Know Thyself

When Socrates delivered his famous comment, "Know thyself." he elaborated on how knowing who you are as a person could open your mind to interacting in an effective and interpersonal way with others and ultimately reveal the mysteries of the universe.  I 100% agree with him.  In order to truly know anything about anything I feel that you first have to know who you are and what it is that you're looking for.

In my efforts to understand myself and others, I am reading a book called, "How To Deal With Annoying People" by Bob Phillips and Kimberly Alyn.  It is really entertaining and insightful.  The basis the authors use to help identify different personality/social styles comes from Robert Bolton who wrote a book on social style/management style and how to develop productive work relationships through their understanding.  In order to understand and effectively work with other people, you first have to know what social style you identify with.

There are four different orientations that are applied first: Ask, Tell, Task, People

For example, a Tell oriented person would have more of a direct and unflinching, sometimes cold approach to getting people to work together on a project, and are very results-focused.

Where you fall between these four orientations reveals what social style you are: Amiable, Analytical, Driver, or Expressive.

Here is a link where you can learn and apply your social style.  Click on the different social styles to see where you fall and where you think the people you most often interact with (or would like to interact with) fall.  This will help you identify what annoys you (and them) and how you can adjust your behavior to mitigate hostility and misunderstanding and usher in a lot more peace into your life.

You may find that there are some character traits that reveal annoyances that you didn't know were there!  By knowing who you are and what exactly it is that's grating on your nerves, you can be consciously aware and take steps toward managing your reactions better.

As always, please comment, share and let me know if you are enjoying these posts as I enjoy writing them.

Be hard to kill!