Wednesday, February 25, 2009

My Temperament

I appear to be a Sanguine-Choleric...

Taken from 'The Temperament God Gave You':

Motivating the Sanguine
The challenge: Persevering until the end.

"Sanguines are lively and eager right out of the gate. They are enthusiastic, full of ideas, and are avid to begin. In fact, they will be eager to start on many projects! But some races are sprints, and others marathons. The sanguine needs help with the long runs. Because impressions are not lasting, they are quickly followed by new impressions. As a result, the sanguine appears to be volatile and changeable in his moods or whims, and tends to be weak in follow-through."

They've almost nailed me in a paragraph! :D So, yes, I really need to follow through.

Sanguine Motivational Strengths:
Creative, enthusiastic, inspiring team player. Easy to get "fire;'d up," at least initially.

Weaknesses:
May overlook details or be overly confident. May agree with others rather than take an unpopular position. Can become easily discouraged by grinding details or obstacles.

Challenges:
Needs help setting up a schedule and following through. May give up if the job loses fun, so needs good structure and positive direction.

Motivating Comments for the Sanguine:
"Very exciting!" (since my secondary is choleric, I might take this sarcastically)
"I love your ideas!"
"Let's work on this together!" (yes, I love to work in teams)
"Let's go to Starbucks and write up a proposal, make a time-line, and set up a schedule." (sounds good, except for the Starbucks part... their coffee tastes like water...)

Hard work + patience= Rewards


My secondary is choleric... Though I am far more sanguine than choleric.

Motivating the Choleric
The challenge: Setting the right goals.

"The passionate choleric is a self-motivating leader, naturally driven to complete his objectives. His keen, pragmatic, intellect quickly assesses the steps necessary to achieve his goals, and once he sets his sights, he is off running like the Energizer Bunny. Because of his quickness, zeal, and strong will, the choleric may hastily and imprudently choose a goal that contains serious flaws. He tends not to seek advice, for he tends to overvalue his own intelligence and his assessment of the situation at hand. He may not have properly considered all of the surrounding issues and can be imprudent in his haste; then, out of pride, he refuses to reconsider or change course."

So, yes, I seem to hold a bit of that in me. Quite a bit.

Motivational Strengths:
Highly productive, naturally motived, and persevering. (That doesn't sound too much like me...)

Weaknesses:
Tends to overlook details and can roll over people (I do roll over people). Impatient with lack of results. Can be overly confident. (All that sounds a lot like me)

Challenges:
Needs to take more time to set the right goals and strategize to ensure that prudential decisions are made. Needs to be charitable in dealing with people along his path. Needs to reflect more on details, and be more open to good advice from others.

Motivating comments for the choleric:
"Your idea is great!"
"I think your plan will save the company, but let's make sure this is the right goal before we embark."
"What does the rest of the team think about it?"
"Let's brainstorm some ideas to avoid potential pitfalls."

Sanguine
"A Star is Born"

"Sit back and enjoy a sanguine child! He is eager, bright, sensitive, funny, fun-loving and enthusiastic. He is a quick learner and equally quick to react, but never bears a grudge. He is eager to please others and wants everyone to be happy; fun is always a prime motivator. The sanguine child wears his heart on his sleeve: you will see in his expressive face the swift fluctuation of moods, emotions, ideas, and impulses."

Sounds a ton like me.

Sanguine children do and don'ts:
Do:
-Help them organize their time wisely.
-Provide structure and concrete guidelines.
-Give them noble ideas to pursue.
-Help them reflect and go into greater depth.
-Encourage them to develop good friendships.
-Communicate often, and appreciate their humor.
-Show interest in their friends and interests.
-Praise them when they persevere.
And I'll be your best friend! =)

Don't:
-Take away their fun! (Don't be a wet blanket all the time!)
-Leave them entirely to their own devices.
-Deny them their social life.
-Scoff at their interests.
-Punish harshly or repressively.
Or I'll cry. =(

Choleric
"The Dynamo"

"True to his temperament, the choleric child is a leader and tightly coiled bundle of ambition: strong-willed, determined, a quick learner. He won't be content to just make the team; he'll want to be the leading scorer and take the last-minute winning shot. Because he has the ability to focus his will, and is very goal-orientated, he tends to do the things he likes very well.He is comfortable expressing himself and excelling. On the other side of the coin, he can be rather impatient, argumentative, stubborn, interruptive, quick-tempered, and occasionally lacking in empathy-especially when things aren't going his way. The choleric child loves to argue and debate. Don't take it personally. It's not a sign of disrespect or willful provocation. Especially when they are teens-and are still devolping their powers of critical analysis and discernment-they may dispassionately take the opposing view of yours simply for the sake of argument. Reacting punitively to this contentiousness will only solidify their opposing stance."

That is so me.

Choleric children do's and don'ts

Do:
-Acknowledge their achievements and contirbutions.
-Give them opportunities to compete and debate.
-Give them good reasons for what you are asking.
-Pick your battles (or you will be arguing all the time).
-Help them develop empathy and civility and to listen before speaking.
And I'll love you!

Don't:
-Punish them for arguing.
-Squelch competition and initiative.
-Control everything about their lives.
-Try to break their will.
-Take their arguments too personally-unless they are disrespectful.
If you do that to me, I'll become even more hard then I was.

Now, for the combination:
Sanguine-Choleric:

"The Sanguine-Choleric is the most extroverted of all temperament combinations. the good news is that, with this combination, the optimistic, impulsive, fun-loving sanguine becomes more capable of follow-through, taking significant leadership roles, and juggling many projects without unduly sacrificing productivity. This temperament tends to be a happy combination of decisiveness and charm, analytical skills and creativity, friendliness and reliability."
"His ability to connect with people should tone down some of the 'bulldozer' characteristics of the pure choleric. He is insightful and enthusiastic, with good people skills. He is also capable of constancy, dedication, and serious undertakings, although at times he may be underestimated, due to his often humorous and lighthearted manner. He is not only capable of creative inspirations, but also you will find within him the persistence and drive needed to carry out his inspirations."
"The bad news is that, if intellectual, human, or spiritual formation is seriously lacking, this temperament blend can exhibit the worst of the two temperaments: overly talkative, brassy, opinionated, loud, rash, swift to jump to conclusions, and forgetful (man, they have me on a page!). The high-spirited humor of the sanguine can become biting and hurtful when combined with the unforgiving, vengeful nature of the poorly-formed choleric. If pleasure-seeking and impulsivity are not contained, the sanguine-choleric may wind up with a lax conscience that justifies his weaknesses, ultimately resulting in habitual sin. On the other hand, the natural generosity flowing from the sanguine temperament will commit him to many good works."

Sanguine
Spiritual gifts:
Joy, mercy, magnanimity, gratitude.

Spiritual weaknesses:
Self-love, envy, seeking esteem and human respect.

Choleric
Spiritual gifts:
Zeal for souls, fortitude, knowlege.

Spiritual weaknesses:
Self-will, control, anger, haughtiness, superiority.

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There! I'm written down in 10 minutes. This is what I'm like. Man, now I'll probably lose all my friends, now that they know what I'm like. =(



-Lilly