Better than Before by Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin covers the subject of habits in great detail with Better Than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits--to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life.

Gretchen breaks people into  the Four Rubin Tendencies.  Knowing a person's tendency can help design a strategy to develop and maintain a positive habit.

1. The Rebel - They do not like to follow rules, they make their own. Tell them what do do and they will do the opposite. 
2. The Obliger- They need an outside authority or a buddy to help develop and maintain a habit
3. The Questioner - Needs an answer to questions such as "Why do we need to do this?"
4. The Up Holdler - responds to inner and outer expectations and can self regulate.

Making change can happen quickly with a lightning bolt in the form of an new experience or exposure to a new idea.  The author and her father switched to a low carb diet and improved the health of both of  them.  Some people achieve success by abstaining from an activity like eating sweets others work better when they modify their behavior. Moving to a new location or starting a new job is a great time to set up new habits.

Gretchen combines peer reviewed research with her own hands on experimentation at new habit forming using herself and friends as test subjects. Developing and maintaining good habits can free up valuable willpower to use when it is needed the most.

 

Gretchen Rubin - The four ways to successfully adopt habits  - 18 minutes

Strategy of the four tendencies - 6 minutes