Be it your first job or your third one or an important date, you want to walk wearing an impressive personality on your sleeves. Personality has become an oft-used word in our language. It is that tangible-yet-undefined feature that employers look in job candidates and people look for in prospective partners. But what is personality? Can we define it?
What is Personality?
Personality is a characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and behaving. A research study by psychologists at the University of Illinois suggests that we can change our personality traits provided we want to change them.
You can become the best version of yourself if you want to. A version that reverberates confidence, enthusiasm, and serenity. The kind that makes you stand out and help you get what you want in life. Is there a formula to develop a personality like that? Let us find out.
13 Personality development tips
Know you are incomparable
The first step towards developing a great personality is feeling confident in your own skin. One of the most important ways to do that is to not compare yourself with others.
The constant comparing blocks our own strengths from view. The other person assumes more strength in our head. But the fortunate and often unrealized truth is that you are unique and incomparable. Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar says that the uniqueness of every person must be celebrated.
Celebrate ‘you’
“There came a time when you were required on this planet and hence you were sent. Let us be the best we can be. Don’t miss yourself and let the world not miss you. In the history of the universe, there has been nobody like you and to the infinite of time to come, there will be no one like you.
Existence should have loved you so much that it broke the mould after making you, so that another of your kind will never get repeated. You are original.
You are rare. You are unique. You are a wonder. You are a masterpiece. Celebrate your uniqueness.” - Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
The qualities you want are in seed form
We don’t really get the qualities we like in our peers with the feelings of jealousy or insecurity. That only makes us mentally weak. A healthier attitude is to applaud the qualities you like in your peers and recognize that these qualities are within you too, albeit in a seed form. With attention and practice, you can cultivate the same qualities and abilities in you. That is a growth mindset, the kind designed for success.
Be kind to yourself
Studies show that self-compassion brings positive traits like optimism, extroversion, wisdom, happiness, positivity and resilience. According to Emma Seppala, research psychologist at Stanford University, self-compassion involves three steps:
- Recognize that you deserve care and concern like anyone else and that is why you must be kind and understanding with yourself.
- Recognize that making mistakes and failing is part of life. So, do not be hard on yourself when you commit a mistake or fail and indulge in self-critical thoughts.
- Be aware of one’s emotions and feelings. Contrary to popular belief, self-compassion does not mean letting yourself off the hook. Rather, it means taking corrective action, albeit without being too self-critical.
Give space to imperfection
Imperfections agitate us. So much so that getting agitated easily becomes a habit, and being grumpy assumes a personality trait as we grow older. But we all know that people who are more relaxed or as they say, ‘chilled out’, live more happily and easily charm people with their relaxed vibes. To feel cooler in your skin and vibes, it is important to be able to give room to imperfections. Not everything - the people around you, situations you find yourself in, and your own personality have to be the way you want them to be all the time.
Think like a leader
A leader is not just someone by position. They are people who take responsibilities without waiting for someone else to give to them. Just thinking like one nurtures leadership traits in you. It can help you bring change and influence others. Read leadership tutorials from someone who has been voted as one of the top 100 inspirational women in India here.
Be light in mind and heart
When you are light in the mind and heart, it reflects in your behavior with others. People also feel light in your company. One of the ways to be able to feel that way is to not overthink and overanalyze. Don’t let any negativity like shame, anger, jealousy or greed stay in you for too long. Learn to take it easy, forgive easily and drop grudges against people as soon as they pop up. You also feel happy from within, and who does not like happy people?
Stay enthusiastic
There are two ways by which enthusiasm helps you: it makes your everyday tasks more joyful, and it pulls people towards you. And everyone likes enthusiasm. Meditation helps one feel enthusiastic, calm and composed at the same time.
Be a better communicator
A couplet in Kannada says that words can create laughter and can also create enmity. A skillful communicator can win over people and adverse situations. So, bring clarity in your communication. Learn how you can be an excellent communicator with these tips to improve communication from Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Be warm and approachable
We all like people with whom we can easily mingle with and talk to. No one likes a person who responds with a straight face. So be warm. Flash that smile more often. Be friendly and be ready to share and help.
Learn to let go
After you’re done with a task, let go of your attachment with the result. When you let go, you become free, calm and relaxed - attributes of a strong personality.
Be a lion in the face of danger
Don’t give into pressure and face every challenge confidently. Either you will overcome the adversity or learn something invaluable.
Stay calm with the power of breath
Being calm strengthens one’s personality. However, staying calm can be difficult when you have a terrible headache and have an urgent deadline to meet. In such situations, tap the power of breath. Awareness of your breath can help you find calm amidst any situation.
Remember you’re a proton
A proton can never lose its positivity. Nor can you. Stress may affect us on the outside. However, your inner core continues to radiate positivity like a proton. It stays unaffected, happy and peaceful. Tune into this part of yourself again and again with the help of meditation. The process energizes and brings out positive traits like enthusiasm.
How to develop personality with Online Breath & Meditation Workshop?
Many traits like the ability to let go, feeling light in the mind, being enthusiastic and so on are not traits that you can include in your personality overnight. It needs time, effort and a change from within. Breath and meditation bring that inner change by removing deep-rooted stress. The result of which is the slow transition into a calmer, stronger, and happier version of yourself, all hallmarks of a great personality. Letting go becomes easier. And so does feeling enthusiastic. The Online Breath & Meditation Workshop particularly helps you
- Manage your emotions
- Feel less stressed
- Be more enthusiastic & relaxed
- Be more resilient, and kinder
- Feel more confident
The workshop helps nurture these traits with the use of breathing techniques, meditation and practical wisdom.
What can you do every day to improve your personality?
Tend to your appearance with zest: How you feel about your body and appearance matters. Look in the mirror every day with joy.
Smile more often: ‘Your smile looks awful,’ said no one ever. Your smile is your best add-on to your personality. Put it on when you look at yourself in the mirror, when you are having a good day, and also when you are having a bad one!
Meditate: As you meditate regularly, letting go and feeling relaxed becomes easier. Daily meditation will also make you more focused and happier.
Get out of your comfort zone: As you push your comfort zone, you realize many new qualities and potential in you. So for instance, as a writer if you are comfortable writing 2,000 words per day, try to increase your capacity by a certain number. If you are not comfortable to put forth your opinion and disagree on something, try doing that albeit calmly and maturely. You will be surprised at what comes out of you.
Save your mind from negativity: When you feel good inside, you naturally reflect it on the outside. And the way to save your mind from negativity is to not resist it but to observe it dissolve on a daily basis. Meditation is one way of doing it.
Interact with all kinds of people: As you interact with different kinds of people, you become more confident and comfortable. Your communication skills improve, and your personality dazzles.
