To Change Thy Habits, Know Thyself
In keeping with the theme of New Year's resolutions (it's still a new year, right?), I was thinking about a book that I read last year, Gretchen Rubin's Better Than Before.
In many ways, this book is a prescriptive follow-up to Rubin's wildly successful The Happiness Project. It continues the same mixture of self-effacing humor, self-revealing anecdotes, and self-help ideas for the motivated reader. The one big difference (and my one big criticism) is that where Happiness pulls its evidence from the fields of psychology, philosophy, literature and more, Better relies instead on quotes from Rubin's swarm of blog readers.
Still, there is a lot here to enjoy. Her thesis is that changing your habits is the key to making a successful life, and she offers many practical ideas for doing so. One of my favorites is the concept personality type plays a role in motivation. Rubin divides people into four types:
I didn't even have to take her online personality quiz to know that I'm an Obliger. I'm the kind of person who will drop everything and run to the store for a pint of ice cream when someone else wants it, but will forget to even bother picking up a bandage for my own bleeding head wound.
For obligers like me, accountability is key. For example, I'm much more likely to stick to a workout plan if other people are counting on me to show up. That's what makes rowing a perfect fit: when the alarm goes off at 5:00 and I really want to hit snooze, I imagine 7 of my teammates standing around, cursing me because they can't get out on the water today. Works every time.
This book is definitely worth a skim. I go back to it time and again, flipping through and looking at a section that catches my eye. If, like me, you're taking the "ease into the New Year's Resolution" approach and you're still looking for ideas, you might want to check it out.
In many ways, this book is a prescriptive follow-up to Rubin's wildly successful The Happiness Project. It continues the same mixture of self-effacing humor, self-revealing anecdotes, and self-help ideas for the motivated reader. The one big difference (and my one big criticism) is that where Happiness pulls its evidence from the fields of psychology, philosophy, literature and more, Better relies instead on quotes from Rubin's swarm of blog readers.
Still, there is a lot here to enjoy. Her thesis is that changing your habits is the key to making a successful life, and she offers many practical ideas for doing so. One of my favorites is the concept personality type plays a role in motivation. Rubin divides people into four types:
- Upholders - These are rule-followers. This is the kind of person who will wait at a crosswalk until the little white man appears, whether any cars are coming or not.
- Questioners - These people will follow the rules, but only when they know why the rule is there, and why it matters.
- Rebel - Rules? I don't need your stinking rules...
- Obliger - These folks will accept those rules that help or protect others, but have a harder time helping themselves.
I didn't even have to take her online personality quiz to know that I'm an Obliger. I'm the kind of person who will drop everything and run to the store for a pint of ice cream when someone else wants it, but will forget to even bother picking up a bandage for my own bleeding head wound.
For obligers like me, accountability is key. For example, I'm much more likely to stick to a workout plan if other people are counting on me to show up. That's what makes rowing a perfect fit: when the alarm goes off at 5:00 and I really want to hit snooze, I imagine 7 of my teammates standing around, cursing me because they can't get out on the water today. Works every time.
This book is definitely worth a skim. I go back to it time and again, flipping through and looking at a section that catches my eye. If, like me, you're taking the "ease into the New Year's Resolution" approach and you're still looking for ideas, you might want to check it out.
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