The Four Tendencies Audiobook By Gretchen Rubin cover art

The Four Tendencies

The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People's Lives Better, Too)

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The Four Tendencies

By: Gretchen Rubin
Narrated by: Gretchen Rubin
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About this listen

In this groundbreaking analysis of personality type, best-selling author of Better Than Before and The Happiness Project Gretchen Rubin reveals the one simple question that will transform what you do at home, at work, and in life.

During her multi-book investigation into understanding human nature, Gretchen Rubin realized that by asking the seemingly dry question “How do I respond to expectations?” we gain explosive self-knowledge. She discovered that based on their answer, people fit into Four Tendencies: Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels. Our Tendency shapes every aspect of our behavior, so using this framework allows us to make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress, and engage more effectively.

More than 600,000 people have taken her online quiz, and managers, doctors, teachers, spouses, and parents already use the framework to help people make significant, lasting change.

The Four Tendencies hold practical answers if you’ve ever thought:

  • People can rely on me, but I can’t rely on myself.
  • How can I help someone to follow good advice?
  • People say I ask too many questions.
  • How do I work with someone who refuses to do what I ask - or who keeps telling me what to do?

With sharp insight, compelling research, and hilarious examples, The Four Tendencies will help you get happier, healthier, more productive, and more creative. It’s far easier to succeed when you know what works for you.

©2017 Gretchen Rubin (P)2017 Random House Audio
Career Success Personal Development Personal Finance Personal Success Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Inspiring Suspenseful
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What listeners say about The Four Tendencies

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Obliged to give 5 stars.

Thank you, Gretchen for helping me better understand myself as an obliger. I now have a better understanding of my upholder husband- who I think leans a little toward rebel. I really appreciate being able to understand him better and how to respond knowing my own tendency as an obliger. I feel like if everyone read this book we are one step closer to world peace and I will be sure to recommend. Thanks again :) - Maria Rhodes

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Had to do this review. I'm an obliger.

Thank you for sharing your tendencies framework with the world, Gretchen. Very insightful. Also appreciated to you did the audio recording.

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This book is in my top five for self-help!

When you understand where in the four tendencies are you, thats when your life starts to change and improve.
This book helps you understand yourself and all people around you and all the self-savatage that hurts us most.

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Interesting Personality Framework

This book is a well-organized version of the Four Tendencies that the author talks about on her blog. It was interesting to read about these four default personality tendencies and how to use that to improve your relationships at home, at work, and with friends. Overall, a quick and interesting read.

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Insight into what drives others to do what they do

If you like, value and use personality tests to help understanding human drives and motivation, you will find the 4 tendencies very useful.

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A must!!!!

I read many books, of all sort and specially psychology ones:

This is the most revealing and usefull book i've read.
It made me understand so many aspects of my personality, relations, choises i've made, etc...
Please impove your life by reading or listenting to it!!!

Sofia, Italy.

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Very insightful!

So, I read a few of the negative comments and most seemed to take issue with the fact that she is not a licensed psychologist and has no formal training. I couldn’t care less about that. I’ve read so many books by trained “experts” that were nonsense so that’s not a valid argument to me.
I think the Four Tendencies is a fascinating theory and I applied it to myself and family members and found it to be quite accurate, particularly if you also take the Myers-Briggs assessment and compare the results of the two.
I am an Obliger, which most of those so-called self-help books portray as a negative. This book helped me to see it in a positive light and to identify the best way to motivate myself and my Rebel husband.

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very in-depth into the 4 tendencies

It is really a great book for people dealing with a lot of different people

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Useful for Interacting & Understanding Others

This book is generally referenced daily at work. I really enjoyed it bc it was insightful for understanding the self but even more so to understand and predict others. Knowing what expectations I put on others or what others may expect of me has really helped me navigate how to communicate with others based on their needs. My whole team at work has taken the quiz, some gave read it, and everyone references the 4 tendencies. It’s great!😊

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For every entrepreneur out there

I really see this book as a must have for everyone who manages a team and wants cohesiveness in the decision making and being able to better serve clients.

It’s a relatively short read compared to other books and it describes all 4 tendencies with every day life examples.

I’m looking forward to receiving the resources to have a discussion with my team about how to implement the for tendencies into our business operations. I read the book so that I can start training them on the new ideals we need to set up to help health clients adhere to treatment.

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