Studying wine online is hard to do. Wine is meant to be shared, so when it’s just you and a bottle and a few textbooks, it can be tempting to give all the attention to the bottle and cast off the actual ‘studying’ part of the equation. But you can overcome this dastardly trap by knowing which of the Four Tendencies you fall into.

The Four Tendencies theory is a system developed by the best-selling author Gretchen Rubin. If you haven’t taken her quiz yet, you can do so for free here:

Essentially, Gretchen has divided people into how they respond to inner and outer expectations, and has come up with four categories:

• Upholder - a person who will not only fulfil the expectations they place on themselves, but will also complete the expectations that others impose on them. Essentially, they ‘uphold’ all expectations.

• Questioner - a person who will fulfil the expectations they place on themselves, but has trouble completing the expectations that others impose on them. Essentially, they ‘question’ all external expectations.

• Obliger - a person who will fulfil the expectations that others place on them, but have trouble completing the expectations that they impose on themselves. Essentially, they ‘oblige’ others before themselves.

• Rebel - a person who has trouble fulfilling both inner and outer expectations. Essentially, they ‘rebel’ against any expectations, even their own.

Once you know your tendency, use this superpower to harness your unique habits to your advantage.

The quiz will give you a summary of insights into your personal tendency, but here’s a few personalized study-related tips below:

Upholders: Well, aren’t you the lucky ones! As you already follow all the rules, all you need to do is make sure you schedule your study time in to your days and weeks, set yourself an alarm and a check-in, and you will be good to go. If you need any help creating a good study schedule with one of our classes, we are happy to work with you on this!

Questioners: Things are starting to get tricky here. You need to be convinced first before you’re going to do what others say. Once you have justified to yourself that studying for and passing this course is going to be really great for you and your future, be diligent with setting custom deadlines and establishing limits that are imposed by you - not by anyone else.

Obligers: Your best bet is to find an ‘accountabilibuddy’ - that is, someone who you will have to show your study progress to. Think of them as your ‘study boss’ and ask them to check in with you regularly to ensure you are completing your reading and assignments. If you are studying with our school, we are happy to work with you on this to ensure you have optimal success in your course!

Rebels: True to your name, you don’t follow the beaten path, but this doesn’t mean you can’t succeed in finding the finish line. You don’t want to follow the schedules set out by others, so give yourself permission to mix things up a bit. The course is meant to be followed in a certain order, but you really want to jump ahead to a section you find particularly interesting? Do it! Revel in your rebelliousness and think how pleased you’ll be with yourself when you ace the program in a completely unconventional fashion.

Ready to sit your exam? Dave Rudman DipWSET, Executive Director of WSET Americas, has written a fantastic blog post on how to ace your exam:

Knowledge is power. Use knowledge of your personal tendencies to ensure you bring online classroom learning to the next level!