Book Review: Better Than Before

Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives by Gretchen Rubin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed reading this book. The author works through what she calls the four tendencies, or types of people with regards to habits. She describes each and includes lots of examples to help the reader discern which they are. There is also a chapter on distinctions that further separate different types of people within the tendency framework and discusses other ways people are different. For example morning person (lark, according to her terminology) or night "owl". Marathoner, Sprinter or Procrastinator? There are others, and she maintains and gives examples to support the theory that these further disctinctions shape the way we state and pursue our habits. She then steps into different strategies to establish or change habits, for example, monitoring the habit, or accountability. There are some interesting strategies that make sense as you read them, but I doubt I could have come up with!

So overall, I feel like with some time spent on introspection, this book could be helpful in choosing and following through on new habits. I enjoyed the book, but would definitely need to read it again and do some homework in order to really implement it well. It was easy to read, and engaging, but my style is not to deep dive on the first read, especially when I'm trying to read quickly (for a review.... ahem). I'd suggest reading through the tendencies and further distinctions and doing some journalling or thinking and applying that information, and then maybe identifying a few potential habit areas before jumping into the next section and figuring out how to best implement them.

I do wish she had maybe added a chapter to guide one through the process, but perhaps that will be so different for each reader that it isn't possible. I think this is an interesting concept and could be a helpful book to read and keep around.

I recieved a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.


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