How to Accomplish Your Goals Based on Your Personality Type
Accomplishing Your Goals
When I set a goal, my success rate for accomplishing it is:
A Different Approach to Goal Achievement
Do you have a difficult time accomplishing your goals? We often set goals for ourselves, in our minds, but we don't usually write them down. Writing down your goal is the first step to accomplishing your objective. However, we may need to try a different approach in order to actually accomplish our goal. Typically, we set goals based on our “wants” (to lose weight – vanity), or our “needs” (to lose weight – health), and sometimes both (lose weight – healthy & look good). Regardless of what goals we resolve to accomplish, we often find ourselves losing momentum within 30 days.
To set yourself up to successfully accomplish your goals can be done by basing your goals on your personality type, more specifically, on your natural preferences.
Our preferences explain how we (1) motivate or energize (Introvert versus Extravert ), (2) gather information (Sensing versus iNtuition ), (3) make decisions (Thinking versus Feeling ), and (4) organize our lives (Judging versus Perceiving ). Understanding our natural preferences helps us to realize, for example, that not clearing off our desk at the end of the day doesn’t mean we are disorganized. It may just mean that we want to pick up where we left off on the following day (perceiving preference ). Or we may prefer to schedule our day in such a way that others think we are inflexible (judging preference ). Whatever our preferences may be, it is important to also know that we can perform in our non-preference dimension.
The Personality Type Method for accomplishing your resolutions:
1) Identify and verify your 4-letter personality by utilizing one of the following:
- Myers/Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI®)
- Numerous books on personality type (i.e. Please Understand Me by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates)
- On-line search engine (enter “personality type assessment”)
2) Make a list of your goals by:
- Clearly picturing what each goal looks like when completed.
- Converting your resolution into a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Dimensioned).
3) Analyze how your preferences support your goals. For example, if your goal is to lose weight and you are an:
- Extravert then enroll in a class or team sport where you will be motivated by others
- Introvert then hire a coach who will work with you one-on-one or ask someone you trust to help you.
4) Create a strategy based on your preference in each of the 4 personality type dimensions.
First Dimension: Extravert or Introvert – how to motivate ourselves
- Extravert: tell others about your goals and enlist their help to keep you on track.
- Introvert: make a contract with yourself or a coach (see number 3).
Second Dimension: Sensing or Intuitive – how to frame on our goal
- Sensing: expand your written SMART goal with a step-by-step, detailed description and process for accomplishing your goal
- Intuitive: look at the “big picture” of your goal; identify additional possible benefits of accomplishing your goal.
Third Dimension: Feeling or Thinking – how to decide the outcome
- Feeling: identify how accomplishing your goal will benefit you and others. Get others to help you during the process.
- Thinking: identify and incorporate the logic for accomplishing your goal. Analyze the cause and effect of your goal.
Fourth Dimension: Judging or Perceiving – how to make it happen
- Judging: create a roadmap or plan that will guide you to your goal.
- Perceiving: be flexible; when necessary, take different routes to reach your goal.
Challenge Goal
If you really want to challenge yourself, set your goals based on your non-preferences. This will force you to explore ways to develop in areas you may typically avoid. Follow the same process as above using your non-preference instead. Remember, we can perform in our non-preference dimension.