Understanding Natural Traits of Young Adults

We all know that every individual is different and possess different character traits, which come to them naturally. So what exactly is your character trait? Basically character traits are something that define you - like you define the people around you be it your family members, friends, peers or even the characters on television. You may notice that there are some people who tend to be very honest and sincere while there are others who are sneakier and more stubborn. So these are the natural character traits that they are born with.

But like many other things in life - these character traits can be changed for the better. So if you want to succeed in a job or make a career out of a subject that you are not very good at, working hard is a character trait that will help you in the process. Then there are also negative or bad character traits that may influence your life too but may be for bad.

Different Types of Character Traits

When you say things like they showed their true color, you are referring to a bad character trait. Remember that our vocabulary is filled with words for describing different kinds of people and it is this choice of words that you can use too fro describing yourself.

Good traits include:

• Honest
• Kind
• Happy
• Sincere
• Patient

Some negative character traits include:

• Rude
• Angry
• Mean
• Selfish
• Greedy

Building and understanding good character traits

The very notion of understanding and building your character traits is rather interrelated. Once you are able to understand your inherent traits, you can implement measures on improving them for your betterment. For doing so, you will have to assess yourself from the perspective of others - especially your family members, friends and peers. Doing so or asking them to be honest about your traits is the first step here. As you are about to venture out into a professional world there or even head into university, you will be judged by these character traits. Building and developing ones that benefit you socially, emotionally and professionally would be the first step here.

How to understand your traits?

Ask Others or Self Analyze

As mentioned above, the first thing that you can do is ask peers, family members and friends for help. You can also do a self-analysis of putting yourself in a situation and see how would you react. For instance, if there is a fire would you help others or just escape first yourself. If you think of escaping and then calling the fire engine or finding modes outside to assist others - that’s being sensible and yet kind. If you just escape without looking back it would be a thoughtless and mean gesture. On the other hand if you chose to stay inside and help others - that’s being selfless. There is no right or wrong here - just an inherent trait.

Taking Tests

Most schools have counseling and personality tests taken when students pass out of high school. You can connect with your university or counselor to find out about the same. Through these tests, you will be able to answer questions similar to the above. These tests are based on social and psychological overviews to judge and analyze your natural character traits.

The results determine your inherent nature and character traits and once you are aware of them, you can implement measures for improving

Improving your character traits

Define your core values

One of the first steps for enhancing your natural character traits would be determining your values for your professional and personal life. Remember that the values you have are the core fundamentals for laying the foundation of priorities, choices, actions, and behaviors. Take time out and make a list of these values either on a notepad or even in the mind. You can now reflect and think on how you need to improve these traits.

Practice the habits

Once you pick on the traits that you think you lack and feel inspired by others, then you should try to practice them for several weeks. So offer your roommate to do laundry a couple of times this week or take out that helpful girl for a drink or help her out with something that she needs. Doing or implementing these little changes in life would help you in working on character traits that enhance your personal and professional life - in particular as you are about to venture out looking for jobs. Keep a list to remind you of the same.

Finding people with character

As mentioned above, there are people all around you who have character traits that are impressive and also good. It is just that we are so involved in our personal traits that are selfish in nature that we forget to appreciate these. So how about making a list of all these people who are there to influence you in a positive way and then motivate yourself to be like them. You should be in the company of people who urge you to strive for higher in terms of personality and nature rather than merely after running materialistic goods. Once these traits are developed and worked upon, you will notice that success follows suit.

Taking a few risks

When it comes to improving or enhancing your natural character traits, there is no denying that some risks are going to be involved. You might realize that you have to wake up early to study a little more as you spent time doing laundry or that taking out a friend for a drink means that you cannot go to see that movie. But these are not really risks but a small compromise. However, striving towards higher avenues needs commitment and dedication. So yes, a few comprises and risks have to be taken here but in the end, it helps you evolve as a better human being.

Stretch and push yourself

It is very easy to set high goals, the tough part is attaining them. And it is here that you have to set and create high standards for yourself along with big goals. Sure there will be days when you don’t feel like doing things and these are setbacks and occasional failures. But the idea is that you have to head towards a bigger goal, which can be accomplished only by giving yourself a gentle push.

Commit to self-improvement

The next step is that you have to be committed to yourself. Self-commitment is going to be the biggest step that you take when it comes to changing yourself. Keep in mind that building your character is a life-long endeavor. You will have to deal with some failures along with enjoying some winning moments here too. It is the time where you will be embracing yourself for achieving or doing that extra bit to enhance your natural traits and on the other hand there will be days when you happily accept failure. The important step here is to get up again and keep trying. Remember it is very easy to let go and falter. But with a little effort you will naturally improve, even through the failures.

Your job and natural character trait

Often, your job is not really suited with your personality and doesn’t fit your natural character traits. There are a lot of people who are take up a particular job and later they discover that they really don’t have a knack for the same. Think of a shy and introvert person being assigned a job where they have to hit a particular number of sales figures or work in a PR company. On the ther hand a person who likes to travel is given a desk job is bound to hate his job sooner or later.

On the whole the end result would be that the individual is not really happy with their job when a person's personality doesn't fit the same. It is like a lose-lose situation for each one. However, this also means that you are not really putting your 100% into the job and this results in increased absenteeism, low productivity, and loss of any investment in training if one decides to switch jobs. There are some basic or inheret natural personality traits that are associated with your professional life. So in this reference, as you are about to head into a new career or choose a course for college, knowing them can help you pick a more sensible choice.

Understanding the Model

This model is also known as 'The Big Five Personality Traits'' model, which is based on intensive research dating back to the late 1950s. However, it was only a few decades later that the same was given shape by Lewis Goldberg, a researcher at the Oregon Research Institute. It focuses on-

1. Openness (sometimes called intellect or imagination) – Via this mode, the level of creativity along with the passion that an individual has for a particular subject can be measured.
2.  Conscientiousness – This one is focused on the level of care involving your professional life. Those who are able to score high in conscientiousness are known to be very organized people who are ambitious while the ones who don’t are more open to ideas and tend to be disorganized.
3. Extraversion/Introversion – As you may have guessed, this is a model predicting your sociability. quotient Are you outgoing or quiet? Are you one of those individuals who like to interact and score with other people.
4. Agreeableness – This module tests your level of friendliness and kindness to others. It includes aspects like sympathy and empathy?
5. Natural Reactions (sometimes called emotional stability or neuroticism) – Emotions are measured through this module. So if you are reacting to some bad news and start shouting at colleagues, family members, etc. then you have a natural characteristic trait that is not really good. Those who worry obsessively about small details, or are you relaxed in stressful situations can be determined via the same.

Understanding these abilities and traits will help you in assessing your natural traits for a suitable professional career. What can be done here is that you can make an attempt to implement changes to make yourself more suitable for a particular goal. But on the whole, your focus should be to make changes in your natural character traits and adapt better ones for being a better professional and a human being too.