#106: Gretchen Rubin: New Year, Same You?

Gretchen Rubin is one of today’s most influential writers and thought leaders on happiness and human nature. I first discovered Gretchen a few years ago via her popular podcast The Happiness Project, which she hosts with her sister Elizabeth; they bring practical, manageable advice about happiness and good habits into your ears. She’s the author of many books, 8 now in total, including the New York Times bestsellers Better Than Before, and The Happiness Project. Her books have sold almost three million copies worldwide, and been translated into more than thirty languages. Her newest bestseller The Four Tendencies is what we talk about on the podcast. The Four Tendencies is a book and framework for figuring out your own personality traits. In a nutshell: Upholders respond readily to outer and inner expectations. Questioners question all expectations; they’ll meet an expectation if they think it makes sense. Obligers meet outer expectations, but struggle to meet expectations they impose on themselves. Rebels resist all expectations, outer and inner alike. I did the test, and got Upholder - but turns out I’m more of a Questioner. You can do the quiz here, which over a million people have now taken: https://bit.ly/HabitsQuiz
Hope you enjoy this episode on happiness, habits, embracing your personality traits, learning from others and the process behind how Gretchen writes her bestselling non-fiction books.