Episode · ChooseFI · 2023-05-25
Books mentioned on 162 | The 4 Tendencies and FI
Gretchen Rubin recommended A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander and others, Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl, and Internal time by Till Roenneberg, and discussed Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin and Story of a Soul by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. Also mentioned: The four tendencies by Gretchen Rubin.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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The four tendencies
The Four Tendencies by Gretchen Rubin is a psychology and self-improvement book that categorizes people into four personality profiles—Upholders, Questioners, Obligers, and Rebels—to explain how they respond to expectations and internal motivations.
Discussed“having now read the four tendencies that Brad and many other people's recommendations I can tell you that I think this is it I think this is the missing piece”
Where to get it
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Better Than Before
Better Than Before by Gretchen Rubin is a comprehensive self-help guide that explores the mechanics of habit formation, offering twenty-one distinct strategies to help individuals successfully build positive routines and break destructive behaviors in their everyday lives.
Discussed“so that led me to Habit formation and I wrote a book called better than before that was all about the 21 strategies that we can use to make or break our habit”
Where to get it
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A Pattern Language
A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein is a foundational architectural and design treatise that maps universal patterns across towns, buildings, and spaces.
Recommended“a book that I most often give as a gift is a crazy book called a pattern language which is like this weird Rogue architect Christopher Alexander about how to look at spaces which I find super fascinating”
Where to get it
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Man's Search for Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E.
Recommended“if people say to me what's the one book I think everybody in the world should read I say Victor Frankel's man search for meaning”
Where to get it
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Story of a Soul
Story of a Soul by Saint Thérèse of Lisieux is a deeply moving spiritual autobiography detailing the author's path of simple holiness, childlike trust in God, and everyday devotion known widely as her 'Little Way.' On an episode of This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von in September 2026, Bishop Robert Barron discussed Saint Thérèse of Lisieux and her famous book, highlighting how massively popular the spiritual text has become all over the world due to its accessible and profound message of love.
Discussed“favorite Harry Potter book story of a soul has been very influential to me”
Where to get it
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Internal time
Internal Time is a fascinating scientific exploration of human chronobiology written by Till Roenneberg that examines how biological clocks influence sleep patterns, health, and daily productivity.
Recommended“so anyway so you should read the book internal Time by till ronenberg because it makes that case and it goes through all the data about how teenagers”
Where to get it
Other mentions in this episode (5) — ad reads, self-promotion and passing references, never counted
“today we're gonna be speaking with Gretchen Rubin the author of the number one best-selling book The Happiness Project and on today's episode we're gonna be speaking specifically about the four Tendencies”
“well I write about that better than before if we just monitor something we tend to do a better job of it”
“favorite Harry Potter book”
“favorite Harry Potter book story of a soul has been very influential to me”
“Gretchen what's your favorite Harry Potter book maybe Goblet of Fire”