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
"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
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
"In Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives, Gretchen Rubin picks up where [William] James left off, integrating a wealth of insight from psychology, sociology, and anthropology in an illuminating field guide to harnessing the transformative power of habit in modern life."
Brain Pickings
Review
"Change can be good. Particularly if it helps us live longer, healthier, indeed, happier lives — the objective of Rubin's latest project."
Chicago Tribune
Review
"Do you have a bad habit you're trying to shake, or a good one you wish you could cultivate? Gretchen Rubin is one of the most charming and erudite authors of her generation. Here, she uses her gifts to help you eat right, sleep well, stop procrastinating, and start enjoying all that life has to offer."
Susan Cain, New York Times bestselling author of Quiet
Review
"Gretchen Rubin combines deep research and observations from her own life to explain how habits emerge and — more important — how they can change. It's indispensable for anyone hoping to overhaul how they (almost unthinkingly) behave."
Charles Duhigg, New York Times bestselling author of The Power of Habit
Synopsis
New York Times Bestseller Washington Post Bestseller 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.
About the Author
Gretchen Rubin is the author of several books, including the New York Times bestsellers, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. She has an enormous following, both in print and online, and her books have sold more than a million copies worldwide, in more than thirty languages. Rubin started her career in law and was a clerk at the Supreme Court when she realized she wanted to be a writer. Raised in Kansas City, she lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.