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  • Better Than Before

  • Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives
  • By: Gretchen Rubin
  • Narrated by: Gretchen Rubin
  • Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (222 ratings)

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Better Than Before cover art

Better Than Before

By: Gretchen Rubin
Narrated by: Gretchen Rubin
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Publisher's Summary

Best-selling author Gretchen Rubin (The Happiness Project and Happier at Home) explores habits - the invisible architecture of everyday life - and how they can make us more likely to be happy, healthy, productive, and creative. When we change our habits, we change our lives.

Gretchen Rubin, author of the blockbuster New York Times best sellers The Happiness Project and Happier at Home, has helped millions of readers get happier. Now she tackles the critical question: How can we make good habits and break bad ones? In a book that's crammed with big, provocative ideas, Rubin shows readers how to create the habits that will transform their lives, even if they've failed before. The secret, Rubin explains, is to pinpoint the specific strategies that will work for us.

From finding the right time to begin a new habit to setting up a counterintuitive system of reward to using the pleasure of treats to strengthen our good habits, Rubin identifies the 21 strategies that will allow every listener to find an effective, individual fit. Along the way Rubin uses herself as a guinea pig, tests her theories on family and friends, and answers listeners' 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? How can I get myself to stick to a new habit?
  • I want to help someone else make a change. But how?
  • Why can I make time for everyone else but can't make time for myself?

Whether listeners want to get more sleep, make and maintain weight loss, stop checking their phone,s or finish projects, habits make change possible. Habits are the invisible architecture of everyday life.

Listening to just a few chapters of Better Than Before will start listeners working on their own habits - even before they've finished the audiobook.

©2015 Gretchen Rubin (P)2015 John Murray Press

Critic Reviews

"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, best-selling author of Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking)
"Filled with insights about our patterns of behavior, Better Than Before addresses one of life's big and timeless questions: How can we transform ourselves? In a way that's thought-provoking, surprising and often funny, Gretchen Rubin provides us with the tools to build a life that truly reflects our goals and values." (Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post and best-selling author of Thrive)
"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, bestselling author of The Power of Habit)
"Gretchen Rubin is a writer after my own heart - seriously brilliant, very warm, and funny. I think she's amazing." (Anne Lamott)

What listeners say about Better Than Before

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  • VP
  • 13-12-2015

Too much fluff; too much!

A long book is a consequence of a long and masterful process of writing, or an attempt to fill up pages and turn a few ideas into sellable format.

Unfortunately, this book is the second.

Save your money and most importantly your time (being a long talk) and choose something else.

She uses the outdated technique of holding on to the main ideas and trying to build up anticipation.

I don't like leaving negative reviews, but I truly want to save the next person in search of truth some of their limited time.

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16 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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A real struggle to get through

I thought I would love the idea behind this book but it is less a helpful guide for improving your ability to master important habits than it is a stream of consciousness from a woman a bit too impressed with her own - rather underwhelming - take on different personality types.

That isn't to say that there aren't some positives to this book. The author does seem like a lovely person with a genuine will to help others, however, I really struggled to maintain enthusiasm for this read, especially when it was more anecdotal (if I never hear the phrase "my husband, Jamie" again, it will be too soon!) instead of setting out a particular path for mastering new habits. In summary, if you are after clear direction to change challenging behaviours, I would recommend looking elsewhere.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Brilliant.

My friend had recommended I read this two years ago. Don't wait that long - I recommend reading it now. There was information on habits presented in a way I had never heard before, that are making a massive difference for me. Hope you enjoy!

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

One of the most useful books I've read this year!

I'm not the effusive type, so when I write a 5-star review it really does mean I've found the book to be enormously helpful, well-written, and engaging. The "four tendencies" framework makes sense to me and is a really useful filter for understanding why I do things, and, just as importantly, why I don't do things, and why motivational strategies that work for others don't often work well for me. I highly recommend this book! As an audiobook, I also loved the fact that Gretchen narrated it herself. Her voice is expressive, her diction clear, and she is very easy to listen to. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will undoubtedly listen again!

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Loved this book

Loved it. Have just finished and am clicking play to listen to it all over again! Great ideas and lots of take aways.

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2 people found this helpful

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Poor book well and truly in the Self help category

Struggled to finish - it's just a list of her thoughts collected into a sensible structure. No evidence, just her random thoughts. Very disappointing book.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Love this book and author so much

Gretchen Rubin has changed the way I look at the world. She speaks so honestly and defines habits in understandable terms. I highly recommend this book. I'm so happy I found it!

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Once again Gretchen nailed it

Absolutely love everything Gretchen does, her info is always research based and down to earth - I feel inspired! 😊

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What an incredible book.

Loved listening to this book, so much to learn from it & take in. Highly recommend.

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It makes you want to be better than before

Great book, easy to listen to on audible. Some really interesting pieces on tendencies and habits that I hadn’t heard before. I recommend this audiobook.

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