The 4 Tendencies

August 26, 2019

I was re-listening to an old podcast the other day and thought the topic of it might make for a fun  newsletter, although it is only tangentially related to health.  The guest was Gretchen Rubin, NY Times Bestselling author and host of the Happier podcast, who believes that we all belong to one of four "tendencies" when it comes to meeting expectations:  Upholders, Questioners, Obligers and Rebels.  Each  responds differently to outer (like a work or school deadline) and inner (sticking to a decision to exercise 3x/week or to stick to a New Year's resolution) expectations.

The 4 Tendencies are described as follows:

• Upholders respond readily to outer and inner expectations

• Questioners question all expectations; they’ll meet an expectation if they think it makes sense -- essentially, they make all expectations into inner expectations

• Obligers meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet expectations they impose on themselves

• Rebels resist all expectations, outer and inner alike

Determining which category you belong to can help you to become a better partner, parent, boss or employee, and can help you to accomplish more in your day -- and isn't a smoother flowing life a part of health?!?  To quote Ms. Rubin, "It’s hard to grasp just how differently we can all see the world.  When we can see other people’s perspectives, we understand why, from their point of view, their actions make sense."

Everyone fits into just ONE category each, though you may have a slight leaning towards one aspect of another tendency.  Find out which YOU are by taking her short quiz here.