# HowToLiveBetter: 614 Evidence-Graded Life Tips Sorted by Cost-Benefit Ratio

> HowToLiveBetter is an Unlicense repository containing 614 evidence-based tips covering longevity, law, finance, emergencies, and more, each with a stated cost, a benefit in plain language, an evidence grade, and a cited source. The content is primarily in Chinese and is available as a static website, downloadable offline HTML, PDF, and EPUB.

**eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter** — 按性价比排序的循证生活指南：长寿防病、急救、省钱理财、法律红线、失业与工伤、医保社保、恋爱婚育、怀孕育儿、创业与做平台合规、出国与技能。每条写明成本、收益、证据等级和原始出处，只引期刊论文与官方文件。

- Repository: https://github.com/eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter
- Website: https://eternity4719.github.io/HowToLiveBetter/
- Stars: 27,719 · Forks: 2,092
- Language: HTML
- License: CC-BY-4.0
- Published: 2026-09-16 · Updated: 2026-09-16 · Language: en
- Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/eternity4719-howtolivebetter

## What HowToLiveBetter Contains and Who It Is For

HowToLiveBetter is a reference guide organized into 33 chapters. Its 614 tips span longevity and disease prevention, first aid, energy and time management, personal finance, legal risks, unemployment and benefits, insurance, relationships, pregnancy and childcare, entrepreneurship compliance, and travel safety. The README describes it plainly: each tip states what it costs, what it returns, how strong the evidence is, and where the evidence comes from.

The guide is not a motivational collection or a summary of popular advice. Sources are restricted to peer-reviewed journal papers and official government documents. No citations from popular books, blogs, or expert opinion pieces are used. The README uses a graded evidence system, where grade A tips come from meta-analyses or large randomized trials with concrete numbers.

The target reader is a Chinese-speaking adult who wants a curated list of decisions sorted by practical value. The README states the guide is "a cost-benefit-ordered menu, not a task list" and notes that the author has not followed most of the tips personally. This framing matters: the guide is designed for reference when you face a specific decision, not for reading start-to-finish as a self-improvement program.

## How the Repository Is Organized

The main content lives in the `book/` directory, with one Markdown file per chapter. The directory names follow the chapter titles from the README: `01-不要早死.md` through `33-残疾之后怎么活.md`. The `docs/` directory holds longer supplementary essays on specific topics, such as a cost-benefit analysis of marriage (结婚划不划算.md) and a family emergency equipment list (家庭应急装备清单.md).

The `index.html` at the repository root is the searchable interface for the guide. It reads content directly from the `book/` directory and is a single static file with no server-side code. The `skills/` directory holds an AI assistant skill for Claude Code and Codex.

Each tip in the book follows a consistent structure. The README gives this example:

```markdown
### 5. 把家里的食盐换成低钠盐（钾盐）
- 成本：一袋比普通盐贵几元。买的时候顺手换，不额外占时间。口味几乎不变。
- 说人话：两万人的随机试验里，把家里的盐换成低钠盐的人，五年内死亡的概率低约 12%，中风低约 14%。
- 收益：...
- 证据等级：A
- 来源：Neal B 等 (2021). Effect of Salt Substitution on Cardiovascular Events and Death. NEJM.
```

Every tip has a "说人话" (plain language) field that restates the benefit in everyday terms, a "收益" (benefit) field with the full numerical data from the original study, and a direct URL to the source paper or document.

## Reading and Filtering the Guide

The online searchable page at eternity4719.github.io/HowToLiveBetter supports filtering by keyword, chapter, evidence grade, and three practical dimensions: cost (whether it requires money), time, and willpower. Multiple filters can be combined. The README notes that tips cross-reference each other with inline links in the online version; on GitHub the cross-references include text descriptions so they are readable without clicking.

For readers who want only the strongest evidence, filtering by evidence grade A leaves 414 tips from meta-analyses or large randomized trials. Filtering by "extremely high" cost-effectiveness shows 104 tips that require no money, no significant time, and no willpower, with benefits in the top tier. This filter combination produces a short list of changes with the best return for the least effort.

The guide's tips are ordered within each chapter by cost-effectiveness from highest to lowest. The README suggests starting from the first few tips in each chapter rather than reading the entire chapter, since those are the highest-value entries.

Tips are written in Chinese. The "说人话" field translates numerical outcomes from studies into language like "the probability of dying within five years was about 12% lower" instead of quoting statistical notation directly. This is the primary accessibility feature for readers who are not familiar with interpreting clinical trial data.

## Running the Guide Locally and Downloading It Offline

The README notes that most users do not need to deploy the guide themselves, since the live online version and downloadable files cover common needs. For those who do want to run it on their own machine or server:

```bash
git clone https://github.com/eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter.git
cd HowToLiveBetter
python -m http.server 8000
```

After running this, open `http://localhost:8000/` in a browser. The README explains that `index.html` must be served over HTTP, not opened as a local file: browsers block JavaScript from reading local files, which makes the page blank when opened directly.

The full guide is available as three downloadable formats from the latest release. The offline single-file HTML contains the entire guide including search and filtering in a single file that can be shared over messaging apps and opened without any server. The PDF is A4-formatted, over 200 pages, with a table of contents, page numbers, and bookmarks. The EPUB is formatted for e-readers including Kindle via Send to Kindle.

All three download formats are regenerated automatically when the main content changes. The README notes that shared copies of the downloads do not update automatically, so the online version remains the authoritative current reference.

## The AI Skill for Claude Code and Codex

The repository includes an AI assistant skill in the `skills/life-decision-guide/` directory. This skill is compatible with Claude Code and Codex. After installation, the AI agent answers questions by searching the guide's content first and citing the specific section and item number before answering. The README gives examples: "should I sign a guarantee for a friend" or "is a two-hour daily commute worth it." If the guide does not contain relevant content, the agent says so rather than generating an answer from outside the guide.

Installation instructions are in `skills/life-decision-guide/README.md`. The skill is written in Chinese to match the guide's primary content.

This integration has a specific limitation: it only draws from what is in the guide. Questions about topics the guide does not cover will return no result. This is an intentional design constraint that keeps the AI answers traceable to the same journal papers and official documents that back the guide's tips.

## Limitations and What the Guide Does Not Cover

The guide is written in Chinese. The content is not translated in this repository; community-maintained translations in English, Russian, and Spanish are available from a separate repository maintained by contributor dlgrv, but the README notes those translations may be behind the Chinese original. Non-Chinese readers who need the most current content must use the Chinese version.

The evidence system is a filter, not a guarantee. Grade A evidence means the tip is backed by a randomized trial or meta-analysis, but the README includes explicit caveats in individual tips. The low-sodium salt example grade-A tip notes that the trial was conducted in elderly high-risk patients, and the benefit for healthy young adults would be smaller. Readers need to read the full entry, not just the evidence grade.

The guide does not cover every life domain equally. It focuses on decisions that can be evaluated by cost and benefit with available data. Topics where the evidence is thin, contested, or inherently subjective are either not covered or not included as grade-A tips.

A self-hosted deployment using `python -m http.server` is suitable for local use only. The README does not recommend it for production serving. For a public deployment, the guide is a static site compatible with any static hosting service such as Nginx, GitHub Pages, or object storage.

## Conclusion

HowToLiveBetter is useful for Chinese-reading adults who want a reference that ranks practical life decisions by cost-effectiveness and backs each entry with a traceable source. The README is explicit that the author has not followed most of the tips personally; this is a reference document, not a personal endorsement. Non-Chinese readers can access community-maintained translations in English, Russian, and Spanish from a separate repository, but those translations may lag behind the Chinese original. The offline single-file HTML download is the most portable way to use the guide without an internet connection. Anyone who wants to run the guide locally as a searchable web page can do so with a single Python command, since the entire site is static with no backend. The last push to the repository was on 2026-09-27.

## FAQ

### What are some quick ways to improve my life according to HowToLiveBetter?

The guide's 104 tips rated "extremely high" cost-effectiveness require no money, no significant time, and no willpower. These are accessible in the online search page by filtering for "extremely high" cost-effectiveness. Within each chapter, tips are ordered from highest to lowest cost-effectiveness, so the first few entries in any chapter are the highest-value starting points.

### What are the 100+ ways to live a better life in this guide?

HowToLiveBetter contains 614 tips across 33 chapters. Each tip is graded by evidence level (A being strongest) and sorted within chapters by cost-effectiveness. The online search page at eternity4719.github.io/HowToLiveBetter allows filtering by evidence grade, chapter, cost, time required, and willpower required to narrow the list.

### How do I start using HowToLiveBetter?

The simplest starting point is the online search page at eternity4719.github.io/HowToLiveBetter. You can filter by chapter or by the "extremely high" cost-effectiveness tier to find the tips with the best return for the least effort. For offline access, download the single-file HTML from the latest release.

### How can I change my life for the better using this guide?

The guide recommends starting with the tips rated 'extremely high' in cost-effectiveness, which are those requiring no money, no extra time, and no willpower. These 104 tips are accessible via the filter on the online search page at eternity4719.github.io/HowToLiveBetter. Within each chapter, tips are ordered from highest to lowest cost-benefit ratio, so the first few entries in any chapter are the highest-return starting points.

## Sources

- [eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter on GitHub](https://github.com/eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter)
- [Issues](https://github.com/eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter/issues)
- [License: Unlicense](https://github.com/eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter/blob/main/LICENSE)
- [Project website](https://eternity4719.github.io/HowToLiveBetter/)
- [README](https://github.com/eternity4719/HowToLiveBetter/blob/main/README.md)

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Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/eternity4719-howtolivebetter