Unexplainable How to change your personality
41 snips
Sep 29, 2025 
Olga Khazan, a staff writer and author of "Me, But Better," dives into the intriguing concept of personality change. She shares her personal journey, driven by high neuroticism and a desire for deeper connections. Discussing the limits of the Big Five traits, she highlights how neuroticism is particularly challenging to alter. Through meditation and improv, Olga explores effective strategies for change, emphasizing the need for belief in one's agency. Her insights reveal that while shifting personality traits is tough, it's not impossible, and each small step matters.
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Personality As Consistent Goal-Oriented Patterns
- Personality is the consistent pattern of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors you show daily.
- Traits often function as tools that help you achieve your goals, like agreeableness helping form social bonds.
Performance Versus Underlying Tendencies
- Personality contains performed behaviors and deeper tendencies that persist when unprompted.
- We all 'perform' traits situationally, but researchers see underlying patterns as our natural personality.
Big Five Is Useful But Imperfect
- The Big Five is the dominant scientific framework but it's imperfect and culturally limited.
- Traits like openness are broad catch-alls that don't map perfectly to observed personalities.
