Copyright 2017 |Blue Sky Leadership Consulting | All rights reserved

Volume 4

Issue 9

Better Than Before Gretchen Rubin Reviewed by Robert Schmidt

Why read this book? The author of the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, The Happiness

Project and Happier at Home, tackles the critical question: How do we

change?

Gretchen Rubin's answer: through habits. Habits are the invisible architecture of

everyday life. It takes work to make a habit, but once that habit is set, we can

harness the energy of habits to build happier, stronger, more productive lives.

So if habits are a key to change, then what we really need to know is: How do we

change our habits? Let’s find out!

Better than Before answers that question. It presents a practical, concrete

framework to allow readers to understand their habits—and to change them for

good. Infused with Rubin’s compelling voice, rigorous research, and easy humor,

and packed with vivid stories of lives transformed, Better than Before explains the

(sometimes counter-intuitive) core principles of habit formation.

BLUE SKY LEADERSHIP CONSULTING | 210-219-9934 | PETER@BLUESKYLEADERSHIP.COM

Blue Sky Leadership Consulting works with organizations to leverage Strategic Thinking and Execution Planning and we encompass many

of the principles in these books into our Four DecisionsTM methodology and development of your company’s One Page Strategic Plans.

Need to grow top line revenue? Improve bottom-line profits? Build accountable and trusting teams? Improve cash flow? Develop

leadership team members? Contact us for a free consultation

“To shape our habits successfully, we must know ourselves.”

“When we give more to ourselves, we can ask more from ourselves.”

“We should make sure the things we do to feel better don’t make us feel worse.”

“What saves a man is to take a step. Then another step. It is always the same step, but you

have to take it.” Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

“We want good habits- but we also want to make life easier and more pleasant.”

“A key step for the Strategy of Monitoring is to identify precisely what action is to be

monitored. If we want something to count in our lives, we should figure out a way to count

it.”

“We can only build our habits on the foundation of our own nature.”

“The clearer I am about what I value, and what action I expect from myself- not what other

people value, or expect from me- the more likely I am to stick to my habits.”

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Self Knowledge The first and most important habit question is: “How does a person respond to an expectation?”

The Fateful Tendencies We Bring into The World: The Four Tendencies

• Upholder- respond readily to outer and inner expectations; they want to know what is expected of

them and plan to meet those expectations; they avoid making mistakes or letting people down-

including themselves.

• Questioner- question all expectations and respond to an expectation only if they conclude that it

makes sense; they are motivated by reason, logic and fairness; they decide for themselves whether a

course of action is a good idea, and they resist doing anything that seems to lack sound purpose.

• Obliger- meet outer expectations but struggle to meet inner expectations; motivated by external

accountability and goes to great lengths to meet their responsibilities; difficult for them to self-

motivate.

• Rebel- resist all expectations, outer and inner alike; they choose to act from a sense of choice or

freedom; they resist control, even self-control and enjoy flouting rules and expectations.

”Just because something’s fun for someone else doesn’t mean it’s fun for me.”

Different Solutions for Different People

• Am I a lark (morning person) or an owl (night person)?

• Am I a marathoner, a sprinter or a procrastinator?

• Am I an underbuyer or an overbuyer?

• Am I a simplicity lover or abundance lover?

• Am I a finisher or an opener?

• Am I a familiarity lover or a novelty lover?

• Am I promotion focused or prevention-focused?

• Do I like to take small steps or big steps?

B o o k R e v i e w : B e t t e r T h a n B e f o r e P a g e 3 | 5

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Pillars of Habits Many strategies help us change our habits and four strategies tower above the others: Monitoring, Foundation,

Scheduling and Accountability.

We Manage What We Monitor

• Identify precisely what action you want monitored- “Call one client a day”; “Read the news every

morning”; “10,000 steps every day”

“Habits gradually change the face of one’s life as time changes one’s physical face-

and one does not know it” – Virginia Woolf

First Things First: Foundation • Sleep

• Move

• Eat and drink right

• Unclutter

If It’s On The Calendar, It Happens: Scheduling

• Habits grow strongest and fastest when they’re repeated in predictable ways

• Forces us to confront the natural limits of the day, week, month or year

Someone’s Watching: Accountability • If we believe someone’s watching we behave differently

o Upholder- systems of self-accountability

o Obliger- team up with an accountability partner

o Questioner- ?

o Rebel-??

The Best Time to Begin Any new beginning presents an important opportunity for habit formation because it combines the power of

novelty with the desired new habit.

It’s Enough to Begin: First Steps

Temporary Becomes Permanent: Clean Slate

Data Point of One: Lightning Bolt

It is well to yield up a pleasure, when pain goes with it. –Publius Syrus

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Desire, Ease and Excuses

Free from French Fries: Abstaining

It’s Hard to Make Things Easier: Convenience

Change My Surroundings, Not Myself: Inconvenience

A Stumble May Prevent a Fall: Safeguards

Nothing Stays in Vegas: Loophole-Spotting

Wait fifteen Minutes: Distraction

No Finish Line: Reward

Just Because: Treats

Sitting is the New Smoking: Pairing

We can only build our habits on the foundation of our own nature.

Unique, Just Like Everyone Else While we can learn about ourselves by looking in the mirror- as in the “Self Knowledge” section- we also learn

about ourselves in comparison to others. When we understand ourselves better, we can do a better job of shaping

our habits.

Choose My Bale of Hay: Clarity

I’m The Fussy One: Identity

Not Everyone is Like Me: Other People

Everyday Life in Utopia: Conclusion “Tomorrow, without making any decisions, without exerting any willpower, I’ll wake up at 6:00 am, kiss

Jamie while he’s still asleep, work on the computer for an hour, wake Eliza and Eleanor, fix the family

breakfast (I’ll have three scrambled eggs, no oatmeal), stand on one leg in the elevator, walk Eleanor to

school, sit down at my clutter-free desk again…and so on. Those habits wouldn’t make everyone happy,

but they make me very happy.”

Our Faculty

Peter

Braeuler Mark Wittig

Malcolm Coon

Robert Schmidt

Judy Zimmerman

Andrew Wittig

www.ExecutiveBookReview.com

Copyright 2017 |Blue Sky Leadership Consulting | All rights reserved

Volume 4

Issue9

______________________________________________

2017 Calendar

UTSA EMBA Alumni

7:30 – 8:45

Houston – Wittigs

11:30 – 1:00

San Antonio – Wittigs

8:00 – 9:30 AM

Better than Before: What I learned about my bad habits

Sep 8 Sep 21 Sep 22

Ego is the Enemy Oct 6 Oct 26 Oct 27

Leaders Eat Last Nov 3 Nov 16 Nov 17

Winning Dec 1 Dec 14 Dec 15

Actions 1. What thought or idea had the biggest impact on you today?

2. What is one specific action you will take TODAY from what was discussed?

3. HOW will you implement this action?