The Four Tendencies

I have very mixed feelings on this. First of all, I wouldn't recommend this as a first look into personality types by any means as this is seemingly not based in research at ALL. The author is not a scientist or doctor and has no real qualifications to create four personality types, but has done so based on personal opinion and observation. So I took the whole thing with a grain of salt and would suggest anyone else to do so as well.
That being said, it has been interesting to me to consider how my “tendency” and those of other people in my life might affect my behavior, relationships, way of thinking, etc. This was really just more of a thought project than anything, and it did indeed get me thinking. But I'd like to dive further into similar thoughts that have real research to back it up.

And as a huge side note, she completely missed the meaning of Taylor Swift's Shake It Off. “I stay out too late, got nothing in my brain,” is sarcasm, Gretchen. If you don't know what you're talking about, don't say it. :)

This is a nice little pop psychology book about four categories of people- Upholders, Questioners, Obligers and Rebels. I'm definitely a questioner which made me question the validity of the entire book right away, something the author completely called in her chapter about Questioners, haha.

I do assume that there is some validity to this, because I fit a Questioner to a T, and I was able to put quite a few people I know neatly into these categories. But I also have a lot of Obliger tendencies. And the author gives you LITERALLY NOTHING in the way of science. No studies, no stats, nothing. Just, “everyone is one of these, trust me!”. I don't really trust you.

But nonetheless, this short book is pretty insightful about how to deal with each category of person and how each combination works together. Like anything, it's obviously not exhaustive, and sometimes her suggestions won't work. But it's worth reading and I'm sure I will keep some of her suggestions/points in mind while talking to people who are obviously not Questioners like myself.

What a great book with such great tools. This is a great book to read for better understanding of yourself and ways to change/make better habits.

If you've read about the Four Tendencies in her previous books, I'm not sure this adds very much. I usually really enjoy Gretchen's work but something about this one felt a little attenuated and recycled.

3.5 stars. While I really loved Better Than Before, I felt like this book was a bit too basic as a follow-up to all the actionable strategies and tips in her previous book. For avid fans of the Happier podcast and Rubin's blog, this material isn't going to be anything new.