Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives is a self-help book by Gretchen Rubin that provides readers with strategies for forming and maintaining healthy habits. The book delves into the science behind habit formation and provides a comprehensive framework for understanding why we do what we do.
Understand Your Habits
To make lasting changes, it’s important to understand why we form habits and how they work.
By recognizing our triggers and motivations, we can start to create new patterns of behavior that will help us reach our goals.
Create an Environment of Support
Creating an environment that encourages positive change can also help us form good habits.
We should enlist the help of friends and family members to provide support, accountability and encouragement when needed.
Keep Trying
Change is hard and it’s normal to experience setbacks along the way.
We shouldn’t give up if we don’t see results right away – instead, we should keep trying until we find the right approach for us.
This requires patience, persistence and resilience.
Reflect Regularly
Reflection is an important part of habit formation – it helps us learn from our experiences and become more aware of how our habits shape our lives.
We should take time each day or week to reflect on what works, what doesn’t work and how we can improve going forward.
Track Your Progress
Tracking our progress can help us stay on track and recognize our accomplishments.
We should keep a log of our successes and failures so that we can reflect on what works and adjust our strategies accordingly.
Establish Routines
Establishing routines can help us become more productive and efficient.
We should be intentional about creating habits that support our values and goals, as well as have a plan for when we encounter obstacles or distractions.
Prioritize Self-Care
Staying healthy and taking care of ourselves is essential to forming good habits.
We should make sure to get enough sleep, eat well, exercise regularly and take breaks so that we have the energy needed to develop healthy habits.
Find Joy in the Process
Developing healthy habits doesn’t have to be a chore – it can be fun too! We should find joy in the process by celebrating our successes, setting realistic goals and finding ways to make the journey enjoyable.
This helps us stay motivated and keeps us from feeling overwhelmed or discouraged.
Find Your Strategy
Different people require different strategies to form and maintain habits.
We should identify which strategies work best for us and recognize that what works for one person may not work for another.
This means experimenting and testing different approaches to find the right fit.
Start Small
Starting small is key to forming new habits.
We should focus on building small successes and taking small steps towards our goals, rather than trying to make large changes all at once.
This helps us stay motivated and increases the likelihood of success.
