ElementalTruths.Com ©

One of the most powerful resources that we can harness to achieve success is the power of our own minds.

According to psychologist, Traci Woods, “Optimists are more likely to attract promotions, friends and even good luck.”

To put the power of your own mind to work for you, Dr. Woods suggests the following.

1. Focus on what you want instead of what you don’t have. Instead of bemoaning all the interruptions say, “I want a quiet place where I can read and think.”
2. Imagine your goal as if it is already accomplished. Write it on an index card and put is somewhere you will see it constantly. Those who write out their goals and re-read them achieve success sooner.
3. Positive self talk is a good way to make positive events more likely. Tell yourself you are clever and talented and you will behave as though you are.
4. When you begin to feel things are on a downward swing pick out a word that makes you happy — like puppies — and repeat it over and over when you find yourself thinking gloomy thoughts. This time of positive focus pushes the negative aside.

The first area I mentioned concerning security breaches was waste archeology. In fact that is a fancy name for going through the trash. I believe this to be one of the foremost methods of stealing confidential information. It is so prevalent that there are many different names for the practice. Here are some of the more common: waste archeology, trash trawling, dumpster diving, and rubbish rifling, I even heard of one clever fellow touting his services in filth forensics.

But, what ever you call it, it still amounts to stealing garbage. Only it isn’t, and here is why.

In reality it isn’t even stealing. In California Versus Greenwoodthe Supreme Court held the Constitution does not prohibit warrant-less search and seizure of garbage left for collection outside the curtilage (the enclosed area immediately surrounding a home or dwelling) of a home. This could include places of business.

Basically, if you threw it out, anybody can go through it.

Think about what goes into the trash at your organization. Convenience copies of confidential records, transitory records, government records, general business correspondence, administrative correspondence, media records, inventory, financial documents, client lists, credit card receipts, purchase orders, the list goes on.

But, we have to get rid of some of these materials. Otherwise we would be unable to conduct daily operations because of the piles of paper that would soon overwhelm us. As an illustration, did you know that each one of us generates about 4.54 pounds of solid trash every day? Think about how that relates to the standard 500 sheet ream of paper weighs about 5 pounds. That amounts to about 331 reams or 33 case a year. And when you toss it out it isn’t all neatly packaged in sheets of 500. Astounding, isn’t it?

Of course, not all of that waste material is paper. Still, you must admit, that is a lot of information headed to the dump.

Here are some pro-active steps you can take to protect yourself from the exploitation of this business by-product.

1. Don’t transfer confidential documents to recycling vendors. Most vendors are honest folks and wouldn’t dream of compromising your data. Still the more hands information passes through the greater the likelihood of a breach.

2. If you have a copier, install a shredder next to it. How many times have you run a convenience copy which came out fuzzy or mis-aligned and you just dropped into the trash can?

3. Purchase a cross-cut shredder for extremely sensitive documents. Cross cut documents are more irregular and thus more difficult to reconstruct.

4. Destroy all waste paper. Post-its, legal pads, note sheets.

5. Get shredders for each individual. People won’t wait in line to use a bulk shredder.

6. Don’t keep cardboard boxes of old business documents. If something isn’t being actively used, store it securely for an appropriate amount of time and then destroy the documents.

Describing A Spy

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=415

Office Traitors

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=414

Business Brain Cramps

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=413

Starbucks Espionage

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=412

Recording Devices

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=411

Cell and Cordless Phones

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=410

Hacking Passwords

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=409

Pop-In Spooking

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=407

Office Espionage

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=408

Waste Archeology

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=406

Security Overview

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=404

By Reg Adkins ©

In the past I have written quite a bit about information security. In fact, last year I wrote a ten installation series on the topic.

Then as irony would have it, this year my own site was hacked and taken over. To say the least I was embarrassed. Here I was providing what I believed to be very solid advice to help people protect themselves from just this sort of exploitation and my own site succumbs to attack.

Being a typical male, I retreated into my psychological (oh for the luxury of an actual) cave and spent some quality time with systematically chastising myself from every possible angle.

When finally I crawled squinting into the light from my self imposed darkness, I began evaluating the castle gates I had endorsed to find where my undoing lay.

To my relief what I discovered was that the dastardly deed had occurred via an exploitable weakness in the hosting system I was using rather than through a flaw in my own system.

As you may be aware, I immediately set about rebuilding Elemental Truths from a new more defensible dot com platform. But, since the security suggestions held no inherent flaw I decided to update and share them with you here at the site of Elemental Truths new incarnation.

The format will follow the original “Top Ten Tips” style.

1. Waste Archeology. If you really want to know what a person is all about, go through the trash they leave at the curb.
2. Taps. The most exploitable weakness in this area is the wireless computer network.
3. Pop-ins. A maintenance uniform or an automated update request should not be automatically considered above suspicion.
4. Hacking in. Most stolen passwords are taken from post-its from a persons workstation.
5. Cordless Phones. A cordless phone or a cellular phone is basically a radio broadcast station.
6. Ticking Bombs. Most people never change the default access code on their answering machine.
7. Starbucks. You won’t believe what you will over hear in the coffee shop across from the bank.
8. Brain Cramps. How many times have you seen sensitive documents left out on a desk overnight?
9. Traitors. Some folks get a charge out of saying, “You’ll never guess what our department is working on!”
10. Describing a Spy. The short, fat, tall, thin man. She often wears provocatively conservative clothing and colors affiliated with her liberally conservative political party.

Over the next ten posts, I’ll try and provide you with a useful over-view of each of these exploitable areas.

Describing A Spy

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=415

Office Traitors

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=414

Business Brain Cramps

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=413

Starbucks Espionage

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=412

Recording Devices

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=411

Cell and Cordless Phones

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=410

Hacking Passwords

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=409

Pop-In Spooking

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=407

Office Espionage

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=408

Waste Archeology

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=406

Security Overview

http://elementaltruths.com/?p=404

By Reg Adkins ©

Robert Frost was only partially correct. The greatest adventure is not in taking the road less traveled but in taking the path which is least traveled because it is meant for your feet alone to tread.

But, sometimes people operate under the mistaken impression that their new direction must be a completely different path than the one they are on. Often making a few minor adjustments to your current path can change your ultimate destination by light years. Just consider how far off a NASA venture would miss the target if the direction of travel were changed by just half a degree.

Take what you like about your current destination and build upon that. There is really no reason to completely reinvent the wheel.

Here is what I mean. A friend of mine worked for a major insurance company. From his Atlanta based office he supervised and trained scores of agents in finding the best ways to serve their clients. He was extremely successful but was always nagged by the instances in which his agent training didn’t “take” and the clients ended up with a product they didn’t want, need, or didn’t meet their needs appropriately.

So, he  began monitoring the market for an agent who was preparing to retire and he bought his book of business and set up his own shop in which the customers can be served his way. To use an old cliche he is “happy as a clam.”

You see, he didn’t dump his entire accumulation of professional expertise and strike out into the great unknown. He took a good long look at his destination and adjust the direction of the path he was taking to reach it.

Here is what you can do.

Assess your path, assess your path and then assess your path some more. Make absolutely certain the path you are on is the happiest path for you. Match the route to your temperament. Are you a high speed, hurry up and get there person? Or do you like to take the scenic route and enjoy the view along the way? Choose the path that is perfect for you.

Make sure you like your clients.The success of most every career path is dependent upon how well you are able to establish and maintain your client following. If you don’t like tattoos don’t open a Harley Davidson dealership. If you want to enjoy what you do, it has to be about more than the money. It has to be about the enjoyment you get from providing a great product or service to you clients.

Fill a need.If someone else is already standing in your path when you get there it isn’t your path; it’s his. Adjust, chart and parallel or divergent course and move on. If someone else is already filling the need and you can’t do it better, then there is no need there to fill.

If it’s really your path then only you can tread it.

Well, what are you waiting for?

By Reg Adkins ©

Thinking about thinking.

I have been planning to write on this topic for some time and a piece I read by one of my favorite authors Rosa Say gave me just enough of a nudge to get going.

Rosa wrote an elegant article about the exploration of whether we are pragmatic, impulsive or deliberate thinkers. Right away I saw she has an excellent insight into meta-cognition and uses that insight to coach her clients to greater success.

I think this bit fits in well with the section I just completed on Equitable Self Review.

If you search into the background of meta-cognition you will see it is a discipline of cognitive theory. A system for measuring your cognitive progress and making necessary adjustments to enhance performance.

All in all, it is a very technical and introspective way to say “thinking about thinking.”

A modern media analogy would be Danny Divitto’s character in Renaissance Man who was entrusted with the task of “teaching to comprehend.”

But how do you think about thinking? Is that a riddle, inside and enigma wrapped up in a conundrum?

It breaks down rather like this:

You have a problem that you just can’t seem to get a grip on. You’ve reviewed all your data. You’ve reviewed your data collection technique. You’ve satisfied yourself that you have all the pertinent information and yet you can’t get your brain around the problem.

The end result. You must assess your central processing unit. How you process information.

That is the essence of meta-cognition.

Let’s take a look at how this application of techniques takes place.

Reasoning about your own cognition requires you to explore how your mind processes information in several cognitive areas.

1. memory monitoring
2. perception
3. calculation
4. association
5. motivation
6. emotion
7. self-regulation
8. ethical and moral values
9. select solutions
10. evaluate conclusions

In broad brush strokes it amounts to developing, maintaining, monitoring and evaluating ideas. The before, during and after of the thought process.

There are wonderful similarities to the scientific method.

1. observation
2. description
3. prediction
4. control
5. identification of causes

• time order relationship
• covariation of events
• elimination of plausible alternatives

How can you use this learning to learn strategy to enhance your growth?

The most valuable product of meta-cognition is an enhance knowledge and control our own mental processes. This provides us an advantage in problem solving when we must chose avenues to create avenues for declarative, procedural or conditional knowledge.

By Reg Adkins ©

Sometimes one of the best ways to keep ourselves on the right path is to take part in a little introspective examination. But, doing so without a clear purpose in mind can be a tedious and narcissistic pursuit. I like to quantify things so I have compiled this Equitable Self Checklist that may be useful to you in measuring your own success.

The self review monitoring process is a focused review of the practices and procedures we carry out in our lives and whether they are conducive to putting us on the right path to our stated life destinations.

The review has four focus areas listed below.

Interest Focus

A measurement of whether the activities we are undertaking are carrying us along the path to our destination

Climate and Management

A measure of whether we are placing ourselves in environments that are conducive to our success.

Assessment and Measurement

A review of how much progress we have made along the path to our destination.

Support Network

A measure of our awareness and willingness to rely upon the support resources that are available to us.

Each domain will be explored with the following numbered response options.

1. Just Beginning I am currently developing a process and plan for implementation but have not yet begun to implement.

2. Good Start A process and a plan for implementation has been designed and put into practice. I have identified some difficulties and have some improvement strategies in place to address them.

3. Well on My Way I feel the levels of implementation are satisfactory and effective to this point and I am continuing to make improvements.

4. Extensively Implemented I have achieved high levels of implementation and effectiveness is evident. I am currently in the monitoring stage.

How am I doing? Number each level of success from 1 to 4 as indicated above.

Interest Focus

Perspective

• All my activities designed to achieve my goals.
• I consciously rethink past experiences that contributed to my current status.
• I deal openly and frankly with areas of divergences from my goals.
• I explore other possible avenues to achieve my goals.

Mechanism of Review

• I review my activities on a regular basis to assess my focus.
• I solicit outside feed back on the focus of my activities.

Screening of Experiences

• I reflect in a positive way on my experiences.
• I surround myself with positive experience opportunities.
• My experiences are tailored to achieve growth rather than maintenance.

Climate and Management

• • I consider my underlying temperament and how it impacts my life goals.
  • I seek out learning experiences that move me toward my goals.
  • I interact with others that are pursuing similar goals in a positive manner.
  • I confront inconsistencies in my behavior.
  • I recognize my accomplishments.
  • I partake of non-focused activities to maintain a balanced perspective.
  • I have a code of behavior than holds me to a higher level of conduct.

Assessment and Measurement

• • I look at more than one aspect when assessing my performance.
  • I view the assessment of my performance as a means for making greater growth.
  • I keep current data on my performance.
  • I research others of similar background who have achieved high levels of success.
  • I actively seek out the advice of mentors who have a track record of success in my field.
  • I take into account the impact of my physical environment on my levels of success.

Support Network

• • Those I respect feel comfortable giving my their input and sharing their observations.
  • I solicit the advice of those I respect in developing my growth plans.
  • I take pains to demonstrate my appreciation for the input of those I respect.
  • I make it a point to seek advice from those I don’t always agree with who have proven successful.

If your scores on this artifact are most 1’s you know you are at the beginning stages of your journey and can place your feet on the right path. If most of your numbers are 2’s you know you have made a good start on achieving your goals. If you record mostly 3’s you are making excellent progress and should reach you goals right on schedule. If you find you have recorded mostly 4’s you are well ahead of the game and may wish to consider setting some more challenging destinations.

I hope you find this tool a useful guide marker along your way.

By Reg Adkins ©

The most famous supines may be Mother Theresa and Ghandi.

If you are even aware of the Supine temperament classification it is probably because of the work of Dr. Richard Arno and the National Christian Counselors Association.  As far as I know, they are the only counseling entity to even acknowledge the existence of this “Fifth” Temperament. But, I do not believe this will long be the case.

Before you decide such designation is suspect, consider all the changes in the major reference manual for psychology, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) version 5 of which is due for publication in 2011.  After prolonged political pressure the DSM change the classification of homosexuality from “mental disorder” to “sexual orientation disturbance.”

The Supine temperament is the quintessential model of a servant leader. They always place their own needs secondary to the good of the body.

The Supine is happiest when pursuing these altruistic goals:

• Social Interaction
• Surface Relationships
• Intellectual Activities
• Seeking the comfort of group anonymity
• Capitalizing on their acute social sensitivities
• Contributing to the development of others
• Manipulating social situations
• Analyzing

The strengths and interests of the Supine:

• Strong Decision Makers
• Extremely Responsible
• Highly Independent
• Extreme Loyalty
• Highly Dependable
• Capable of deep personal relationships
• Faithful

Ideal jobs for the Supine:

• Law enforcement
• Social Services
• Social Workers
• Nurses
• Physical Therapists
• Massage Therapist
• Athletic Trainers
• Event Planners

The Supine temperament is best suited for jobs in which their contribution will be acknowledge publicly rather than monetarily.

The Supine may find they are most comfortable of all in times of loss because of their gifts for serving others in need.

The Supine may not commit because he does not feel worthy of that type of love.

The Supine is the prime example to the “Servant Leader” It differs from other leadership approaches by emphasizing collaboration, trust, empathy, and the ethical use of power. At heart, the individual is a servant first, making the conscious decision to lead; his drive is to lead because he wants to serve better, not because he desires increased power. The objective is to enhance the growth of individuals in the organization and increase teamwork and personal involvement

Up until the middle of the 1980’s there were only four recognized temperaments. They were the choleric, the melancholy, the sanguine and the phlegmatic. At that time the National Christian Counselors Association introduced the Supine temperament.

The NCCA identifies the supine temperament as one who sees the value of others and none in them. The supine may be viewed as the quintessential servant, always placing the needs of others before their own.

They present as one who displays no relationships wants. But, in fact, they very much want and need deep relationships.

In the area of inclusion, the supine has a tremendous desire for relationships but has not the ability to seek them out. They are often lonely due to their unexpressed need to socialize.

The supine is often the perpetual victim. Their need to serve others makes them highly vulnerable to exploitation by others. They expect others to instinctively know and act to fulfill their needs, feelings, and idiosyncrasies. When their needs are not met, they suffer from extreme anger which they view as hurt feelings which they are unable to express in a healthy manner.

The supine is highly skilled at manipulation. They employ many and varied techniques designed to foist all responsibility for their actions and choices upon others. However, they are extremely dependable and will serve with absolute, even fanatical, loyalty.

When working with a supine be prepared to shoulder a degree of their dependent behaviors, until they can be taught to successfully assume independent responsibility for themselves.

There are five components to keep in mind when working with a sanguine.

1. They have a tremendous need for interaction but are unable to initiate contact.

2. They will perform to please people but not to complete tasks.

3. They work at a slow pace and grow even slower as the day progresses.

4. Constant or tedious tasks or environs are unbearable to the supine.

5. The supine responds well to the threat of the stick and not at all to the promise of the carrot. From hence comes their reputation as the eternal victim.

In summation, the supine is forever burdened by feelings of inadequacy and looks to others to define their worth. You must always maintain an authoritative, professional distance from the supine. Otherwise, they will develop a neurotic dependence upon you.

The Supine

Inclusion – Expresses very little need to initiate association or socialization, but has a high need to be approached by many people for association and socialization.

Control – Shows very little need for control over the lives of others, desire a great deal of control over their lives by others.

Affection – Expresses very little love or affection for others, but desires others to express a great deal of love and affection toward them.

By Reg Adkins ©

The epitome of the phlegmatic is the American ideal of manhood from the last era known as the strong silent type. Biblically the most prominent phlegmatic is probably Timothy the companion of Paul. Timothy spent his time quietly and methodically going about the business of ministering to others.

Inclusion – Initiates only a moderate amount of associations and socializations, desires others to initiate only a moderate amount of association and socialization.

Control – Demonstrates a moderate amount of control over the lives of others, desires others to have only a moderate amount of control in their lives.

Affection – Express a moderate amount of affection toward others, desires only a moderate amount of affection is demonstrated toward them.

The Phlegmatic may not commit because of his inability to fully trust.

Hippocrates connected the Phlegmatic with phlegm. Phlegmatics appear deliberate and stubborn. They’re resistant to expending their energy or their talents. They typically go through life quietly, expending as little energy as possible.

In an ideal situation the Phlegmatic would follow this routine.

Get up late in the morning
Go to work
Sit in a cubical
Work with numbers
Go home
Take a nap
Eat
Take another nap
Go to bed

The only thing that even begins to regenerate the limited energy reserves of the Phlegmatic is sleep, and that is often ineffective.

The Phlegmatic is very task-oriented and has a great capacity for work that requires precision and accuracy.

Phlegmatics have excellent success in the following career paths:

data processors
bookkeepers
librarians
accountants
records technicians
museum curators
webmasters
web designers
technology specialists
programmers
lab technicians
chemists

pharmacists

The Phlegmatic is a natural born observer. They spend their lives watching the relationships of others with an amused detachment. They believe they know what everyone else is doing right or wrong. Phlegmatics go about doing their work in a quiet, efficient manner and have no problems with excess.

Someone with the Phlegmatic temperament is often considered to be slow paced and lethargic, and seem to have a lack of commitment. Phlegmatics require a peaceful environment, and go to great lengths to avoid conflict. They will go to great lengths, including the utilization of numbing drugs and alcohol, to avoid or dull the experience of conflict.

The characteristics of the Phlegmatic make them highly unlikely to be involved in many at risk behaviors. They rarely commit suicide because they will not allow themselves to be committed to anything to such a degree that they become emotionally vested. They are un-excitable and too jealous of their energy to put forth the effort for suicide.

The same holds true for perpetrating most crimes. Those activities simply require too much of their energy. In fact, Phlegmatics experience more fear than any other temperament.

Knowing your temperament allows you to capitalize on your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses.

The most famous biblical sanguine is probably Peter. Peter was selfish, inconsistent and changeable but in the end he wrought great works by building three tabernacles.

The most obvious modern example of the sanguine would be the California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has jumped from one endeavor to another ever seeking the next rush of excitement. Yet, like Peter, he seems to have the underlying quality of naive goodness about him.

To keep a Sanguine happy, or to remain happy if you are one yourself you need an understanding of the heartfelt desires and driving forces of the Sanguine temperament.

The Sanguine is an extremely social person who thrives on many surface relationships with many people. This person is always ready for the next social event, the next outing, the next road trip, anything that will get them into the company of many people.

At the party they are the center of attention. They make it their business to know and tell the funniest jokes. They talk and laugh the loudest and they wear the flashiest outfits.

1. He is a social person. He likes to be with people. He approaches a great many people and has a large number of surface relationships.
2. He is a strong motivator. When you need someone to inspire and bring about a sense of enthusiasm the Sanguine is your ideal choice.3. He is very active. In fact, Sanguines without enough to fully occupy them will slip into a heightened sense of stress.

4. He is communication oriented. He is so much so, that he becomes quickly frustrated and impatient with task-oriented jobs.

The Sanguine must feel he is appreciated and accepted. He is often drawn to those who have a serious philosophy which he feels will compensate for his impulsiveness and irresponsibility.

The Sanguine is very motivated by the promise of reward and not at all by the threat of punishment. However, the reward he craves is that of increased attention, acceptance and approval.

The Sanguine needs.

Inclusion – Demonstrates a tremendous need for association and social interaction initiated both by self and many others.

Control – Desires very little control over others and desires others to have very little control over them.

Affection – Expresses or demonstrates a great deal of affection and desires the same.

The Sanguine may not commit because he fears he may have to miss the next party or big event.

The Sanguine is a social person who likes to be with people. They are always ready for a new social encounter and have many surface relationships with the people they meet. Isolation and inactivity are two of the greatest stressors for the Sanguine.

Sanguines do not do well in task oriented professions but excel in communication focused fields. Primarily, these persons want approval and acceptance but may have no idea how to obtain it in an appropriate manner.

Sanguines must seek out career paths which meet their needs for high socialization and interactions.

They might consider:

teaching
coaching
choir director
sales
public relations
entertainment
human resources
marketing

In social situations the sanguine likes to interact with many people. The majority of their relationships are of the surface and casual nature. They are at constant risk of the questionable practice of adopting the behaviors and values of those they encounter in an effort to be popular.

The sanguine is always ready for the next social interaction, party or function. They are the first out the door and in the car, always ready to go, go, and go. They are often found to be the center of attention because they tell the most jokes, laugh the loudest and party the hardiest. When you encounter a person who “brightens up the room,” you are undoubtedly in the presence of a sanguine.

They are typically extremely optimistic and obsessed with having fun. They must remain constantly in action and on the move.

In the area of inclusion, the sanguine is extremely impulsive. In their desire to be included by all, they often jump in before thinking things through. Their desire to be in on the fun is almost manic in its intensity.

They have many desirable qualities. They are friendly, outgoing, able to motivate others with their infectious good humor, extremely perceptive of relationship dynamics, warm and they always see the glass as half full.

Less desirable tendencies are the flip side of this coin. Often they are known for incessant and often trivial chatter. The can be extremely impulsive. There burning desire to be in on the latest thing can cause them to be highly irresponsible. Basically, if it isn’t fun, they aren’t interested. Females of this temperament often fall into the “party girl” trap. Males often find themselves unable to maintain lasting relationships.

In the are of control a sanguine does not typically do well. Their intense need for self indulgent activities makes being successful in situations that require a lot of discipline, restraint or control extremely unlikely. They typically have an initial brilliant flash of leadership, thriving on the attention, but they burn out very quickly under the restraint and control one is required to demonstrate as an effective leader. Once spent, they may take months or even years to regenerate.

In affection the sanguine is the most lovable of the temperaments. They are extremely affectionate toward others and have an unquenchable need to be loved. Unfortunately, if this intense need for constant reassurance goes unmet the sanguine can be totally emotionally devastated.

Because of their tendency to always look on the bright side, if a sanguine seeks counseling help it is probably because someone forced them to because of their horribly irresponsible behavior.

Anyone trying to help a sanguine should keep the following in mind:

1. be certain to have evaluated their temperament in control, affection and inclusion before beginning to work with them.

2. Compile a complete social history and background.

3. Explain to the sanguine why they behave as they do in the key areas. Try to do this in the presence of those who care about them. This will go a long way toward assuaging the guilt and blame issues that are undoubtedly present.

4. Work through all their temperament needs and how they can be met in a positive manner.

5. Address their needs singularly and make sure the sanguine has input into how to meet their needs in a positive manner.

If you interact with a sanguine you must maintain control of the flow or the sanguine will draw you off into more ‘fun’ social topics and leave the core issues un-addressed. The sanguine responds well to the carrot and not at all to the stick.

It is of utmost importance that serious interactions be brief. More than a quarter hour will overload their limited attention span. The sanguine responds well to one who presents as caring and personable. They seek a connection on the emotional level and don’t care at all about formal credentials and qualifications. Credibility will be evaluated solely on emotional credibility.

By Reg Adkins ©

The most famous Choleric of our age is probably Franklin Delano Roosevelt. He all but attested to this temperament in his famous quote, ” There is nothing I love as much as a good fight.” From the bible age the most famous person who displays all the characteristic of the choleric is probably the apostle Paul.

When we find we have occasion to observe an individual who is extremely likable on the surface, but underneath does not like people we have encountered the choleric of temperament types.

The Choleric is very task oriented and typically views others as tools necessary to accomplish and achieve their tasks and ends. They are often very popular and maintain many surface relationships in order to secure a wide and varied seed resource pool to achieve their goals.

This person is excellent at developing new concepts but may have outbursts of cruel and intolerantly abusive temper when challenged or unable to achieve their ends.

Their high energy also makes them the most susceptible temperament to “burn out.”

The choleric has a great need for self-initiated social interaction but very little tolerance to be approached by others. They desire a tremendous amount of control over others but will tolerate almost no control over their own lives by others. They have a high need for love, affection and approval but only on their own terms.

How to approach the choleric:

1) Make certain they know you are their intellectual equal. However, if they feel you are superior, they will feel threatened and become defensive.

2) You must approach the choleric by demonstrating that you are a very balanced person who has great wisdom and ability that is coupled with absolute professionalism.

3) You must present them with the facts of the situation and allow them to make their own choices.

If the choleric perceives you as weak or overbearing they will dismiss you as a viable resource immediately. They take great pains to find ways to fulfill their need to control others and you must be ever vigilant to be certain they are not provoking you to actions to achieve this end.

The choleric views any difficulties they encounter as issues of someone else’s creation. You will often find that as a result they are:

1) experiencing a great amount of resentment of and from others

2) may be suffering from depression as a result of unresolved anger

3) bitter because they perceive others are reaping recognition and acclaim they feel is rightfully there’s

4) may be suffering from burn out as a result of their basic distrust in and therefore ability to delegate to others

5) an intense fear of losing control

The best approach to take with the choleric is to help them to recognize and see the legitimacy of the rights, needs, and feelings of others.

The Choleric may not commit to a relationship because he fears giving up that much control over his life.

The Choleric has clear traits in the three main areas of human need.

Inclusion – Desire to self initiate a great deal of social interaction, desire very little interaction initiated by others.

Control – Express the need for a great deal of control over others, desire very little or no control over their lives by others.

Affection – Express a high need for love and affection and approval, but accept it only on their own terms.

The Choleric is utilitarian in goal implementation and excellent at communicating abstract concepts. They are highly adept with strategies and gifted in analysis. There greatest gifts lie in organizing, planning, configuring and practical inventing. They are strong willed and ever in search of greater knowledge. They rely heavily on their own powers of reason and thirst for achievement. Their view of the present is pragmatic, and they are skeptical about the future.

Famous Choleric Personalities:

Isaac Asimov
Ulysses S. Grant
Bill Gates
Albert Einstein

Best jobs for a Choleric.

Manager
Project Manager
Efficiency Experts
Engineer
Architect
Strategic Analyst

To keep a choleric happy, or to stay happy if you are one yourself, you must understand the desires and workings of the choleric temperament. Here are a few of the engines that drive this temperament and suggestions about how they (you) would be most happy.

The choleric man is a man of enthusiasm. He aspires after great and lofty things. He craves success. He seeks large fortunes. He lusts for a vast business. He believes he should have an elegant home. He seeks to be perceived as a person with a distinguished reputation or a predominant position. He mirrors these same traits in spiritual matters.
He desires excellence and success and despises the small and petty. His great wish is to be noble and heroic. In his aspiration for great things the choleric is supported by:

1.Intelligence. The choleric is not always, but is often very intelligent. He is a man of logic. But,his imagination and his emotions are often poor or stunted.

2.Willful. He is not put off by challenges.

3.Passionate. Whenever the choleric is determine to carrying out his plans or finds opposition.

4. Impulsively dominant of others. He is made to be in charge. He is happiest when he is in a position of command.

The choleric sees only one path. He does not notice that another road he could reach his goal more easily. If great obstacles meet him he continues on the original course. He wastes a great deal of his energy which could be used to better advantage. Often he finds himself almost alone and is disliked by most people.

He finds himself driven to understand nature, so that he can control, predict and explains its realities.

He is action-oriented and adventurous.

By Reg Adkins ©