#185 - Dr Benjamin Hardy - The Truth About Your Personality

Jun 18, 2020

Dr. Benjamin Hardy, an organizational psychologist and author of "Personality Isn't Permanent," challenges the belief in fixed personality traits. He discusses the inaccuracy of personality tests, arguing they are as unreliable as horoscopes. Hardy emphasizes the importance of reframing past experiences and narratives to shape identity. He encourages listeners to envision their future selves and highlights personal growth through deliberate choices and self-reflection, showcasing how trauma can be transformed into a powerful tool for development.

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insights

INSIGHT

Defining Personality

Personality is defined as consistent attitudes and behaviors.
It's how someone regularly shows up in different situations.

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INSIGHT

Personality Myths

Common personality myths include it being hardwired, innate, and unchanging.
It's mistakenly believed that understanding your personality requires looking to the past.

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ADVICE

Design Your Personality

Don't just discover your personality; design it.
Personality changes over time, so you are not the same person you were years ago.

Get the Snipd Podcast app to discover more snips from this episode

The Evolution of Personality and Identity

01:47 • 17min

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The Limitations of Personality Testing

18:26 • 19min

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Shaping Identity: The Key to Personality Growth

37:32 • 3min

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Reframing the Past: The Subjectivity of Memory and Personality

40:46 • 2min

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Redefining Identity Through Experience

43:11 • 11min

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Crafting Your Future Self Through Commitment

54:25 • 3min

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Mindset

The New Psychology of Success

Carol S. Dweck

In this book, Carol S. Dweck introduces the concept of two mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe their abilities are static, while those with a growth mindset believe their abilities can be developed through effort and learning. Dweck shows how these mindsets influence success in school, work, sports, and personal relationships. She also discusses how to adopt a deeper, truer growth mindset, and how this can transform individual and organizational cultures. The book emphasizes the importance of perseverance, learning from failures, and embracing challenges as key components of the growth mindset.

Man's Search for Meaning

Viktor Frankl

The book is divided into two parts. The first part recounts Frankl's harrowing experiences as a prisoner in Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz, between 1942 and 1945. He describes the inhumane conditions and the psychological and emotional struggles of the prisoners. The second part introduces Frankl's theory of logotherapy, which posits that the primary human drive is the search for meaning, rather than pleasure. Frankl argues that meaning can be found through three main avenues: work (doing something significant), love (caring for another), and suffering (finding meaning in one's own suffering). The book emphasizes the importance of finding purpose and meaning in life, even in the most adverse conditions, as a key factor in survival and personal growth.

The Forgotten Highlander

Nick Mcardle

Alistair Urquhart

This book tells the incredible story of Alistair Urquhart, a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders who was captured by the Japanese in Singapore. Urquhart survived 750 days in the jungle, including time working on the notorious Burma-Siam Railway. The book details his harrowing experiences and his journey to survival and eventual return home.

Atomic Habits

James Clear

Atomic Habits by James Clear provides a practical and scientifically-backed guide to forming good habits and breaking bad ones. The book introduces the Four Laws of Behavior Change: make it obvious, make it attractive, make it easy, and make it satisfying. It also emphasizes the importance of small, incremental changes (atomic habits) that compound over time to produce significant results. Clear discusses techniques such as habit stacking, optimizing the environment to support desired habits, and focusing on continuous improvement rather than goal fixation. The book is filled with actionable strategies, real-life examples, and stories from various fields, making it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to improve their habits and achieve personal growth.

The Order of Time

Carlo Rovelli

In this book, Carlo Rovelli delves into the mysteries of time, combining physics, philosophy, and art to explain how modern physics has transformed our understanding of time. The book is divided into sections that cover the theory of relativity, space-time, loop quantum gravity, and thermodynamics. Rovelli argues that at the most fundamental level, time disappears, and our perception of its flow is subjective and influenced by our brain and emotions. He uses metaphors and simple language to make complex concepts accessible to a broad audience.

Personality Isn't Permanent

Break Free from Self-Limiting Beliefs and Rewrite Your Story

Benjamin Hardy

In 'Personality Isn’t Permanent', Dr. Benjamin Hardy draws on psychological research to challenge the popular belief that personality is fixed. He provides strategies for intentional self-transformation, including how to design your current identity based on your desired future self, reframe traumatic experiences, enhance your subconscious, and redesign your environment to support future goals. The book includes true stories of self-transformation and emphasizes the importance of action in kindling confidence, motivation, and passion.

Counterclockwise

Ellen Langer

Dr Benjamin Hardy is an organisational psychologist and an author.

Do you believe that your personality is permanent? Innate & inbuilt? Dr Hardy disagrees.

Expect to learn why Myers-Briggs & other personality tests are destructive & as inaccurate as horoscopes, how to reframe your past narratives, why you can overcome traumas, how to become the scribe of your own identity narrative and much more...

Sponsor:

Check out everything I use from The Protein Works at https://www.theproteinworks.com/modernwisdom/ (35% off everything with the code MODERN35)

Extra Stuff:

Get my free Ultimate Life Hacks List to 10x your daily productivity → https://chriswillx.com/lifehacks/

Buy Personality Isn't Permanent - https://bit.ly/benMW

Check out Ben's website - https://benjaminhardy.com/

Daniel Gilbert's Ted Talk - https://youtu.be/XNbaR54Gpj4

Get in touch. Join the discussion with me and other like minded listeners in the episode comments on the MW YouTube Channel or message me...

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx

Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ModernWisdomPodcast

Email: https://www.chriswillx.com/contact

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