Every person is created uniquely and is born with a certain ‘nature,’ ‘character,’ or ‘personality’ phenomenon.
Each of us has our own abilities, perspectives, dreams, desires, strengths and weaknesses.
The characteristics of the phenomenon are in an unprocessed pure state and mature through family, school, and environment and forming the strengths and weaknesses in a person’s personality.
Florence Littauer, in her book ‘Your Personality Tree‘, says she looks at people as a blend of four basic personality traits.
I will introduce you to these four basic personality traits and provide you with a personality test to help you know yourself and take steps more confidently.
The most important reason for me to write this article is that most people feel inadequate and judge themselves by the criteria of others when they see successful people who don’t have the same characteristics as them.
However, knowing that everyone has different personality traits, strengths, and weaknesses, and becoming aware of one’s own personality traits, seeing strengths and weaknesses, and learning how to use them more beneficially, will not only eliminate the feeling of inadequacy but also enable one to chart their own path towards their goals based on their own abilities.
In this blog, my intention is not to fit you into a single mold but rather to help you discover yourself and choose what is suitable for you from what I explain and to add meaning to your life.
Now if you are ready to learn about your basic personality traits, let’s get started!
Four Basic Personality Traits:
1- Popular Sanguine (Extroverted/Outspoken/Optimistic):
You may have seen enthusiastic personalities around you who constantly talk, surround themselves with people, love telling stories, going out, having fun, and partying. They are popular sanguines.
They seek fun in every moment of life and have quickly changing moods.
They enjoy dressing colorfully and differently because they remember people more by their appearances than by their names.
They can easily communicate with anyone. When you meet a popular sanguine, you might feel like you’re chatting with an old friend😊
They excel in uplifting people’s energy, motivating them, and seeing the good in even bad situations.
They are quite childlike and don’t hold grudges easily. They love spontaneous activities and want to go wherever they hear or see something interesting.
If you’re going to a party or event and want to have more fun, you can bring along a popular sanguine, but remember, they constantly need someone to listen to them.
What would upset them most is not being able to talk as much as they want in a setting. They immediately look around for a potential listener😊
As parents, they are a source of entertainment and energy for their children, creating fun environments at home.
They are curious and want to know everything, sometimes crossing boundaries as they talk. Sometimes they can write too many scenarios. 😊
My wife is also a popular sanguine, and what attracted me most when we met was her fun, talkative, and energetic attitude😊
Having spontaneous trips with her, trying new things we don’t know, looking at the positive side of situations, easily motivating me, constantly meeting new people, despite getting tired and sometimes stressed, her constantly surprised expressions and us being late everywhere create different, dynamic, and fun experiences for me😊
Of course, my task here is to teach my wife to be organized and improve myself in this regard.
Because the first thing popular sanguines need to do is learn to organize and be olderly.
The most classic way to do this is to develop the habit of taking notes, which can also organize their memories.
Also, popular sanguines, please don’t overdo talking and storytelling, because there might be other popular sanguines in the environment, causing conflicts among you, or listeners might find your stories exaggerated or get bored of constant talking.
Sometimes, it’s essential to be a good listener. Because when popular sanguines don’t listen to their friends’ problems and only talk about their own stories or make too many comments, their friends might think that popular sanguines don’t care about them.
Let’s get organized, listen as much as we talk, and continue spreading energy!
2- Perfect Melancholy (Introverted/Thoughtful/Pessimistic):
Have you ever seen someone around you who constantly wants to be organized, puts everything in its place, wants to do things in order, gets annoyed when toothpaste is squeezed from the middle 😊, makes schedules, and wants to wake up or wants someone else to wake up without fail?
Perhaps that person is you.
People with these personality traits we call perfect melancholics want everything to be done according to a plan and correctly.
Typically, people we describe as having strong analytical intelligence and being smart are perfect melancholics.
Being overly detail-oriented allows them to see problems from many perspectives, but it can also lead to problems such as getting stuck on details and not seeing the big picture, as well as slowing down decision-making processes.
They are deep and thoughtful and, unlike popular sanguines, they do not enjoy talking a lot.
They like to have a purpose and have programs prepared for their goals.
On the road to their goals, they may repeat boring actions for a long time.
They quickly discipline themselves. Thanks to their discipline and intelligence, they succeed and excel in many areas such as art, politics, science, and business.
One of the most important characteristics of perfect melancholics is their perfectionism.
Although this trait may seem good, it leads them to make too many plans and spend too much time, eventually leading to exhaustion and feelings of inadequacy.
Or they never feel satisfied because they constantly seek perfection in their work, and due to their pessimistic nature, they can quickly lose confidence in themselves.
They are very concerned about others and very compassionate. Unlike popular sanguines, they listen to others’ troubles, empathize with them, and try to find solutions.
They just need to be careful not to get too caught up in this because perfect melancholics’ mood can quickly decline, and they cannot instantly become cheerful like popular sanguines.
Due to their thoughtful nature, they can easily become pessimistic and also show quick sensitivity.
People with perfect melancholic personality traits are the ones who need to cheer up the most.
They have high standards and want to do the best if something is to be done, and they raise their children with these standards.
You can also recognize perfect melancholics by their frugality and love of saving.
My little sister is also a classic perfect melancholic. She is very hardworking and disciplined towards her goal, and I can say that I am very impressed by her state.
However, when she doesn’t have a goal, she doesn’t know what to do, and her mood drops until she finds a purpose.
Decision-making is a bit slow because she constantly thinks about details.
She has a compassionate personality, genuinely empathizes with others’ troubles, wants friends, companions, but doesn’t show it much.
While teaching my nephew to read, I saw that she tries to apply her hardworking, disciplined, and perfectionist nature to him, and seeing how she gets annoyed was enough for me to analyze her perfect melancholic personality 😊
Luckily, my nephew is a popular sanguine and knows how to entertain and cheer up my sister 😊
If you make friends with a perfect melancholic person, find ways to cheer them up and show them the positive aspects of situations.
Instead of constantly worrying, perfect melancholics should aim for a higher standard, learn to take action without waiting for the perfect time and without drowning in details, and stop seeking perfection.
If the standards they set are causing stress, they should divide and reduce their goals and relax their standards to a level that makes them comfortable.
Perfect melancholics can do this best!
Also, they should not set excessively high standards for their spouses, children, or people around them.
They should understand that nobody has to constantly do everything right and perfect.
Let’s cheer up, see the positives, and move forward with our goals!
3- Powerful Choleric (Extroverted/Constructive/Optimistic):
People with this personality trait, commonly referred to as fast-paced, desire tasks to be done immediately, they act instantly, and they are quite dynamic and active
They don’t take long to make decisions and act immediately. They don’t spend much time planning and scheduling.
They enjoy leading people, they are straightforward, but sometimes they prove the saying “not every truth should be said everywhere” right.
Their confidence is evident in every aspect, and they are capable of handling many tasks.
They may seem emotionless, and their words may be harsh for sensitive-hearted perfect melancholics.
As parents, they lead their children and organize and mobilize the household.
One of their most important characteristics is that they are practical and take immediate action.
You may have encountered people who start working before others can decide whether they should do it or not, or struggle to make decisions and think about the consequences of their actions.
Those are the powerful cholerics.
They have leadership and managerial qualities, but their dynamic, straightforward, and sharp attitudes can also make them too harsh.
They adapt to change easily because they also like to change things that don’t seem right to them.
They like to be in control, and sometimes this aspect of them can be found boring and exhausting by other personalities.
Powerful cholerics love work, movement, and dynamism, but they also need rest and relaxation.
As an example of this personality structure, I can mention my father. He was a true powerful choleric.
Even his appearance was enough to make you step back. There have been many times when just his gaze has intimidated me 😊
He, unlike me, was lively and hardworking, so he wanted the same from us.
He was fun to talk to, often a leader in social settings, and he loved taking risks.
When he came home from work, we would all gather at the door to greet him, and believe me, we did this not out of fear or because he wanted us to, but purely out of respect.
He would get annoyed when I couldn’t decide what to do or couldn’t make a decision because if we wanted to do something, he wanted us to decide immediately and start doing it right away.
Powerful cholerics need to know that they are not infallible, that they also have weaknesses and areas that can be improved.
This may seem like a weakness to them, but it is an opportunity for their strong character not to turn into bullying.
They should stop forcing other people to act immediately like them and should respect their decisions.
They should stop thinking of others as “stupid” just because they made decisions differently from them and should not try to control them.
Powerful cholerics should get used to working with managers who have different personality traits.
They should also learn to be patient, soften their sharp attitudes and speeches towards other people, and should not constantly give advice or try to prove themselves right.
They should approach people not for their own purposes but genuinely to be friends.
Let’s relax, soften our attitudes, and never give up on taking action!
4- Peaceful Phlegmatic (Introverted/Bystander/Pessimistic):
Do you have people around you who are calm, quiet, bystander, unhurried, and seem pleasant to everyone?
Well, those are the peaceful phlegmatics.
They are gentle, and even if they are right, they often dislike arguments and tension.
They are patient, and thanks to their calmness, they can work comfortably under pressure.
They are quiet, but in environments where they feel comfortable, they can be humorous. They are sympathetic, childlike, and polite.
From the outside, you might think they are at peace with life and have no problems because they don’t easily show their emotions.
Regarded as a personality that balances others, peaceful phlegmatics can easily resolve conflicts, thoroughly consider problems, and find easy solutions.
They adapt quickly and make themselves likable easily.
They are good listeners, but don’t always assume that they are truly listening because they might just want you to think they are by saying things like “yes, true, you’re right” 😊
As parents, they are patient, fun, and enjoy spending time with their children.
Unlike powerful cholerics, they are not in a hurry, and even in very challenging situations, they can remain calm and not let their emotions get the best of them.
With their balanced and easygoing attitude, they can become beloved managers and have many friends.
I also have this personality trait 😊
I love being calm and balanced, having fun, not chasing big ambitions, and spending time only with my loved ones and myself.
Due to my non-hurried attitude, I can sometimes exaggerate and wait too long to do something or procrastinate 😊
Due to my tendency to get bored quickly, I constantly change rooms or desks at work, or even at home, I rearrange things, and I’ve even decided to sell and move from the house we’ve been living in for six years, but due to my spouse and the market conditions, it hasn’t happened yet 😊
Besides having peaceful phlegmatic traits, I sometimes find myself caught in a bit of a complexity due to my perfect melancholic and popular sanguine traits, as I’ll describe shortly.
But generally, I stick to my peaceful phlegmatic traits.
While attending an NLP Practitioner training, my trainer advised me to bring out my perfect melancholic traits more and make myself uncomfortable.
I followed this advice at times, and this year, I’m following it more, and I can truly say that the advice has been beneficial 😊
The most important thing for peaceful phlegmatics to watch out for is not to get too comfortable.
They need motivating reasons for themselves. Otherwise, they become indecisive, unaffected by anything, and indifferent.
If you have peaceful phlegmatic friends, motivate them to do things because they really need it.
While their calmness is a strength, it can also be a weakness, so they should try to be more enthusiastic.
They are the most resistant to change in their lives, so they need to try new things and get used to change.
They may seem lazy as they are mostly bystander, and they need to take more responsibility for their lives.
They need to learn to say no and express their emotions more openly to communicate better with people.
They should stop procrastinating urgently and take immediate action on their decisions.
They should make a habit of moving into action quickly and learn to motivate themselves for consistency.
Let’s be enthusiastic, motivate ourselves, and continue to be balanced!
After providing information about the basic personality traits, I must say that we all harbor pieces of these basic personalities to some extent, and we are all a blend of these personality traits.
Among these blends, there are what we can call natural blends: the Popular Sanguine/Powerful Choleric blend and the Perfect Melancholy/Peaceful Phlegmatic blends.
In the Popular Sanguine/Powerful Choleric blend, you bring together work and fun in a positive way, experiencing them at extremes and possessing great potential for leadership.
In the Perfect Melancholy/Peaceful Phlegmatic blend, you become a motivated, purposeful, hardworking, and excellently educated individual.
In addition, there are complementary blends: the Powerful Choleric/Perfect Melancholy blend and the Popular Sanguine/Peaceful Phlegmatic blend.
The Powerful Choleric/Perfect Melancholy blend exhibits a goal-oriented leadership profile and forms the perfect combination of a businessman.
The Popular Sanguine/Peaceful Phlegmatic blend, on the other hand, loves taking the easy way out and having fun.
And then there are polar opposites. As you can see, Powerful Choleric and Peaceful Phlegmatic, as well as Perfect Melancholy and Popular Sanguine, are polar opposites.
In this article, I have actually summarized Florence Littauer’s book “Your Personality Tree”.
Those who want to delve deeper can read the book for more detailed information.
If you contact me via my social media accounts (X or LinkedIn) or my email address ([email protected]), I can send you a personality test.
By taking the personality test for yourself, you can see which personality traits you possess and which blend you are in.
What matters here is accepting your chosen strengths and weaknesses in every aspect and learning how to develop and use them for yourself.
While it may not be possible to completely change your “nature,” “personality,” or “character,” you can redirect your strengths and weaknesses for yourself by changing your beliefs.
Your priority should be to accept these, as we are actually a blend of them.
Be full of energy! Believe in yourself! Live with passion!
Take care of yourself!
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