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

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

1. How does Rubin’s simplified four-category framework compare to other personality systems you’ve encountered (like Myers-Briggs or the Enneagram)? Do you find her streamlined approach more or less useful than these more complex systems?

2. Rubin argues that the Four Tendencies are “hardwired” traits that remain stable throughout life (9). How convincing do you find this claim, and what are the implications if she’s right versus wrong?

3. Overall, did this book change how you think about motivation and human behavior? Did it provide vocabulary for patterns you already recognized?

Encourage readers to reflect on how the book relates to their own life or work and how its lessons could help them.

1. Describe a time when you experienced significant resistance to doing something you genuinely wanted to do. Looking back through the lens of the Four Tendencies, what factors were at play, and how might understanding your Tendency have helped you navigate that situation differently?

2. Think about the most productive and fulfilling period of your life. What external structures, relationships, or circumstances were present during that time, and how do they align with what Rubin suggests works best for your Tendency?