Synchronicity a Go-Go!

Personality Type Theory

I've been interested in personality type theory since I first encountered it as an undergraduate. While the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) is the best-known and most widely-used, it is far from the only model.

Some years ago, I encountered another model that I think is as or possibly more useful than the MBTI.

The Hermann Brain Dominance Profile (HBDP), described in Ned Hermann's The Creative Brain, is similar in many ways to the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory. However, the HBDP is based on right/left brain research and the MBTI is not. The Hermann Brain Dominance Profile divides the brain into four quadrants: two left brain and two right. The upper two are the cerebral regions and the lower two constitute the limbic. Unlike the Myers-Briggs where one has either one trait or the other on each continuum, the HBDP measures how much of a preference one has in each of the four quadrants.

The HBDI "circle" contains four concentric rings. The two outermost indicate a preference for the quadrant. The third indicates use of the quadrant and the fourth (innermost), avoidance.

Hermann labels the upper left quadrant "A." He describes people with preferences in this quadrant as "logical, analytical, mathematical, technical, and scientific." The lower left, "B" quadrant describes people who are "controlled, conservative, organizational, and administrative." The upper right, "D" quadrant is where creativity comes into the picture. People with preferences in this quadrant are "imaginative, synthesizers, artistic, and think non-linearly." The lower right quadrant, "C" describes those who are "social, emotional, spiritual, and talkative."

Hermann contends that the goal is to become "whole-brained" and able to use the characteristics of each of the four quadrants.

The hardcopy of the book is in a landscape format and is chock full of interesting and entertaining illustrations. Personally, I find his "type" theory to be more descriptive and useful than the more widely-used and touted Myers-Briggs. I recommend Hermann's theory and book without reservation.

Who Owns My Brain?

Speaking of blocks, looks like I ran into a doozy. It's been over a month since I last wrote. Life and its exigencies does make slaves of us all, does it not?

Lost a contract I've been working on for awhile, quite suddently. Supposidly, the client ran out of money. I'm pretty sure that was an excuse for some underlying issue he didn't see fit to discuss and attempt to resolve. Be that as it may, the turn of events left me in the financial lurch. Big time! The diversity of my reactions left me feeling as if my brain was split into distinct parts with an overriding consciousness making the observation.

I don't mean right brain/ left brain (brain research), ego, id, superego (Freud), or even parent, adult, child (Transactional Analysis) but something else--something I don't recall learning about in the many books, articles, conversations I've enjoyed over the course of my adult life and career as a human developer/educator.

One part of my brain (or mind, as it were) cried loudy, "oh, no, a huge loss of income, what you gonna do now?" while another was agonizing "what did I screw up this time?" A third wanted to objectively analyze and understand what had happened, a fourth felt angry and wanted to blame my client for being a jerk, and another--the overriding one said, "thank goodness that's over. What a relief!"

I wonder if it's usual to have such varied reactions to a situation--ones we simply don't pay sufficient attention to that we end up aware only of the reaction that's most "comfortable" (not necessarily pleasant or constructive, but usual). It becomes dominant and we simply don't notice the others.

For my part, I was suprised that my predominant response was relief to be free of a situation that was providing income but not a lot else. Usually, it's the "what have I screwed up now?" response that takes precedence. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, mine to survive (which was threatened by the abrupt end of income) should have been paramount. But it wasn't. It was there, for sure, but wasn't dominant.

Sadly for you, the reader, I don't have an answer to what this means. I'm just making the observation--one I think extremely interesting and bears more thought and, hopefully, a conclusion that can prove useful for all of us. If you've got an ideas, let me know. If I do, I'll let you know.

Blocks--Everybody's Got Them

It's been awhile since I've updated this blog. The reason, I ran smack dab into my blocks.

Blocks are those things we develop over our lives that get in the way of being our truest, most authentic self. Blocks and sumounting them is similar to negativity vs. positivity (is that actually a word?) but with a different context. Personally, I was doing well focusing on the positive until I ran into my blocks. Then all bets were off.

Mental health is a combination of genes (normally the least important factor) and behaviors that have resulted, almost exclusively, from the way we were parented. People who were positively parented, e.g., received a lot of encouragement, positive attention, admiration, and respect when they were growing up are almost always mentally healthier than those who were negativitly parented, e.g., neglected, criticized, ridiculed, ignored, disrespected, and abused--verbally, physically, and sexually. With few exceptions (genes can come in here), the more positive the parenting, the mentally healthier the person. Few of us were optimally parented. Therefore, blocks that keep us from reaching our potential, develolped.

Blocks can take many forms. A few examples: "why bother trying, I'll only fail," "I'm not smart, good, outgoing (substutute quality) enough to do that," "I can't do that without Mother/Father's help." You get the idea. And we all have blocks of varying kinds and degrees. When we run into our blocks and get stuck by them, we can't manifest our natural gifts, callings, talents, and spirit. We're just stuck.

Not that these internal messages are conscious. If they were, we might have better control over them. Instead, they seep into our subconscious where they hide to exert their insideous influence. It's only after stopping to analyze what's going on, that we discover these little gremlins, knawing away on the quality of our lives.

My own blocks are along self-confidence lines and result in depression. Often, I don't feel like a competent grown-up so stop trying and climb into a little hidey-hole. It's not a pleasant place to be, that's for sure.

This morning, I had this incredible thought, "What might I do and how might I act if I didn't have these blocks? How would I be different?" One answer was, "I'd update my blogs!"

Try asking yourself that question. You might discover a way around or through your own blocks!

Being Negative, Being Positive

I've made a major discovery of late. Our experience of life, even the results we get, are tied, intrinsically, to what we think about. If we focus on the negative then we feel lousy and get lousy results. On the other hand, if we stay focused on the positive, we feel better and get results more in line with ones we want. It's one of the ironies of life that this is how it works, but it does.

Just look at your own life. If this basic truism isn't obvious to you, try a little experiment and see for yourself. Pick something negative and focus on it for say, 10 minutes. It could be a person you've had a falling out with, your bank account, the stain on the carpet you don't know how to get out, anything. Set a timer. When it goes off, start focusing on something positive. It can be something as simple as the softness of your cat's fur as he sleeps on your lap while you're reading this. Do this, also for 10 minutes, and set the timer. When it goes off take a look at how you're feeling now and how you felt then.

The same is true of activities. If your house is dirty and you can't clean because you've got a sprained ankle (my case), then do something productive on the computer. Pay your bills, update your website, clean out your inbox, read a website with inspiring quotes, product reviews, etc. Just keep your focus on what's positive and will move you along in a positive direction.

We can't change what happens in life, but we can choose our focus. When we dwell on the negative, that's what we attract. The opposite is also true.

Here's an example from my own life. At the moment I have a one dollar bill and some change in my wallet and a little over $7 in the bank with nothing coming in anytime soon. When I realized things were so dire, I started to freak. Then I remembered that staying in that negative place was only going to make me feel bad, so I turned my attention to positive activities, like writing this entry!

If you want to feel lousy and get results other than the ones you want, keep focusing on the negatives. If, on the other hand, you prefer success and happiness, then that's where you need to turn your attention.

Simple, right? I know, I know, easier said than done. But with a little practice, it's really not that hard. Just a matter of practice. Honest!

(Talk about synchronicity! Michael McDonald's "Ya Mo B There" just played as I was finishing this up. Those are the kinds of little "road signs" you'll find when you're moving in a positive direction. They're everywhere and happen all the time!)