your life if you implement them in a way that works for you. Straightforward and sensible, Better Than Before has something to offer all of us who want to change our habits. Recommended By Mary Jo S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
The author of the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, tackles the critical question: How do we change?
Gretchen Rubin’s answer: through habits.
Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life. It takes work
to make a habit, but once that habit is set, we can harness the energy
of habits to build happier, stronger, more productive lives.
So if habits are a key to change, then what we really need to know is: How do we change our habits?
Better than Before
answers that question. It presents a practical, concrete framework to
allow readers to understand their habits — and to change them for good.
Infused with Rubin’s compelling voice, rigorous research, and easy
humor, and packed with vivid stories of lives transformed, Better than Before explains the (sometimes counter-intuitive) core principles of habit formation.
Along the way, Rubin uses herself as guinea pig, tests her theories on
family and friends, and answers readers’ most pressing questions — oddly,
questions that other writers and researchers tend to ignore:
• Why do I find it tough to create a habit for something I love to do?
• Sometimes I can change a habit overnight, and sometimes I can’t change a habit, no matter how hard I try. Why?
• How quickly can I change a habit?
• What can I do to make sure I stick to a new habit?
• How can I help someone else change a habit?
• Why can I keep habits that benefit others, but can’t make habits that are just for me?
Whether readers want to get more sleep, stop checking their devices,
maintain a healthy weight, or finish an important project, habits
make change possible. Reading just a few chapters of Better Than Before will make readers eager to start work on their own habits — even before they’ve finished the book.
Review
“The Happiness Project lays out life’s essential goals…Her new book, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives, serves as a kind of detailed instruction manual on how to achieve them.” New York Times Sunday Book Review
Review
“If anyone can help us stop procrastinating, start exercising or get
organized, it’s Gretchen Rubin. The happiness guru takes a sledgehammer
to old-fashioned notions about change.”
Parade
Review
“We are totally comfortable calling Gretchen Rubin’s new book, Better
Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives,
life-changing.”
Better Homes & Gardens
About the Author
GRETCHEN RUBIN is the author of several books, including the blockbuster #1 New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project.
Rubin started her career in law and was clerking for Supreme Court
Justice Sandra Day O’Connor when she realized that she really wanted to
be a writer. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her
husband and two daughters. Visit Gretchen at gretchenrubin.com.