I don't do New Year's resolutions for two big reasons. First, too many other people do them, so I would feel like I am just doing the resolution because everyone else is. Second, I don't want to be like the majority of people who make New Year's resolutions and break mine before February. I do have a resolution that I am making to myself starting this week, though, and I am not going to wait until January to make it. I am going to be less neurotic.
A while back in one of my first classes I took the Big Five test to measure different personality traits, and I posted my scores. The test scores actually seemed to indicate that an MBA may be a bad idea because some elements of my personality do not traditionally fit into most business leadership roles.
I took the test again this week because I have yet another class that is dealing with testing personality in the workplace. My introvertedness was actually significantly lower this second time taking the test. This is largely due to the fact that NJ keeps Golden and I home a lot, though. When I see a question about going to a crowded party, it doesn't sound near as bad as it used to.
One part of my personality that has remained consistent, though, is my high neuroticism. This indicates that it is easy for me to get frustrated at everyday things, which is obviously not a good thing. It does make me more responsible for reasons that are beyond this post, but it still causes more problems than it is worth.
I do not have an official plan right now, and I know this will take some time. I do have an idea of what causes my neuroticism, though. I am a perfectionist and I tend to view things as beyond my control. If I change this part of my psyche a bit, I will lower my edginess.
Also, I do not expect to do more than eventually bring myself into a more normal range. I don't think I would want to go further than that anyway, because I don't think a little neuroticism is necessarily a bad thing. I just go overboard on occasion. Since I know the causes, I plan to start addressing those over the next couple of years. Perhaps in that time I can become a little more normal.
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6 comments:
I have changed since my youth. I was really perfectionistic as a young girl, but I lost it as I got older. It's a pity because being perfectionistic would help me in my job a great deal.
Sounds like you have some issues to work on
Maybe we can direct your nervous energy into remodeling the bathroom and kitchen. : ) Or we can go on some hikes. : )
"too many other people do them, so I would feel like I am just doing the resolution because everyone else is."
"I created this web log because everyone else was doing it. In essense, I followed everyone else off the bridge."
hmmm!
"Given that I usually purposefully do things against the grain, I am not sure why I followed the path of least resistance."
:)
Yeah, you've got layers. And SOME of them fit in with everyone else. :)
BTW, I took that personality test you linked to from your old post. Interesting... I think it tends to capture where we are in life perhaps moreso than exactly what our personality is. My results went like this:
Extraversion: 25
Agreeableness: 54
Conscientiousness: 48
Neuroticism: 52
Openness to experience: 73
What I thought was fun, though, were the extremely high and low sub-facets. Here are a few of mine:
Gregariousness: 8
Modesty: 18
Trust: 79
Achievement-Striving: 4
Aventurousness: 97
I'm guessing none of that will surprise you, Drew.
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