“Just be yourself,” they say. Great advice, but what if you don’t know who you are?
Many people spend a good part of their lives pleasing others and trying to be something they are not. Is that you?
It was me for a long time. I spent a long time in an industry I did not enjoy simply because I was good at it and made good money. I would go home after just a few hours of work completely drained and in need of a nap. Worse, I had headaches almost daily. I thought this was just the price you paid to make it in this world.
Since I am a hard worker, I did what I knew best—I worked hard.
There’s nothing wrong with working hard, I still do it, but the problem was, I never stopped long enough to ask myself questions such as, who am I? What am I good at? What do I want to do?
By ignoring these vital questions, I just kept moving forward.
I didn’t get off the path to nowhere special until I learned about temperament. Temperament is how God wired you. It’s more than personality; it’s the core of who you are.
Discovering my temperament changed my life. When I discovered that I had specific strengths, I stopped trying to be good at everything. When I discovered I had specific weaknesses, I stopped trying to cover them up and learned how to manage them. Basically, I embraced who God made me to be and my life has never been the same.
Each temperament has its unique awesomeness and my hope is that you will uncover your temperament and embrace who you are.
Each of us has been gifted by God with a unique temperament, but those gifts need to be developed.
Maybe you’re a Choleric and you have natural leadership abilities. That suggests you should take courses in leadership, hire a mentor, and begin to step out in small areas as you’re comfortable. If you don’t develop your gift, you may express it in a limited way, such as trying to boss people around.
Perhaps you’re a Melancholy and you have tremendous creative talents. It’s not enough to plan and dream, you must take action. Step out of your comfort zone of always feeling like you need to be perfect and open your mind to the possibility that there is a gift hiding in you if you will just get out of your own way.
Maybe you’re a Sanguine and you have the gift of making others feel special. Don’t just use this gift as an excuse to talk talk talk, but rather dig deeper into the needs of others.
Perhaps you’re a supine and you love to serve and support others. While this is the most Christ-like gift of all, most Supines don’t feel ‘awesome.’ You would do well to embrace your inner awesomeness by taking an honest assessment of your likes and dislike,s as well as learning to set boundaries so people don’t take advantage of your awesomeness.
Maybe you’re a Phlegmatic. No other temperament has your ability to so calmly deal with people and tasks at the same time. You’re ability to bring peace to a situation is second to none. Embrace that inner gift by developing your negotiation skills as well learning how to stay in the game when you’d rather stick your head in the sand. Don’t let others tell you to be something you’re not—many only wish they could remain as level headed as you.
No matter what your temperament, God has gifted you with unique talents, traits and abilities and they are awesome. How do I know? B3ecause they’ve been placed there by God and He doesn’t make mistakes, and he certainly doesn’t make junk.
My prayer for you is that you will step out of the expectations of others and step into who God created you to be. Because it’s there that you’ll shine.
To do a deeper dive into discovering your temperament and fearfully and wonderfully made you are, download my free “What’s My Temperament?” Guide
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