The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin

So, this is a book that I would have not picked up on my own. I work with a wonderful librarian where I teach, and she started a faculty book group last year, and this was the read that we had for this past month. The book talks about four personality profiles, and it gives suggestions about how you can be a better person by understanding your own profile and the profiles of other people.
The very first chapters give a little summary of the four different profiles and contain a quiz for you to complete to figure out your own personality profile. I was not surprised really to learn that I am considered an obliger, a person who upholds outer expectations well, but I am not great with keeping inner expectations. However, I felt like there are times when I am a little bit of an upholder who meets with inner and outer expectations at times (but those times are few and far between).
I first started the book in March, and I left it on my desk after taking the quiz and figuring out what my own tendency was. I thought it was interesting to know that I am an obliger, but I really didn't have a great desire to keep reading and find out about the other tendencies. In fact, the reason why I finished it was because the quarantine called for us to complete the meeting online, and I felt like I shouldn't join if I hadn't finished the book (showing that I am definitely an obliger). So, I finished the book, and I was actually surprised to see how reading it will now help me as a teacher, spouse, and parent. Through most of the book, I just kept thinking about how it would help me with my family, but then Gretchen mentions how teachers can use this knowledge to help the students in their individual classrooms, and I started to think of different students who fit into the different personality types. I can definitely name at least one student from each of the tendencies, and I'm thinking about how I can use this knowledge now, especially since my teaching is all online, and I am not meeting with my students face to face.
Overall, it was a fun, fast read. I find it informative, and I shared it with my husband (who didn't agree with the tendencies at all, and he claims he is an obliger as well, but then he started questioning the tendencies before even reading the book). I told him he actually needs to read it and then see if he still feels like he is an obliger (I personally think he is a questioner). Anyway, I think it's a fresh look at the different personality types, and I am excited to apply what I learned from the book in all aspects of my life, not only in my classroom.