3 Reasons Why Knowing Your Personality Traits Can Lead to Success
Inc. Magazine recently reported that the old standards of money, IQ, and even education have far less to do with success than personality. In fact, brain power has a nearly miniscule affect on your likelihood for success, with high IQs only factoring into the success equation for one to two percent of people. Grades and achievement tests were much better predictors of future success than IQ, though not as much as personality.
These are three reasons why knowing your specific personality traits can help you achieve greater success.
1. Knowledge is Power
It really is that simple. One interesting point the Inc. article made, however, is that personality isn’t something that is set in stone. You can, and often do, change your personality and, by doing so, your path to success.
Knowing your personality traits – those characteristics that are natural tendencies for you – gives you unparalleled power over your future success. You learn to recognize positive personality traits that lead to success while also learning how to overcome potential adversities and natural tendencies that might hinder your efforts.
2. Understand Other People Better
The desire to “know thyself” was deeply embedded in Ancient Greek culture, largely because by knowing oneself, you are better able to understand the motivations and actions of others. It isn’t merely about the ability to empathize with others, but also to anticipate the actions of others. In business, the ability to understand what motivates and drives other people can be a distinct advantage. However, failing to understand what motivates and drives you, above all others, places you at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, there are many personality tests and profiles you can take online, including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), which is one of the most thorough and respected today. Not only does it help you identify your own personal strengths and weaknesses. It provides you with information and insights on how to use your strengths to your advantage. It does this while offering insights on how to overcome certain weaknesses or position yourself in industries and careers where they aren’t as detrimental. All leading up to a more successful future for you.
3. Identify Areas Where You Are Pre-Dispositioned for Success
Finally, while understanding your personality traits provides you with great power over how to use your natural tendencies to further your success, it also provides you with insights about which career paths will serve you best according to your natural tendencies. That doesn’t mean an introvert cannot become a public speaker or an excellent sales person despite his or her best tendencies. It does mean, however, that by knowing you’re naturally introverted, those fields may present greater challenges for you. By the same token, it can also reveal that fields that require careful thought and consideration may be outstanding choices for you, such as engineering, research, hard sciences, etc.
Ultimately, knowing your personality traits allows you to position yourself to achieve greater success by revealing weaknesses along your path, identifying your strengths, and helping you understand others you encounter along the way.