Seven Traits of an Electric Personality

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Written by Jimmie Burroughs Email to a friend

There’s no denying that looks go a long way nowadays, but looks still cannot compete with personality. A great personality makes a not so good looking person shine, and wins more attention than looks ever could. It would be great to have both personality and good looks, but if you could only have one, choose personality. Your looks can be improved upon, by the way, you dress, your physical condition, and the way you carry yourself; but when you add to that by developing your personality, you have a winning combination. Read on if you would like to know how to apply the Seven Traits of an Electric Personality:

Personality is about the kind of person you are. If you are a negative person, then your personality reflects that. If you are rude and unkind, your personality reflects that also. So improving your personality is actually advancing your personal development; it is a matter of becoming a better person. It’s well to note that developing your personality does not happen overnight. It is a step by step process that mounts to great improvement over time.

There are many avenues to personal development, but the Seven Characteristics of an Electric Personality listed below are basics that anyone, so desiring, can develop:

1. Integrity
2. Concern for others
3. Humor
4. Laughter
5. Kindness
6. Good listener
7. Impartiality

Integrity

Definition: “adherence to moral and ethical principles [& values]; soundness of moral character.” Online dictionary (Enhancement mine)

There is a fine line dividing morals, values, and ethics, but there is however a subtle difference:

Morals: Morality is determined by what we hold, in our mind, to be right and wrong. While culture does determine what is morally accepted to some degree, many morals are generally accepted; for example, most all people would agree that to kill another person is wrong. Morals also are considered to be innate. We have inscribed upon our heart the difference between right and wrong. Cultures develop their own norms and mores which determines what is generally accepted by that culture. However, cultural morals do not always measure up to our innate morals and values.

Values: Values differ from person to person, and are considered to be personal rather than general. There is no set of values that are to be generally accepted. Different people see things differently; for example, political and religious opinions vary as widely as the flavors of ice cream. Nonetheless, values are important, and each person should discover what they consider to be their set of personal values.

Ethics: Ethics has to do with a code of conduct. Most would agree that it in unethical to ask a married woman to go out on a date. On the other hand if she is willing, most would also agree that it would be immoral to go out with her. Ethics is simply stated a set of rules that determine what is considered moral behavior.

So, to become a strong moral person requires strictly abiding by what a person knows to be right and wrong. What this has to do with personality is that it encourages honesty, straight forwardness, consideration for others, and a host of other things that reflect in a person’s personality.

Concern for others

“Love cannot remain by itself. It has no meaning. Love has to be put into action and that action is service.” Mother Teresa

Concern for others is motivated by a love for others. People who only love themselves are not apt to have any concern for others. It has been said that people in general are more concerned about their own slight headache than they are about the severe pain and suffering of those all around them. That certainly is untrue for those who are genuinely concerned for others.

How this relates to personality is that people are drawn to a caring person. They feel safe in their presence; it is like a magnetic attraction. How to develop a concern for others if you really don’t care is a difficult question to answer. Those who have trouble caring for others also have a problem seeing themselves in the other person’s shoes, or relating to how another person feels. Nevertheless, caring for others is a prominent part of developing a great personality. The best way to improve your concern for others is to distract your attention away from self and focus on the needs of others. This takes practice.

Laughter & Humor

There is something very appealing about a person with a hearty laugh and a good sense of humor.

One of the most prominent personality traits of happy and successful people is a great sense of humor. 80% of professional people who were questioned about what they considered to be one of the greatest personality traits said, “A good humor.” Think about it; if you were single and wanted to date a person, what would be one of the first things you would look for in another person? If you answer like 80% of others, you will say good humor.

The good news is that anyone can develop a sense of humor. It is important to develop your own sense of humor and not copy that of someone else. If we try to copy a famous comedian, or another person, we are only going to get laughs behind our back. While it is good to study a humorous person, you must discover and develop you own funny side. Remember that being funny is not just in telling jokes. Great comedians get a lot of laughs by making fun of themselves and telling funny things that happen to them.

Familiarize yourself with things that are funny. You can learn from books, comedians, and movies; copy down funny stories and jokes when you hear them. Also keep in mind to avoid crude stories and jokes if you want not to offend some people. One of the funniest comedians I ever heard was disgustingly vulgar.  I would never listen to him because his language and comments were so filthy. I’m not a prude, but it is just that it distracts from the humor, at least for me.

There is no denying that crude humor appeals to some, but it also offends some. What I’m trying to say is that if your interest is in not offending, keep it clean; aalso never get a laugh at someone else’s expense and avoid sarcasm.

Here are a few additional tips to help in developing your own unique sense of humor:

• Develop your own style of humor
• Don’t take yourself to seriously
• Keep a positive attitude
• Relax and be silly at times
• Careful not to offend others
• Look for funny stories in your own experiences
• Avoid sarcasm
• Plan to have some fun in your life
• Start your own collection of funny stories; don’t depend on your memory alone; write them down.

Kindness

Kindness is the act or the state of being kind, being marked by good and charitable behavior, pleasant disposition, and concern for others. It is known as a virtue. wikipedia.org/wiki/Kindness

In the Bible kindness is considered to be one of the seven virtues, directly opposite the seven deadly sins.

In his Letter to the Galatians (Gal 5:22), Paul lists Kindness as one of the characteristics of the Christian Fruit of the Spirit. “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things, there is no law.”

In 1 Corinthians chapter 13, which is considered the love chapter of the Bible, Paul states love as being “patient and kind…”

There is a story on the Internet (whether true or not I don’t know) that makes a great point on kindness. A young man is leaving the grocery store on a bright and sunny day with groceries in arms. As he approaches his car, he notices an old man with the hood of his car raised, staring at the engine. About that same time, another young man is approaching his car nearby and the old man waves to him and points to the engine of his car. The young man puts his groceries in his new Cadillac, and hollers back to the old man that he shouldn’t even be allowed to drive, and then he gets in his car and speeds away. The first young man, touched by what he had just witnessed, walks over to the old man to inquire what the trouble was. Obviously the engine wouldn’t start. So the young man says: wait here, and I’ll be right back. He goes to a nearby auto repair and tells a mechanic about the problem and asks him to come with him.

When they arrive, the old man is comforting his wife who is in the car. He straightens up and thanks the young man for returning, and then tells the mechanic that the engine won’t start. The mechanic quickly finds the problem and starts the engine. The old man reaches for his wallet to pay, but the young man says, no I’ll put it on my AAA account. The old man takes his wallet out anyway and hands the young man a card which the young man stuck in his pocket thinking it contained the name of the old man. The old man had commented earlier on the marine ring that the young man was wearing and said that he also was a marine. The young man asked him, ‘What outfit did you serve with?’ He said that he served with the first Marine Division at Guadalcanal Peleliu, and Okinawa. He had hit three of the worst battles of all time and had survived. I felt humbled to be in his presence, said the young man

The young man said goodbye to the old man and his wife, and followed the mechanic back to the auto repair. When he asked how much he owed, the mechanic would not accept any pay, but instead he said, I’m a marine reservist, and he handed him a card that looked much like the one the old man had given him earlier and then he said, you need to look at the card the old man gave you. The young man replied; I will. A few blocks away he stopped and took the card from his pocket that the old man had given him; it had the old man’s name and below it embossed with gold leaf was “the medal of honor society.” He thought to himself, “WOW’ what and honor to be in the presence of a man with such courage who had sacrificed so much for the freedom we enjoy. He was thankful that on that day he had taken time to show his kindness.

Kindness, like most other things in life, has its risks. There will be some who will take advantage of your kindness, or reward it with unkindness. Keep in mind that there are pigs that live on this earth with us. Thank goodness they are the minority. But we don’t have to slop with them or wallow in their mire, or be like them. Your kindness will not go unrewarded.

We never know just who we may be speaking to, or who may need our help, or offer help when we need it. I was sitting on a pier overlooking the Gulf of Mexico, and there was a lady sitting there also. We struck up a conversation; I don’t know how the conversation got around to what she told me. She said she was up near Baltimore, Maryland, and had pulled off the Interstate to get better directions when a man walked up to her door and asked if she needed help. She explained she was a bit confused on her directions, so he told her how to proceed. The man, by the way, was Chris Kristofferson. I always liked Chris, but I like him just a little better now.

Do not neglect to show kindness to strangers; for, in this way, some, without knowing it, have had angels as their guests. Hebrews 13:2

Good listener

A good listener is someone who listens intently and is not distracted by what else, or who else is in the room. There is nothing as frustrating as trying to talk to someone who obviously is not paying attention, or who is more interested in who else might be in the room.

People with glowing personalities are good listeners. Being a good listener is the key to being a good conversationalist. An ideal conversation is a balanced conversation where each party has an equal share in the conversation. However, you are not to expect an ideal conversation because everyone is not trained in conversation skills and do not know the rules of good conversation. Therefore, if you want to be a good conversationalist, you must be willing to be a good listener, and in most conversations you will be listening far more than you will be sharing your own views.

That may seem a bit unfair, but actually it is just the nature of conversation. The Dale Carnegie course on human relations emphasis talking in the other person’s interest; this would be a boring suggestion if it were not for the fact that people are interesting as a rule. Of course, there are exceptions. You are not obligated to carry on an extended, boring conversation; move on if it is the case. If people were not interesting, then movies and television would not be so popular. So, enjoy your conversation even if it is mostly listening to others. You can learn and be entertained by what they say, and now in then you will run across those who understand the rules of good conversation and have the opportunity to interject more of your own views.

There are some things that can ruin an otherwise good conversation. Talking too much about yourself, and your concerns probably leads the pack. There is nothing wrong in sharing your views and interests, but they should never dominate the conversation. Also, a casual conversation is not a counseling session where you are instructing a person on personal matters; neither are we to be self help gurus assigned to make people over. A person may have glaring faults, but it isn’t your place to discuss them or give advice concerning them. Also keep in mind that we are never obligated to answer questions that are of a personal nature, or ones we are uncomfortable with. When they occur, we can tactfully turn the conversation in another direction. For further information on how to be a good conversationalist read: Improve your conversation skills & build your relationships

Impartiality

What kills what otherwise could be a great personality is a person who obviously considers himself to be superior to those around him, or treats some with more respect than others. A person who considers those around him as equals and treats each person with the same amount of respect and attention is showing great personality, and people will be attracted to him or her. Belittling others is simply a means of elevating the insecure person’s own feelings of self-importance.

Conclusion

I hope the above has been a help to you. I invite you to read the many other articles on this website that are directed to help you to become the person you are capable of becoming. I like to use the famous quote by Jim Rohm, “Success is not to be pursued; it is to be attracted by the person we become.” I could add to that, so is your personality perfected by the person you become. For additional information read: Personality it is 85% of Your Success…

About the author: Jimmie Burroughs is a motivational speaker and author who has been involved in teaching Christian Personal Development for more than 30 years. There are hundreds of articles to help you on this website, (Website Contents) in your personal growth.

 

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