Quirky Personality Links To Success

Most of us have an aspect of our personality that we don't particularly like, and that we may even see as an obstacle. Maybe you're aware that you're too anal in a certain area of ?? Your life, or maybe your friends are frustrated by your habit of suddenly canceling plans because you just need some alone time. While personal growth and working on our flaws are definitely beneficial, there are ways we should not try to stamp out our quirks too much; rather we must learn to live peacefully with them.

Research is increasingly showing what many of us know intuitively: That ;s often a lot of value in our wardresses. Even traits that are mostly thought of as negative can provide benefit, either because ;re correlated with other, more positive traits or because ;s inherent benefit in the duo; trait itself. Introversion and neuroticism are great examples of this, but even having ADHD or going through painful life circumstances can ultimately push us in good ways. Here are a few of the traits that can actually help us out, if we allow them to.

INTROVERSION

In college and in business, introverts are usually unmarked or underappreciated, especially in reference to the more obvious presence of the extrovert. however in reality, a number of the best minds of all time are introverts—Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein, author and Bill Gates, to call simply a few. In her book Quiet: the facility of Introverts in an exceedingly World That Can’t Stop Talking, Susan man argues that the quiet, artistic power of introverts is basically undervalued in our society, that nowadays is extremely abundant designed for extroverts. It wasn’t perpetually this way, she says—throughout much of history, solitary work was way more the norm than cluster work—but these days, the ways in which during which offices and faculties are made cater powerfully to extroverts.

A big portion of the population will in person attest to the very fact that introversion is by no means that a disadvantage—it is a good advantage, notably if you’re an entrepreneur, an artist, a technical school genius, or in the other business wherever thinking or making off on your own could be a given. And if you’re an introvert who needs to work as a part of a team, confirm you get the alone time you wish to try and do your best work. If you embrace your introversion unapologetically, it can be an enormous profit to yourself and people around you.

NEUROTICISM 

Neuroticism has been linked to intelligence, but because there may be other mediating factors in the connection, it’s harder to make that claim. Certainly, lots of brilliant and highly creative people throughout history have been famous neurotics, and while this isn’t proof that neuroticism leads to success, it certainly doesn’t hurt the argument. And based on the studies, there seem to be some very real psychological and physical benefits of neuroticism.

Neuroticism makes you more conscientious for one, since you’re less likely to let things slip your mind or miss a deadline. Additionally, a study a couple of years ago suggested that neuroticism is actually linked to creativity, since turning an idea around and around in your head might make you more likely to have a creative breakthrough. And this suggestion seems to be borne out by brain science. Another study, just last month, found that neurotic people may live longer, having a lower risk of death from all causes, including cancer. This may be because they’re less likely to let routine care fall by the wayside, and more likely to seek medical care when something does go wrong.

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX

Researchers who study thought often refer to a couple of different varieties, which are complements of one another: Convergent thinking is being able to channel the information you have at your disposal to arrive a single correct answer, and it’s the type that’s championed in many education systems, and rewarded in standardized testing. Its doppelgänger, divergent thinking, is the ability to generate novel ideas and conjure up multiple solutions to a problem. It’s more aligned with creativity, or thinking outside the box.

Creativity is definitely celebrated more than it was. Though certain disciplines have always relied on outside-of-the-box thinkers – art, literature, science, film-making, and advertising – it hasn’t always been so cherished in the mainstream. But in part because of the way technology has changed the game, there’s much more opportunity and outlets for outside-the-box thinking, from the tech industry itself, to the creative entrepreneurial opportunities that exist because of it.

Sadly, even today, outside-the-box thinking has been discouraged and even penalized in the very place it should be fostered—in schools, where the “right” answer tends to be rewarded over the interesting one. And while there are of course benefits of knowing how to arrive at a right answer, stressing it too strongly may not serve kids well in the long-run. Researcher Karen Arnold, who tracked high school valedictorians over the years, and wrote about their outcomes in her book Lives of Promise, found that valedictorians did do well for themselves, but they tended not to be the real innovators or disruptors in their fields. “They obey rules, work hard and like learning, but they’re not the mold breakers,” said in a Boston College interview. “They work best within the system and aren’t likely to change it.”

QUESTIONING YOURSELF

This one is a fine line: Questioning yourself too much can lead to self-doubt and ineffectiveness. But being open to the idea that what you think you know could be wrong can position you well, both in your career and your relationships. While it may seem like sticking to your guns is the more powerful thing to do, and commands respect, this isn’t always the case. Earlier this year, a study found that the trait known as intellectual humility—being humble about your own intellect and beliefs, and willing to acknowledge they may be imperfect—was linked to a number of desirable traits. For instance, people with more intellectually humility were more likely to evaluate weak scientific information as such, less likely to make judgment calls about the character of the article’s author with which they didn’t agree, and less likely to be sure that their religious beliefs were correct.

And this willingness to evaluate and reevaluate yourself can take you far in life. “If you’re sitting around a table at a meeting and the boss is very low in intellectual humility, he or she isn’t going to listen to other people’s suggestions,” said study author Mark Leary in a statement. “Yet we know that good leadership requires broadness of perspective and taking as many perspectives into account as possible.” So don’t feel that you need to have strong and unwavering beliefs and force them upon others to get ahead. As it turns out, being open and receptive to new ideas, and amending your old ones, may be a much more effective way.

So don’t think of your “negative” personality traits as wholly negative—there are likely upsides to them. Again, while personal growth is great and necessary, don’t therapize all your quirks away. They may actually come in handy.