30 Nov This Is The Most Surprising Way To Make Your Life Awesome
via Eric Barker
What if you could be someone else?
Not a totally different person. But what if you could be a better version of you? You 2.0.
We’d all like to change something about ourselves. (The phrase “character defects” exists for a reason.) Being less stressed and more organized might be nice. But the benefits actually go a lot deeper than that.
Want to stay not-dead for as long as possible? Want to be successful in your career? Want to be happier? Your personality has a lot to do with all of those.
From Be Who You Want: Unlocking the Science of Personality:
Another study, this one of over twenty-six thousand people in the United States, found that, independent of their family’s social status, individuals’ personality traits at high school were related to their longevity… Personality traits also correlate with future career success more than factors related to family and parental background, and nearly as much as intelligence… In terms of happiness, a recent estimate placed the monetary value of a small reduction in trait neuroticism (a propensity for negative moods, stress, and worry) as equivalent to an extra $314,000 income per annum.
For the longest time, psychology said you really couldn’t change your personality much. But new research is showing we have more power over our disposition than was previously thought. With effort, you can change aspects of who you are – especially your levels of extroversion and neuroticism.
I’m not saying you’re going to completely overhaul who you are or that it’s going to be easy, but you can make a difference. And as that happiness research shows, even a small tweak can help.
Well, after our two-year episode of “Black Mirror”, it might be a good time for some personality spring cleaning. And we’ll get some solid insight from Christian Jarrett’s book, Be Who You Want: Unlocking the Science of Personality.
If you ever felt boxed in by people’s labels of you or felt aspects of your personality were holding you back from a richer life, help is on the way.
Let’s get to it…
… keep reading the full & original article HERE