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Part 2: Resilience Unleashed: The Five Mighty Personality Traits that Propel You Forward!

12 January 2024

Five personality traits have the potential to drive unprecedented success

Research indicates that five personality traits have the potential to drive unprecedented success, strengthen inner resolve, and promote personal growth in the face of life’s challenges and setbacks.

Known as the Big Five, these core qualities – extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and emotional control – shape and influence our future outcomes in ways we can hardly fathom. They play a significant role in our ability to adapt quickly to new and unpredictable situations by influencing social confidence, perceptiveness, originality, and sensibility. Among these traits, extraversion and conscientiousness appear to have the most positive impact on personal resilience. This blog delves into why this is so.

Extraversion

The power of extraversion lies in its ability to drive us toward social connection and support when faced with challenges or adversity. It also enhances our engagement with the world around us through greater communication. This trait supports new perspectives, innovative approaches, recognition of distant opportunities, and optimism about the future.Yet extroversion’s ultimate strength lies in its capacity to recharge us during moments of total depletion or exhaustion through contact with others.

Are we born extraverted?

For many individuals who find extroversion foreign or misaligned with their personality type, one may wonder if extroversion is genetic? The answer is both yes and no. While genetics do contribute (30-36%), it is important to note that extroversion is fundamentally a choice similar to resilience. Even those who are introverted (as I once was) can change over time by committing EFFORT! This effort includes expanding our social circle one step at a time; participating actively in conversations; trying new experiences; but most importantly actively listening.

Becoming more extroverted does not mean changing who we are or taking it to extreme levels characterized by abrasiveness or volatility. Rather, it means being the best version of ourselves. Extroversion entails reaching out and connecting with the world during times of challenge and crisis, rather than retreating into our perceived safe and insular ecosystem. The effort invested in this transformation will pay off handsomely.

Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness not only enhances our resilience but also has significant positive effects on physical health and well-being. When we explore the components of conscientiousness, it becomes evident why this is so. Conscientiousness encompasses strong goal-setting abilities, organization skills, meticulous planning, hard work ethic, and taking personal responsibility.

Like extreme extraversion tendencies, if not managed appropriately, conscientiousness can lead to rigidity, inflexibility, perfectionism as well as frequent burnout. Striking a balance is crucial.

Structured grit

The power of conscientiousness lies in setting goals and working towards them persistently like no other trait can match. In many ways, conscientiousness embodies structured grit. However, achieving conscientiousness does not happen overnight; it requires building positive habits one step at a time.

Here’s the process:

  1. Begin by establishing key objectives for your life – whether writing your first book or becoming a better parent or leader.
  2. Plan accordingly by breaking down these goals into feasible steps that can be taken daily.
  3. Focus on the details that bring your goals to life while keeping sight of the bigger picture.
  4. Set aside dedicated time each day or week to pursue personal growth aligned with your aspirations.
  5. Avoid wasting time by staying focused on your priorities instead of succumbing to distractions such as excessive social media use or unnecessary email checking.

The key message here is that our personality can transform over time; we have control over who we become. During life’s challenges, default behaviours may arise which often include withdrawal and introversion. We may lose sight of our goals, we may become stagnant, complacent, and prone to procrastination. The antidote lies in committing ourselves to personal growth in the areas of extraversion, and conscientiousness.

#Resilience hacks

  1. Make more friends
  2. If you fear it, DO IT!
  3. Never give up, the turning point is often at the lowest point

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