The age-old debate rages on: are you born with your personality traits, or do they develop, mostly due to environment?
Ask any parent with multiple children if his or her kids all possessed blank slate personalities from the beginning and you’ll get a look of disbelief and be told all his or her kids were different from the start.
My findings agree with that notion; you are born with your main character traits, both rewarding and challenging.
It may sound “void of promise” to the idealists, but embracing this notion will save you an enormous amount of time because attempts to change another person’s principal character are futile. The core of your personality is carved in stone. It won’t change much, no matter how much effort you put into reinventing yourself. You can, however, learn to maximize your strengths and tone down your weaknesses within the boundaries of your personal fate.
Granted, early abuse by parents or others, for example, may contribute to one’s personality, such as deepening inherent fears and defenses, but it doesn’t change the person’s overall character.
My contention is supported by comprehensive astrology and numerology (based on time of birth data), which relentlessly outlines personal fate, and handwriting analysis, which discerns subconscious personality. Time and time again the latter parallels the former; personality always develops according to predetermination.
You’ve never known someone to change so much that you didn’t recognize his or her unique character because it simply doesn’t happen.
Self-discipline can lead to gradual, small changes, such as quitting bad habits or learning a new skill, but overall personality remains the same.
You can’t transform a reclusive loner into a social butterfly, a Neanderthal thug into a scholar, or one that needs operational structure and supervision into a solo-entrepreneur. Your true nature is fixed and doesn’t change much.
Although most humans can be spontaneous and changeable, each individual’s larger, unique personality framework makes them largely predictable.
Be grateful for who you are, and make every effort to make the most of it. But avoid trying to change other people because it’s pointless.
Instead, learn as much as you can about another’s character because with understanding comes contentment, and possibly a great reduction in your overall level of risk if he or she possesses major, hidden red flag personality traits.
Copyright © 2017 Scott Petullo