Personality and Purpose: Discovering Your Direction

Welcome! Im pleased to be delivering the service today, and I hope you enjoy my topic.

I like to think of myself as a People Person someone who is friendly, easy to get to know,

an interesting conversationalist. I was not always that way, however I grew into it, and some

aspects of my personality I didnt truly get familiar with until I was an adult.

Personality, as defined by Dictionary.com (with a psychological slant):

the sum total of the physical, mental, emotional, and social characteristics of an

individual;

the organized pattern of behavioral characteristics of the individual.

Your personality affects your relationships with others, your effectiveness at accomplishing

various tasks when you need to work with another individual or group of individuals, and can even

affect your sense of accomplishment for tasks you complete or goals you achieve. Knowing more

about your personality what drives you, what motivates you, and why you express yourself the

way that you do, can make discerning your Purpose our theme for the first part of this church

year.

Purpose is defined by Dictionary.com as: to set as an aim, intention, or goal for oneself.

So how do these two terms, Personality and Purpose work together? Can they work against

each other? Lets explore that subject a little further

 Each of us has a basic personality type its something that comes along with your genetic

makeup, and while modern science has spent countless hours and dollars trying to understand it,

we all know that everyone is born with one. Research indicates that a persons personality is

determined before birth in their individual genetic makeup environment plays a role in how the

personality is shaped, but the basics are predetermined.

Over two thousand years ago, during the golden age of Greek thinkers, the scholars in

Greece were puzzling out and trying to explain the differences between people. Hippocrates

theorized that what made people different were the accumulations of chemicals or fluids in their

bodies. The original terms they came up with to describe these behaviors now identified as the

four personalities are Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholy, and Phlegmatic.

Sanguines are high-energy, fun-loving, outgoing people. Theyre the ones who have never

met a stranger, start conversations with anyone and everyone around them, are often the center of

attention and the life of the party. Hippocrates believed that they were this way because they had

red-hot blood coursing through their veins. Its synonymous with optimism. This personality type

is often called the Popular Sanguine.

Choleric personalities are naturally goal oriented, task focused, and live to achieve. They

are able to get their thoughts and actions organized quickly and are action oriented. They live by

the Nike slogan Just Do It. Hippocrates thought these people had yellow bile in their bodies,

giving them similar traits as a baby with colic or a person with cholera. This strong personality type

is often called the Powerful Choleric.

The Melancholy personality type is quieter, deeper and more thoughtful than many of

their peers. They strive for perfection in all that they do, and this can cause them to be

disappointed often and perhaps even a little depressed. Hippocrates believed these peoples
tendency toward depression was due to the black bile that was in their bodies. To focus on the

positive aspects of this personality, its often called the Perfect Melancholy.

The final personality type, and sometimes less obvious to identify, is the Phlegmatic. They

are more balanced, contented people they have no desire to change the world or upset the status

quo. They believe in conserving their energy. Hippocrates believed that their tendency to move

slower than the rest of us more driven personalities was because they had phlegm in their bodies

hence the name. To again focus on the positive aspects of their personality, we will describe them

as the Peaceful Phlegmatics.

None of us are 100 percent any one type we are all a combination of all four

personalities, with one dominant and one secondary type, plus smidges of the other two.

Sometimes we learn to function more within one personality than another because of work or

personal circumstances reading books, attending seminars, and observing role models are all

ways of picking up skills that may not be natural to us, but can be acquired.

If youd like to find out which combination of the personality types fits you best, I have

assessments at the back of the worship area which you can take home, complete and return to me.

One of the benefits of understanding your personality type is that you become more aware of your

natural gifts, see some areas where you might be challenged, and where you can add some learned

behaviors.

When it comes to fulfilling your Purpose that aim, intention or goal youve set for

yourself and for your life, lets talk a bit about how your personality type might help or hinder you

in accomplishing that Purpose-centered and fulfilled life.

 If your dominant personality is Popular Sanguine, some of your strong points include being

people oriented so having a career, business or purpose that includes being in contact with

people or activities that involve people will not be difficult for you. You are comfortable with

conversation, tend to include everyone in the fun, but may have a challenge with remembering the

reason the conversation started. Your natural enthusiasm and excitement could make you a

wonderful candidate for spreading the word about your cause, recruiting others to help, and in

keeping everyone motivated to continue on a difficult course of action. Look for causes and

activities where you can let your natural abilities shine.

If your dominant personality is Powerful Choleric, some of your strong points include

natural leadership tendencies and a take-charge drive. Youre happiest when you are in control of

your own destiny, and you know how to get the job done and get it done now. Youre not afraid to

roll up your sleeves and do whatever needs to be done to move your purpose or your cause

forward. What you must remember is that at some point in your journey, you will need people to

get things done. Running over all the other personalities in order to achieve your goals will not

work for very long. You need to work to encourage and challenge people without tromping on

them. Be aware, however that many people do not follow your tendency to say youll do something

and then do it rely more on what others do rather than what they say.

If your dominant personality is Perfect Melancholy, some of your assets include being the

detail person you will thoroughly research any cause or purpose you are interested in, and once

youve made a decision, youre committed to it. You are the one who can be counted on to dot the

Is and cross the Ts. Your precise nature and structured approach add an air of professionalism to

any activity you are a part of in this you shine head and shoulders above the other personalities.
One of your challenges is to control your tendency to immerse yourself in the details of the cause

or purpose you adopt and to limit your growth in those areas. Use your ability to grasp the details

to identify the half-dozen things that will give the greatest return for your time and effort, and

concentrate on those six things. Use your tendency toward mastery of a skill to help you master

areas where you are not as comfortable. Mastering the art of asking questions will give you the

opportunity to tell more of what you know, provide additional information to win others to your

cause, or gently correct erroneous perceptions.

If your dominant personality is Peaceful Phlegmatic, calm, cool and collected are adjectives

that appropriately describe you. You are not given to extremes, and your sensitive nature makes

you the ideal person to help people survive the difficulties common to everyday life. You pride

yourself on not being swayed by emotion, but be careful that you are not perceived as disinterested

or disengaged. Your tendency to use a no-pressure, matter-of-fact approach or presentation is

viewed as non-threatening, but may not create a sense of urgency in those you speak with regarding

joining you in your cause or helping you achieve your goals. One of your additional challenges will

be to not allow yourself to be a pushover. You can find ways to express your enthusiasm without

being offensive. Before leading others in support of a cause or purpose, find something about it to

identify with that you thirst and hunger for so much that you cant get the thing out of your mind,

and then believe that you will someday achieve that goal. This gives you that burning desire that

is so strong youll be willing to step out of your comfort zone and go for it!

Once you have spent a little time discovering your primary and secondary Personality

types, use the information available through books and self-study materials to get a little deeper

and find out how your Purpose can be best achieved with the innate strengths of your personality
type. Putting your information into action can take the form of a three-legged stool, where the

Purpose is the seat.

Leg 1 is your Gift. What is your gift? There are action gifts those that work from outside,

like Teaching, Giving, Public Speaking, etc, and there are Support gifts those used from inside,

including Faith, Mercy and Passion.

Leg 2 is your Personality. Are you more people-oriented or task oriented? Forcing

someone who is not outgoing into the role of a public speaker or promoter for a cause would

make them very uncomfortable and much less effective than perhaps asking them to help plan

materials for a self-study course or participating in a focused discussion group. Using this

information wisely will avoid future stress for everyone involved and especially yourself, if your

focus is on a self-directed Purpose.

Leg 3 is to find out what you LOVE to do. What would you skip a meal or miss sleep to be

involved in? What have you enjoyed doing in the past that made you lose track of time?

Discovering the answers to these questions can help you take the next steps in discovering your

passion, and finding a way to use your unique combination of skills, gifts, experience and passion

in support of your Purpose.

Once you learn the strengths and challenges of your personal style, continue to focus on

what you do well, and remain flexible. If you have a weakness where your cause or purpose needs

you to be strong, you CAN develop that strength. With intention and positive action, you can turn

a challenge into a competency and keep your purpose or cause moving forward. The call to
achieve a purpose begins on the inside. You see a need, have a deep, passionate feeling about

something, and you feel equipped to meet it. Your motivation will grow as you realize the potential

impact you will have on yourself and on others by achieving this call.

You are a unique individual with potential gaining insight into yourself and focusing on

the strengths you have will help you to become the leader you were BORN to be.