How to Be a Better Person: 400+ Simple Ways to Make a Difference in Yourself--And the World

by Kate Hanley

This fun, enlightening book features 300 everyday activities to help you become a better person and make a positive impact on the people around you.

How to Be a Better Person is a unique and practical guide that can help you easily turn your good intentions into meaningful actions. Each activity serves as a daily inspiration for you to make a positive impact in your home, community, and relationships. With exercises designed to foster cheerfulness, kindness, generosity, gratitude, acceptance and inclusion, integrity, and honesty, you can learn how easy it is to be the person you’ve always wanted to be.

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Personal Growth

225 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 2, 2018

About the author

As a writer, I cover ways to take better care of yourself so that you can be a force for good in the world. (I also do that as a podcaster with my daily podcast, How to Be a Better Person).

As a reader, my heart beats faster for historical fiction and memoir. I have writer crushes on Mary Karr, Anne Lamott, Ann Patchett, Diana Gabaldon, and Jeanne Auel. I also like some male writers, I promise. Particularly, at the moment, Sherman Alexie.

I live in Providence, Rhode Island (home of tolerance, cheer, and clam cakes) with my husband, two kids, and a rescue dog named Cookie.

Reviews

[kia · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to Be a Better Person is a short yet interesting book that provides a long list of simple ways on how to cultivate physical, emotional, mental and social aspects of a person, thus making one self better.

It is easy to read, and provides short insights on nurturing one’s well-being and creativity towards life itself.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was all too easy to eat this book up in huge chunks at a time - don't do it...you'll get more out of it with just a few pages here and there. It would have been nice if all of the pronouns in the suggestions were gender neutral (most were but the ones that weren't really stuck out).

[Boreychenda Ouk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many useful advice. Beautiful design and easy read.

[Nese · Rating 3 out of 5]

If the definition of being a better person is being kinder, and more compassionate, in addition to serving one’s community, making the world a better place by helping the ones who can’t help themselves and being a more spiritual person, the title of this book should be How to Improve your Life since most of the book has nothing to do with being a better person, according to the definition above, but it is about improving the quality of one’s life.

Each chapter has paragraphs with cliché titles and vague concepts without descriptions of what they mean such as “See Novelty”, “Try on Maybe”, “Be Real”, “Accept the Bumps”, “Embrace The Paradox of Effortless Effort”, “Be Cool with the Itch”, “Rethink Insomnia”, “Start Your Day Right”, “Eat Your Fruits and Vegetables”, “Stop Keeping Score”, “Look for the Win-Win”, “Stay Curious When you’re Furious”, “Get Better at Digging Deep”, and etc. Most of the time we all know what to do, such as quitting smoking and exercising more, but knowing something and doing it are very different things. Unless a person can gain inside one’s behavior and what kind of the secondary gain s/he is having from the way one acts, the behavior doesn’t change and giving advice to someone what to do rarely works, especially superficial ones that scratch the surface. Reading this book is much fun as listening to someone sitting you down and giving you advice about what to do. Two and a half stars.

[Merrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is not rocket science, but that is what makes it so great: it is simple, easy-to-read stuff that makes sense. It comes with a checklist and is separated by sections, so you can go to areas of concern when are, ahem, concerned about certain aspects of your life and want to improve on them, whether they be your health or your friendships or work. The hints are down-to-earth ideas which are easily implemented. They are written with sincerity and humour; you can tell Kate Hanley speaks from the heart and the methods are tried and true. My favourite, a little more frivolous yet no less important, hint is to "Wear something remarkable." Ms Hanley suggests this to make yourself stand out while fitting in. Personally, I think this could go further. Who doesn't think wearing sexy, yet unseen, underwear makes you feel better about yourself, thereby making you feel happier and a better person to be around? Other hints are decidedly more serious. That is the other strength of the book: you can find an answer to help you improve no matter the situation, no matter what mood you are in. All of my girlfriends will be getting this for Christmas! (oops, don't tell!)

[Christa Van · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know what I was expecting but what I got was a lot of cheesy recommendations about how to be a better person, several contradict other recommendation and most of them are pretty useless. Nothing is explained past the type of detail in a People magazine. I read them all but not feeling like this is anything that could seriously help anyone become a better person unless you need more tips like "take a vacation" and "declutter."

[Amy Ingalls · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a giveaway. It is a pretty little book full of positive tips.

[Sana Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like how the book is written in a check box format, rather than just paragraphs. It makes it easier to read, and also allows you to mark items you are working on/or have mastered. The topics are divided into eight categories, such as Be Healthy, Show Love etc, where each category has its own unique set of points. Many of the ideas were new to me and were good food for thought. Some were ok. But this is a book, I feel I would go back to again, to reaffirm some points and perhaps check mark some ideas I have been working on. Its a good little guide to help you along the way, during low times and also perhaps if you're looking for an idea or two of how you can improve yourself as a person.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of great tips and suggestions. Some were familiar to me and many were not. Bottom line - this book got me to thinking more about where I was headed and where I want to be headed. Take the time to read this book and take more control of my life. I never imagined that many of the things I was doing would be listed. Therefore I can concentrate on the ones that are new to me. Great book and presented in a east to read/use manner. I highly recommend. I won this book in a GoodReads Giveaway.

[Brittany Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very surface level book but a great starting point to review who you are and what you are doing. Better to own and make notes in than to borrow from the Library. Can be a bit overwhelming...read slowly or choose chapters that apply to you. Digestable bite sizes of info thay will lead you to discover themes or to dos in your life that will require more in depth books.

[Arkajit Dey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read in small bursts since each item is only a couple paragraphs at most. I found them to be helpful mini-breaks during my day to remind me of the types of behaviors I would like to do more of.

[Natalia Siwiec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy to read and very applicable. Good book to own and go back to as needed. You can open it at any page and jump right into the life lesson or useful tip on how to simply and effectively be a better person.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wanted to kick start 2020 with ideas on how to have a better impact in the world and I found this book. I love that there are many different ideas in different areas of life. I chose my favorites to be applied at short term, middle term and long term in 2020.

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

👏

Wonderfully written, good for almost any age. I, personally, gained a lot from reading this book. It truly helped me to look within myself for something deeper, to see things in a way like I have never before.
Definitely recommend.

[Shea Blackburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

great ideas

I learned about this book from a podcast I listen to and it did not disappoint. Some suggested things I already do but there are some great ideas that I never thought of. I already feel like I am a better person after reading this!

[Christine Boswell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

[Gay Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple reminders of ways you can make a difference in the lives of those around you.

[Stevie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of little pearls

[Joy Grey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice tips for being a better person. Easy reading. Ongoing read for me.

[Sarah Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice little reminders to do everyday.

[Margret · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great read. It gives lots of tips and suggestions to make self-improvements. Also, it's very inspiring. I love the small checkbox. Highly recommend it!

[Huyền Trần · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hơi ngắn mà túm được vài ý hay.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm officially finished, so I can now say with 100% certainty that this is my new favorite non-fiction book. SO much wisdom! An absolute must read.

[Landon Murrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The reason why I picked five stars is just because it's a great book in general and it taught me a few lessons for life and a couple things that I learned about life and how it works . Honestly to me life is a new problem everyday and each and everyone of us faces all different challenges and one of the lesson's is that not to care about what others say about you and only care about what you think about yourself and we all may be different on the outside but were all the same on the inside. I think someone should read it because it teach's us about the challenges in life and it also helps with depression and talks about self motivation

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Run, don't walk to get this book! It is so chock-full of helpful tidbits for all kinds of situations. And if you like what you read, tune in to Kate's podcast of the same name. It has become an important part of my daily routine.

Want to be a better person at the holidays? Check out my conversation with Kate here:
www.christinekrahling.com/podcast