Personality Isn't Permanent summary

In 2016, a team of researchers published the results of a long-running study in the journal Psychology and Aging. Launched in Scotland in the 1950s, the study asked teachers to rate 1,208 14-year-olds on a number of personality traits such as self-confidence, originality, and desire to learn.

Sixty years later, 674 of the original participants were retested. This time, they rated themselves. The result? There was virtually no overlap between the two tests. That surprised the researchers. They had hypothesized that they’d find evidence of personality stability over the decades. The data, however, didn’t support this hypothesis. Instead, it busted a myth at the heart of personality testing: the idea that personalities are fixed.

Across the United States, teenagers have recently begun calling on their teachers to excuse them from classroom presentations. Their reasoning? As one teen put it in a tweet that was shared over 130,000 times, “forcing” students to present in front of the class was making them “anxious.”

Interestingly, many teachers seem to agree, and pedagogical techniques that are less demanding than speaking in front of your peers are increasingly popular. This might sound like a positive, feel-good story about how open-minded these teachers are, but the outcome of this response is actually negative. By catering to these demands, schools are validating the notion that teenagers lack psychological flexibility, which is ultimately impacting their ability to grow as people.

What is personality? So far, we’ve seen that notions of an innate, unchanging, or authentic self owe more to marketing and misunderstanding than they do to scientific evidence. Worse, these ideas stymie growth and keep you trapped in your comfort zone.

So let’s try out a different definition: personality isn’t something that just exists out there in the world – it’s something you do. Personality, in other words, is shaped by what you spend your time doing. Change that and you’ll change who you are.

In early 2000, the British rowing team was preparing for that year’s summer Olympics. History wasn’t on the rowers’ side. No British crew had won gold since 1912. But they did have one thing going for them – commitment.

Their commitment was reflected in a simple question the rowers asked themselves before making any decision: “Will it make the boat faster?” Answering this question told the rowers what to do, whatever the situation – like whether or not to eat a donut, go to bed or stay up and have a beer. 

Once you’ve defined your goal, you’ll need to start taking small steps towards it on a daily basis. The most effective first step? Start your day one hour earlier than usual.

If you only wake up when you have to, you’re ultimately arranging your waking hours around “urgent” tasks. Completing these tasks then takes up your whole day, leaving no time to pursue your goal. This kind of routine rules out meaningful change because all you have time to do is maintain the status quo.

When the author met Ken Arlen, a one-time chain smoker, he hadn’t smoked for 40 years. What was interesting about Ken, though, was how he’d stopped smoking.

Ken started smoking cigarettes in high school in the 1970s. Tobacco was widely accepted back then. Marijuana, by contrast, wasn’t. So, Ken used the former to hide the smell of the latter from his parents. Soon enough he was hooked on cigarettes and going through a pack a day. Every attempt to quit failed.