Personal Flexibility: How to Use Your Strengths to Overcome Challenges

6 أكتوبر 2024

I have always counted myself as an anxious person who is easily confused by events that may not disturb another person. The change in life conditions causes me to be driven into the midst of a spiral of panic and overthinking, and in return, my partner is the most chill person I have ever seen. I have never seen him panic or stress when life becomes difficult.

This is just one example of how people often react very differently to the same circumstances, but look around you, and you will probably find examples of this everywhere. You may feel excited when you are offered a new job, but you might see that your friend is panicking and stressed when experiencing the same thing. You may have witnessed a family member succeed brilliantly during unexpected difficulties but noticed that a similar setback brought out the worst in you.

Fortunately, it is completely normal for different personality types to respond in different ways when faced with problems or stressors, and with the right knowledge, you can use your unique strengths to overcome challenges.

Know Your Qualities:

First and foremost is knowing the area of personality within its scope. Honey Langcaster-James, psychologist and founder of On Set Welfare, says: "Psychologists are very interested in our differences. They study it from the point of view of the biosocial model, which espouses the idea that part of our identity is caused by an innate biological nature in our genes. Some aspects of our personality are hereditary, such as whether you are extroverted or introverted, like talking about your thoughts or feelings, or preferring to be alone."

It may be useful to look at how close relatives interact with difficulties to identify your personality traits, or to also delve into your past. We, as humans, tend to interpret events according to our past experiences and what we have learned from them, and our responses are usually in line with what we have witnessed before.

"We know that a person who has experienced stressful events in the past is likely to anticipate stressful events in the future, and when an event occurs, they may interpret it as having a higher risk potential," Langcaster James explains.

What Are the Five Major Personality Factors?

If you're still looking for your personality type, Lancaster James advises looking at the five most important traits. She says: "There are certain personality traits associated with life stresses in particular; for example, there is a well-known character model called the Five Major Personality Factors, also known as OCEAN."

The letter "O" stands for “openness,” which indicates how open a person is to experiences.
The letter “C” stands for “conscientiousness,” which indicates the extent of a person's care and attention to detail.
The letter “E” stands for “Extroversion,” which indicates how much an individual extracts energy from social interactions.
The letter “A” stands for “Agreeableness,” which refers to the extent to which a person helps and cooperates with others.
The letter “N” stands for “Neuroticism,”which refers to the extent of a person's exposure to anxiety or moodiness.

The aforementioned characteristics are neither severe nor light; rather, their severity is incremental.

1. Overcoming the difficulties faced by extroverted individuals:

Those who score high on the openness scale tend to have the following characteristics:

Easily accept life changes and developments.
Curiosity.
Flexibility.
Easily adapt to change.
Willingness to experiment.
Ability to solve problems.

“Those who tend to display high levels of openness are curious and immerse themselves in new experiences regularly,” says Lee Chambers, an environmental psychologist. Open species can adapt to change more easily, and Chambers also says, "Their more flexible nature helps them tolerate instability, often giving them the desire to experiment and learn ideas about struggling."

According to Chambers, extroverted people tend to turn difficulties into problem-solving exercises, which means they already have a toolkit to help them overcome challenges. He also explained, “Their extroverted intelligence helps them reflect on past challenges and find potential insights to take advantage of.” They are also more likely to be creative and generate innovative solutions, and they see difficulties as challenges that present opportunities for them to excel.”

Challenges That Extroverts Face:

Extroverted people are eager to try new things, but it is important not to get too caught up in the pursuit of novelty, as this can lead to risk-taking or impulsive behavior.

2. Overcoming challenges faced by emotional individuals:

People who are emotionally sensitive frequently exhibit the following traits:

Focusing on the long term when facing challenges.
A sense of responsibility for what they can influence.
Feeling that they can influence attitudes.
Flexible and comprehensive planning.

Chambers says: “Emotional individuals with an impulse to see the worst in challenges are more likely to take control of them while focusing on the long term and also taking responsibility for factors they can influence in the present.” They are likely to work carefully on their way to finding stable solutions and to be effective when it comes to dealing with challenges.

Proactive decision-making can help emotional people, as Chambers says. "Emotions are great planners, and flexible planning is great when times are tough. When Plan A fails, they run a lot of alternative plans until they find a workable solution."

Challenges Faced by People with Affective Personalities:

According to Chambers, people with the affective type of personality may have difficulty inventing and breaking rules, and may also seek perfection to a counterproductive degree.

3. Overcoming difficulties faced by extroverted individuals:

Characteristics of people with extroverted personalities include:

Prosperity through social communication.
Effectiveness in attracting others.
Gathering a variety of perspectives to develop a comprehensive action plan.
The ability to share their thoughts and feelings easily.

Chambers says that extroverted individuals are more likely to react to challenges by sharing ideas, and they also tend to talk to others about their problems rather than thinking individually. In tough times, they need to gather strength and socialize. They also prefer to address problems with verve or emotion rather than intellectuality.

“Extroverts can build on their strengths by inviting others to participate in finding solutions, having a variety of perspectives and opinions to formulate a comprehensive plan of action moving forward, and being able to share their thoughts and feelings so they can feel supported,” Chambers says. He adds that their optimism and adaptability are useful in witnessing small gains and making track corrections as they overcome their challenges.

Challenges Faced by Extroverted Individuals:

People with extroverted personalities prefer to rush into problem-solving and discover later that they do not have a backup plan. It is useful to think carefully to see the big picture before acting.

4. Overcoming the difficulties faced by consensus individuals:

Characteristics that people with this personality type have include:

Focusing on common values and interests.
Thinking about personal and collective influence.
Natural compassion.
Emphasizing cooperation.
Positively expressing negative emotions.

Chambers says, "Consensus people are more likely to respond thoughtfully in difficult times. Their focus on shared values and interest in others means that they often think about personal influence and how they affect others." Their natural sympathy means that they are great at using cooperation as a solution. This results in avoiding unnecessary conflict and helps them express healthy negative emotions.

“Consensus people excel at bringing people together to solve problems and overcome difficulties,” Chambers says. “Their flexibility is a real blessing. They have more time to be resourceful, plan, and find a way to bring hope into the future without wasting time complaining, blaming, and trying to be perfect.”

Challenges faced by consensus individuals:

Chambers warns that this personality type should be wary of their people-pleasing nature, as they might become very "nice" when faced with difficult decisions and put other people's needs before their own.

5. Overcoming the difficulties faced by neurotic individuals:

Characteristics of people who showed the highest score on the neuroticism scale included:

A changeable mood.
Sensitivity to threats.
A high degree of preparedness.
Self-awareness and powerful thinking.
Less likely to take risks.
Intelligence and creativity in problem-solving.

According to James Langcaster, this type is more sensitive to challenges and stressors than other types. "People who score higher on the neuroticism scale are naturally more sensitive to threats and are likely to see difficulties as a sign that their balance is off," Chambers says. Emotionally under threat, they find themselves struggling to see the possibilities and opportunities to meet the challenge while pondering and worrying about the current dilemma."

A high degree of neuroticism is often seen as negative, but it can have a lot of benefits that include a reduced risk-taking tendency that can exacerbate problems, self-awareness that can be used for reflection, and a healthy balance between realism and humor. Chambers says: "They may come up with strange solutions that can be effective."

Difficulties faced by neurotic individuals:

People who score high on neuroticism need to be protected from falling into a negative spiral that makes positive change seem like a high mountain to climb. Changing perspective can help you see things more objectively.

Changing your response to challenges:

When it comes to adjusting how to overcome challenges, Langcaster James says, “Treatment may be a useful tool.” She adds, "Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is about making a difference by looking at your thought processes and understanding how they relate to your behavior. If you start to understand what motivates your thinking processes, you can begin to interpret the process and learn to challenge these thought processes." Fortunately, accepting our responses can become easier as we age.

"We tend to accept ourselves more and become more psychologically stable as we age," according to Langcaster James, which means we are less exposed to self-flagellation and more likely to adopt instead. She also says: "Psychology can help you understand your personality, why you think about what you think and behave the way you do, and once you start to understand these things, you can interrupt the usual process and responses and go down a different path."

Conclusion:

Each of us manages difficulties in our lives in different ways. Over time, you can learn to accept and maximize the potential in your response to challenges. You can also learn to overcome them by building on your strengths and understanding your personality type.