Better Than Before Quotes

“For this reason, it’s all the more important to try to shape habits mindfully, so that when we fall back on them at times of stress, we’re following activities that make our situation better, not worse.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“Once we’re ready to begin, begin now.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“When we give more to ourselves, we can ask more from ourselves.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“I concluded that the real key to habits is decision making—or, more accurately, the lack of decision making. …A habit requires no decision from me, because I’ve already decided. …This freedom from decision making is crucial, because when I have to decide—which often involves resisting temptation or postponing gratification—I tax my self-control.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“I concluded that the real key to habits is decision making—or, more accurately, the lack of decision making.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“With habits, we conserve our [limited] self-control.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“[We] often learn more from one person’s idiosyncratic experiences than [we] do from scientific studies or philosophical treatises.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“The most important thing is to know ourselves, and to choose the strategies that work for us.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“In ordinary terms, a “habit” is generally defined as a behavior that’s recurrent, is cued by a specific context, often happens without much awareness or conscious intent, and is acquired through frequent repetition.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“Secret of Adulthood: Keeping up is easier than catching up.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“I read that office workers spend a staggering 28 percent of their office time on email, but I bet I spend more time than that. To make my email habit more convenient, I decided to cut out salutations and closings. I’d fallen into the habit of writing an email like an old-fashioned letter, instead of using the casualness and brevity now appropriate to email. An email that says: Hi Peter—Thanks so much for the link. I’m off to read the article right now. Warmly, Gretchen takes a lot more work than an email that says: Thanks! Off to read the article right now. The first version is more formal and polite, but the second version conveys the same tone and information, and is much quicker to write. It took a surprising amount of discipline to change my response habits. It can be hard to make things easier. I had to push myself to erase the “Hi” and to hit “send” without typing a closing. But before long, it became automatic. Not long after I’d instituted my new convenient email habits, however, I responded to a reader with an email that omitted a salutation and closing, and received a pointed email in return: “I find it really interesting that you don’t say ‘Hi Lisa’ or end your email in any kind of salutation, or say ‘if I have any more questions to drop you a line.’ Please excuse me if this is rude, I am truly just curious. Is this because you are super busy (understandably) or just not your style? I had this preconceived notion after reading your book that your dialogue would be so much more friendly/ happy and personal.” Sheesh. This was nicely put, but clearly the message was “You don’t sound very friendly.” I was taken aback. Should I go back to using more elaborate courtesy? Then I decided—no. I was sorry if I didn’t sound friendly to her, but I wanted to be able to answer emails from readers, and to keep up, I needed to make this work as convenient as possible. My habits had to reflect my values. I wrote her back, very nicely, and without a salutation or closing, to explain.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“I cleaned out my fridge, and now I feel like I can change careers!”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“Our habits are our destiny.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“For a happy life, it’s important to cultivate an atmosphere of growth—the sense that we’re learning new things, getting stronger, forging new relationships, making things better, helping other people.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“the Strategy of Pairing, I couple two activities, one that I need or want to do, and one that I don’t particularly want to do, to get myself to accomplish them both. It’s not a reward, it’s not a treat, it’s just a pairing.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“Unlike a reward, which must be earned or justified, a “treat” is a small pleasure or indulgence that we give to ourselves just because we want it.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“Although people often assume that cravings intensify over time, research shows that with active distraction, urges—even strong urges—usually subside within about fifteen minutes.
Drawing on intrinsic motivation makes us far more likely to stick to a behavior, and to find it satisfying.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“The harder it is to do something, the harder it is to do it impulsively, so inconvenience helps us stick to good habits. There are six obvious ways to make an activity less convenient:
· Increase the amount of physical or mental energy required (leave the cell phone in another room, ban smoking inside or near a building).
· Hide any cues (put the video game controller on a high shelf).
· Delay it (read email only after 11:00 a.m.).
· Engage in an incompatible activity (to avoid snacking, do a puzzle).
· Raise the cost (one study showed that people at high risk for smoking were pleased by a rise in the cigarette tax; after London imposed a congestion charge to enter the center of the city, people’s driving habits changed, with fewer cars on the road and more use of public transportation).
· Block it altogether (give away the TV set).”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“People take less food when using tongs, instead of spoons, to serve themselves.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“There are many compelling reasons to exercise, but study after study shows that weight loss isn’t one of them. The way to lose weight is to change eating habits.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“Make it easy to do right and hard to go wrong.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“I’d asked myself, “Why do habits make it possible for people to change?” and now I knew the answer. Habits make change possible by freeing us from decision making and from using self-control.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“leisure must be entered on the schedule as its own activity; it’s not something I get only when I have nothing else to do. Because I always have something else to do.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“We set out to be wrecked.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“In other words, habits eliminate the need for self-control.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“We should make sure the things we do to feel better don’t make us feel worse.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“The first and most important habits question is: “How does a person respond to an expectation?” When we try to form a new habit, we set an expectation for ourselves. Therefore, it’s crucial to understand how we respond to expectations.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“A “routine” is a string of habits, and a “ritual” is a habit charged with transcendent meaning.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life

“Keeping a good habit costs us: it may cost time, energy, and money, and it may mean forgoing pleasures and opportunities—but not keeping a good habit also has its cost. So which cost do we want to pay?”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: Mastering the Habits of Our Everyday Lives

“do once in a while.”
― Gretchen Rubin, Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life