Self Authoring Part 2, Analyzing Your Current Personality

We Don't Know Yet

• The program was made by Jordan B Peterson and a group of clinical and research psychologists who believe that writing exercises such as those presented on the Self Authoring Suite can help people confront their past, understand and improve their personalities in the present, and increase the chances that their futures will be meaningful, productive and healthy.
• The Suite Helps individuals write out a life plan through 6 dimensions of life (health, mental wellness, family, career, education, and physical wellness).
• To view the Self Authoring suite, head to https://www.selfauthoring.com/

Note If you haven’t listened to Self Authoring Pt. 1 (Season 1 Episode 4) yet, please go back and listen to that episode first.

There are two Present Authoring exercises. These are the Present Authoring - Faults exercise and the Present Authoring - Virtues exercise. These exercises have been designed to allow you to do an in-depth analysis of the negative and positive elements of your personality, that is, your faults and your virtues, respectively.

The present authoring is reminiscent of Myers Briggs, where you learn more about your own personality and figure out how you can improve.

Everybody's personality is composed of two higher-order traits. The first higher-order trait is known as plasticity, and can be thought of as the tendency to be flexible, exploratory, curious and quick to adapt. The second higher-order trait is known as stability, and can be thought of as the tendency to be structured, organized, emotionally stable and focused.

Plasticity, the first higher-order trait, can be further broken down into two sub-traits: Extroversion (the tendency to be enthusiastic and dominant) and Openness (the tendency to be open-minded and intelligent).

Stability

Stability, the second higher-order trait, can be further broken down into three sub-traits: Conscientiousness (the tendency to be orderly and industrious), Emotional Stability (lack of negative emotional volatility and the tendency to withdraw), and Agreeableness (politeness and compassion, as opposed to belligerence or aggression).

Impact of Personality Traits

There are advantages and disadvantages to each trait, particularly at the extremes. Extremely sociable, extroverted people can be dominant and impulsive, while introverted, quiet people can easily become isolated and depressed. Extremely open people can be scattered and overwhelmed by their own thoughts and ideas, while closed-minded people may become narrow and inflexible. Exceptionally conscientious people can be obsessive about order, judgmental and rigid, while their more carefree counterparts may be messy, undisciplined and careless.

People very high in emotional stability may engage in risky, dangerous behavior, while those who are more neurotic can become so preoccupied by anxiety and pain that they are unable to function. Finally, extremely agreeable people may never stand up for themselves, while those who are too assertive can be aggressive, callous and bullying.

Change

Personality is reasonably stable over the lifespan, and is also powerfully influenced by hereditary or genetic factors. Despite this, personality can broaden or even transform. As people age, for example, they tend to become more agreeable, conscientious and emotionally stable.

Changing personality means changing habits of action, presumption and perception. Personality change requires the formulation of clear future goals, as well as discipline and practice. People who are too agreeable can learn to stand up for themselves. Disorderly people can become more conscientious. Introverted people can become socially skilled. People who experience paralyzing levels of negative emotion can learn to explore.

Virtues and Faults

In the Suite, you will outline how each trait has benefited you in a negative a positive way. This will allow you to learn more about your good traits and your bad traits in DEPTH. Deep analyzation of traits can lead to adjustment and improvement of the trait.