Personality Plus – Book Review

This blog post is my book review of Florence Littauer’s book, Personality Plus.

I have read this book several times and I never cease to enjoy reading it!  I highly recommend it.  It makes a world of difference when when dealing with other people (like we all do every day, so we’d better get good at it!) and fixing our weaknesses.

This book explains that there are four types of personalities that can be categorized in the following way:

Just for fun, try figuring out which one you are before reading any further.

Done?

Good.

In case you’re having trouble, let me give you a few examples of each kind:

Choleric Strengths: 

• Born leader
• Excellent at getting things done
• Driven
• Determined
• Likes to win

Choleric Weaknesses:

• Bossy
• Runs over people
• Can come across as mean
• Impatient

Sanguine Strengths:

• Life of the party
• Funny
• Fun to be around
• Animated
• Creative

Sanguine Weaknesses:

• Forgetful
• Talks too much
• Can over commit and then forget about a few commitments
• Unorganized

Melancholy Strengths:

• Organized
• Wonderful musical abilities (normally)
• Good with charts
• List maker
• Analytical

Melancholy Weaknesses:

• Tends to see the negative in things
• Worries too much
• Thinks EVERYBODY else is thinking about them (when they probably aren’t)
• Can be a bit too critical of others at times

Phlegmatic Strengths:

• Listening
• Peacemakers
• Putting others first
• Making other people feel good about themselves

Phlegmatic Weaknesses:

• Low self esteem
• Procrastinates
• Hates conflict
• Lacks confidence (sometimes, not always)

So there you have it!  If you still haven’t figured out which personality you are, here are some things to consider 🙂

A Choleric does all of his work (whether it be homework or regular work) first thing.  He doesn’t want it hanging out there to do later.

A Sanguine does all of their work AFTER hanging out with all the people she knew before the weekend started and all the new people she happened to meet during the week.  She may even forget there is any work due until someone (usually a Melancholy or a Choleric) reminds her! 😀

A Melancholy would spend a considerable amount of time planning how the work would need to get done and in what order the steps should be, and then pace herself throughout the week to make sure it’s done before the due date.  Perhaps there will even be time to get ahead on her work, who knows?

A Phlegmatic will put off any work until the last minute, and then silently stress inside when it comes time to finish his work before it’s due (usually at the last minute).

A Choleric goes to a party and immediately finds her group of friends and spends as much time as possible with them.  She arrives on time and usually helps the host keep order (whether the host wishes for this to happen or not!).

A Sanguine goes to a party and has the time of his life!  Everybody loves him and he just brings joy everywhere he goes, talking to everybody and anyone who will listen.  Guests leave happy and crying laughing because he attended.

A Melancholy goes to a party and immediately spots ALL of the flaws associated with the planning and organizing of said party 🙂  Normally, he has to tell a few people what’s wrong and what HE would have done differently if it had been HIS party.

A Phlegmatic goes to a party to be with her friends – the ones she knew were going to be there.  She goes because other people she loved told her she should come and be with them.  She wants them to be happy and she greatly enjoys listening to her friends and being with them.

• If you want to make a Choleric happy…Do what she tells you and let her be in charge!
• If you want to make a Sanguine happy…Hang out with him ALL DAY and listen to him!
• If you want to make a Melancholy happy…Follow the rules – even if you didn’t know there were any.
• If you want to make a Phlegmatic happy…Allow him to assist you with tasks, and praise him for the little things (but not in front of a crowd).

In other words, understanding personalities is super fun!  I highly recommend reading the book, you’ll get a LOT of laughs from it, I promise!

Use your knowledge of the personalities to utilize your strengths and work on your weaknesses.  Don’t use your personality as an excuse.

“Well I’m just Sanguine!  That’s why I’m always late.”

No.  Work on them!  Try to adopt some of the strengths of the personality opposite yours diagonally on the chart (because they’re opposites in temperament, and your weaknesses are their strengths!).

Have fun with it, use it to your advantage to understand yourself and others, and READ THE BOOK!  You will be so much more enlightened when you do.