Our personality and our behavior are based on patterns from past experiences that have affected us on the emotional level. Our unique personalities can actually dictate how we live and think, and even how successful we might become in life, business, and interpersonal relationships.
Everyone walking around us has a certain personality that is derived from temperaments, attitudes, environment, character, and experience. There are several components and reasons why people act the way they do and have unique personalities that are different from anyone else‘s. Some of the major components are social patterns, characteristics, and behavior learned since childhood. Some personality development can come from genetics that give us specific personality traits. There is also stimulus coming from the surrounding environment as to the development of a person‘s attitude in that environment that attributes to the development of the distinctive personality. Even social status and trends can impede or excel developing personalities.
Behavior patterns developed early in life; and constant interaction with the world produces character and temperament. As we gain knowledge and experience, our personality can actually shift and change into responding patterns and develop recognizable traits from those experiences. Everyone has a unique personality and characteristics that are as much similar to others as they are distinctive. One of the key essentials to have at an early stage in life is developing behavioral patterns that are beneficial and cordial to an individual who is going to be inundated with other highly developed personalities that are very different from their own. In other words, a more amiable and positive temperament personality is more likely to benefit in the social and business world that an overly exasperated one.
There are many psychological aspects concerned with the subject of personality development such as perception, sensation, behavioral patterns, intelligence, and memory. There is of course a social psychology aspect that affects our own personality development. There is a term called peer pressure that greatly affects how some people behave and think. This can fall under a need to be heard, self-worth, low self-esteem, and simply wanting to fit in with the current or local social environment.
Giving in to peer pressure can be a terrible mistake and can lead to a mob mentality that has no control or any desire to be an individual with a unique idea. If you become fully affected by peer pressure and always bow down to other people‘s ideas then you have lost your individuality and a certain level of self respect. Having to compromise greatly depends on if this is going to be a positive or negative outcome, leading to either a benefit for all or a hinder to some. In life this can be a very important characteristic trait that separates the leaders from the followers. The movers and shakers in the business world, the doers and the procrastinators, the entrepreneurs and starving artists in the world all have a certain level of drive that started from early development of their personality that either pushes them forward or holds them back.
Our personality and our behavior are based on patterns from past experiences that have affected us on the emotional level. Ultimately, we have to take an assessment of our own developing personality and discover what’s motivating us. When psychologists research this type of question regarding what drives us, the answer usually comes up to be on an emotional level. Emotion can greatly affect your motivation in so many ways. Your mind may be the builder, the thinker, the architect, but your emotions express your true feelings, your dreams, and your desired goals. Emotions and motivation can play a pivotal part in how you conduct your life and experience of it.
To paraphrase the late great, Eunice Kennedy, “Never try to stop someone in pursuit of their dreams, only try to encourage them to do the best they can, completed in a reasonable amount of time, and move on to the next journey”. These are truly words to live by. Most parents and teachers get this, but there are still those few friends, rivals, and certain relatives, that fail to impart and encourage you to actively pursue your dreams. This could be a tragic mistake in the development of a young personality into adulthood who suffers from a lack of needed encouragement to pursue a dream. The world would surely lose a future doctor, scientist, humanitarian, actor, artist, writer, philosopher, and perhaps future president of a great nation.
Statistically it is known that a great majority of people are not living out their desired goals and dreams. There is a sad but true consensus that nobody is truly happy with their present job. Many people are disconnected emotionally with the jobs they find themselves doing and realize they are not satisfied or happy with it. Finding yourself in a career that is only motivated out of necessity, in an unhappy environment, stifling your individuality and creativity can only lead to depression, dissatisfaction, and disillusionment. Positive action is needed and fears need to be gone. Associating with other people that have similar goals and ideas can be a great motivator. Working with similar minds and attitudes in an environment that is advantageous to success and emotionally fulfilling can only lead to accomplishing your goals quicker.
Understanding your own personality traits and what truly motivates you can help determine your true purpose and unlock the fear of goals and endeavors that truly moves you. Look at the real reason why you’re inspired by something. Is the reason emotional or something else? Are you motivated by love, money, self worth, or competition? Having a healthy competitive attitude is a good personality trait to have that helps give you a needed push for growth, but having an overly aggressive competitive nature can be misguided, and often very costly.
Deciphering the real reasons that make up your personality and motivation is the key. Why did you decide to buy that particular house? Why did you buy that particular car and color? Why did you decide to marry that person and not the other? What characteristics are you attracted to that you see in other people that affect your emotions? How did you decide to pick this particular career versus doing some other kind of job? These are the types of questions you need to ask yourself, in an open and honest manner, regarding personality traits, self-worth, self-esteem, and self-motivation. Discovering what truly inspires your personality on an emotional level, can guide you to a more satisfying outlook on life and personal endeavors.
There are many psychological theories that debate on what really motivates people and how they are affected by internal drives that determine their choices in life. On a completely emotional level, what really motivates us in achieving a desired goal is based solely on what’s beneficial, pleasurable, and gives us a feeling of accomplishment that is comforting and rewarding at the same time. Nevertheless, it is your indelible personality and your emotional state of being, that will ultimately decide how you view your past, how you live in the present, and how you see yourself in the future.
