Birchbloggers Book Club Review: Better Than Before

Reading is one of my favorite things to do.  Being in a formal book club hasn't fit into my schedule (but it's on the list for sure!).  So you can imagine how excited I was that I was chosen to review a BRAND NEW book for the March Birchbloggers Book Club!

I am a(n):

• Obliger with a Rebel streak too. 
• Owl. 
• Procrastinator.
• Overbuyer. 
• Abundance lover.
• Opener. 
• Familiarity Lover. 
• Promotion Lover. 
• Small stepper.

A what?! 

Ever tried to create a new habit or break an old one?  I bet if I sat down to really think about it and was really brutally honest, I try to create new habits every day...and often fail. 

Those things I listed about myself above....knowing those things about myself is putting me on a much better, more likely-to-be-successful track to making habits stick everyday.  I can thank Gretchen Rubin's new book Better Than Before for that! 

I am still reading...and still learning...from the book.  But already, I have had a chance to really look at my motivations and my own habits and decision making in order to make the daily adventures of life a little more productive.  I am learning that instead of fighting against my personal tendencies, I can use them to make my habits and lists work FOR me. 

Some of these tendencies surprised me.......I am planner in my professional life so being a procrastinator, for instance, made me pause.  How can I say that I can effectively manage a long planning process as a procrastinator? Well, my creativity comes out against a deadline; that's when I do my best thinking and planning!! 

Promotion Lover - I need to see results; I need to hear people acknowledge progress; I need to see that the work I put in is getting my closer to the goal, whatever that goal is.  And this doesn't surprise me at all.  Another book I love tells me that my love language is spoken - I need to hear things in order for them to be true in my life.  

Owl for sure, though with kids, I have learned to be productive in the mornings as well.  In fact, as I read this section, I thought "of course I would be a lark....I have three kids so there is no other way to be other than a morning person".  I was wrong.  When do I do most of my work?  When are my most productive hours?  After 6pm.  Almost as if the sun distracts me and I need it to be dark in order to do what I know needs to be done.  

As I get further into this book, I am learning more about habits and how to make them stick.  Most of all, I am learning more about how I function...and I am becoming "better than before"!!! 

Final verdict.....LOVE this book and I can already see its impact on my daily life.I have pages marked, notes in the margin, and it goes everywhere with me so I can re-read sections as I need reminders.