The Difference Between a Trait and a Habit

A "Habit" is a usual way of behaving. It is the starting point for all behaviors. All Traits, at conception, are habits. Habits are usually born out of necessity (we have to obtain a goal), or a desire (We wish to obtain a goal).

Most of the times, negative traits come as a result of necessity, not desire. Sometimes, however, using a negative trait when approaching a desire itself becomes a negative trait.

As we grow up, we encounter situations and circumstances that are new to us. Since we have no point of reference (information we gathered from past experience which helps us deal with these events), we are left with two basic choices.

Choice A- We seek advice. 

We turn to those around us for guidance. Preferably someone who encountered a similar situation and handled it before. Our goal at this point is to try to use their point of reference in order to handle our situation. When we decide to follow that advice, if successful, their point of reference becomes ours. After a while, a habit has been created. A way in which to handle future similar situations.

The one thing you have to keep in mind when using this option is the following quote...

"Insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." 

Albert Einstein

When this option is chosen, remember that you are, in essence, creating a habit that will, in time, become a trait. Make sure that your definition and the other person's definition of "success "is the same one. Your goal is to solve the situation. Not avoid it.

Choice B- We use Trial and Error method. 

This method involves searching and using different ways in order to handle the situation. There is, however, correct way and an incorrect way of using this option. The correct way to remain goal oriented. In Transformational Support, this method is commonly referred to as the "Focus, Research and Action" method (FRA).

What this enables you to do is to remain encouraged, focused and determined until the situation is resolved. The goal is not only to obtain a useful point of reference but also to keep you from creating negative habits such as.. 

A- Covering up the issue 

B-Pretending the issue will go away by itself 

C-Running away from the issue 

D-A combination of two or more of these.

These habits have a great potential of becoming negative habits (a usual way of behaving that results in a negative outcome). Shortly after that, they can become negative traits (A quality that separates a person from another person and usually has a negative outcome).

The specific type of habit we create (negative or Positive), will mature into a Negative or Positive Trait. Once this happens, and a trait is created, the trait has to be broken down to a habit first before replacing it with a better habit.

That being said, I must tell you that changing habits is faster and simpler than changing traits. However, most people seem to be under the impression that changing a trait is much more difficult than it actually is. Changing a habit or a trait is not easy but it is not that difficult either.

Of course, depending on the nature of the habit or the trait, the amount of time it takes to change it may vary. But not the amount of effort. In other words, what changes is your consistency (the amount of time you stay dedicate to changing a trait or habit), not how hard you work at it.

All traits are Habits at birth. Learning how to change them depends on how much we know about them.

ezinearticles.com/?The-Difference-Between-a-Trait-and-a-Habit&id=9577473

Why Are Mean People So Successful?

Research into why traits we loathe can make people a success.

“Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory,” basketball great Bill Russell once said. He was referring to his sport, but his insight applies to human nature as well.

A new study has explored whether mental toughness explains why scheming individuals excel in their professional lives—and whether genetic contributions might play a role. Technically, such people are said to exhibit the "Dark Triad," a personality constellation comprised by the traits of narcissism, psychopathy, and Machiavellianism (e.g., guile).

Though usually cast in a negative light, previous research has demonstrated that these three traits do have an upside when it comes to work. In an effort to further understand why the odious ways of the Dark Triad may be potentially adaptive, Michael Onley of the University of Western Ontario and his colleagues examined the relationship between this personality constellation and mental toughness, which has been carved out as a core trait in human resiliency.

Mental toughness encompasses dedication, motivation, focus, resilience, and an appetite for a challenge. The authors broke it down into four factors—control; commitment; challenge; and confidence. As noted, previous research established that the Dark Triad traits—and mental toughness—have advantages in the workplace, including achieving goals and finding personal success in competition. Even narcissistic tendencies, such as goal-striving, charisma, and high aspirations, can be parlayed into professional boons. Similarly, a positive link has been found between Machiavellianism and income among educated men, revealing that the trait may be helpful in securing senior positions. What's more, in studies of sales-based organizations, individuals showing high levels of Machiavellianism tended to be most successful in such unstructured work environments which allowed them the freedom to manipulate others at will.

Overall, the evidence suggests that these individuals possess the cool, calm, and confidence to excel in high-demand work settings.

In addition to the relationship between the Dark Triad and mental toughness, Onley and his team were interested in possible genetic contributions to this relationship. This information can be ascertained by comparing the responses of monozygotic (MZ) and same-sex dizygotic (DZ) twins on a given trait. If the environments among identical and fraternal twins are equal, then the only way in which they should differ is because of their genes: MZ twins share 100% of their genotype, whereas DZ share only about 50%. If genetics play a larger role in the development of a given trait, MZ twins should give more similar responses with respect to a trait than should DZ twins. Previous research has uncovered that individual differences in each of the Dark Triad traits are heavily influenced by genetic factors, while both genetic and non-shared environmental factors account for individual differences in mental toughness.

In order to test the relationship between mental toughness and the Dark Triad, the researchers had participants fill out four self-report questionnaires that inquired about the traits in question—narcissism; psychopathy; Machiavellianism; and mental toughness. The final sample was comprised of 210 same-sex twin pairs—152 MZ pairs, of which 128 were female, and 58 same-sex DZ pairs, of which 53 were female.

As expected, narcissism showed positive correlations with all factors of mental toughness. But unexpectedly, both psychopathy and Machiavellianism demonstrated negative correlations with most of the mental toughness factors. One interpretation of this result offered by the authors is that narcissism is “qualitatively unique” among the Dark Triad traits in that it embodies both positive and negative social behaviors.

There was partial support for the role of genetic contributions to this relationship. As hypothesized, and in keeping with previous research, genetic influences were found between the Dark Triad traits of psychopathy and Machiavellianism. Moreover, the links between psychopathy and mental toughness were wholly accounted for by common genetic factors. However, while it was expected there would be a strong genetic link between narcissism and mental toughness, the analysis revealed a significant relationship between narcissism and only the challenge factor of mental toughness.

Onley and his team recognized the limitations of this study and advised the usual cautions in scientific research. At the same time, their work has opened up a compelling area of inquiry, helping us better understand what to many is a daily frustration: Why mean people so often get ahead at work.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/head-games/201310/why-are-mean-people-so-successful

What Really Makes You a Happy Person?

The experts say we only control 40 percent of our happiness. Are they right?

According to current popular ideas about the science of happiness, 10% of the variance in happiness in a given population is due to life circumstances (age, nationality, sex, race/ethnicity, and income); 50% is due to genetics; and 40% remains under our direct control. These numbers have been repeated in countless journal articles and books, and discussed as fact in college courses around the world.

Be skeptical.

These perfectly round numbers raise more questions than answers, and as of today, I still don't trust them.

When you are given a graph that is this clean, it seems reasonable to be skeptical. For instance, where do we fit in information showing that for certain people, exposure to environmental factors such as toxins or nutriments can switch genes on or off? This is a point that my colleagues and I discussed in prior work.

Although traits may be substantially influenced by genetic factors, individuals select, utilize, and adapt to their environments, affecting gene expression. Behavior geneticists distinguish between gene–environment transactions and gene–environment interactions.

In most cases, the interface between genetics and environment consists of transactions necessary for growth, reproduction, or development. An example of a transaction in the case of character strengths might be the necessity of extensive social experiences to enable the full development of the genetic disposition for social intelligence or leadership.

The term gene–environment interaction refers to a specific process in which the same stimulus affects individuals with differing genes in different ways. Research has revealed several examples of gene–environment interactions that match the diathesis-stress model of psychopathology (e.g., adolescent conduct disorder; Cadoret, Yates, Troughton, Woodworth, & Stewart, 1995). Future investigations may uncover a diathesis-nutriment interaction for character strengths like creativity, in which those with a genetic predisposition respond to enriched, stimulating environments with augmented creativity, whereas those without the predisposition respond less robustly.

Future research should endeavor to delineate how the interplay of genes and environments creates character strengths. In addition, future research might attempt to investigate the presence of non-additive effects. Such effects are difficult to detect unless the samples are extremely large.

What about research showing that as we get older, the genetic influence on our thoughts, feeling, and behavior changes? Consider these meta-analytic findings on various forms of intellect and cognitive functioning, from 12,721 sibling pairs; and on personality, from 21,057 sibling pairs (this is not a sample of 100 college students!):

In early life, shared environmental effects are the major stabilizing force for cognition. Over the first decade of life, the proportional contribution of genetic effects increases from approximately 10% to approximately 70%, and largely remains at that level for the remainder of the lifespan. The proportional contribution of the nonshared environmental effect gradually increases from nearly 0% to about 20% by late life.

In sharp contrast, genetic effects explain nearly 100% of the stability of personality in early life, but this proportion is slowly shaved away as the nonshared environmental contribution increases across the lifespan. By late adulthood, just over 50% of the stability of personality is attributable to genetic factors, with the remaining proportion attributable to nonshared environmental factors. Whereas genetically linked processes guide the stabilization of cognition, unique life experiences guide the stabilization of personality across the lifespan.

When I read this work, I am confused as to how scientists arrive at a single number to account for the genetic contribution to happiness. Genetic influences are often interwoven with environmental factors—check out this killer study of how genomic expression in West African infants depends on whether they are born in the rainy or dry season—and they change depending on when you study someone on the timeline, from toddler to elder. Instead of taking a single equation as fact, ask questions about exactly where the numbers came from: How many studies? What was the quality of those studies?Challenge authority with questions, such as: Why should we expect the numbers to be similar across time in the same person, much less different people from different cultures?

Let me end with tips on how to critically think about behavioral genetics, from one of the leading thinkers in this field, Eric Turkheimer. He arrived at three laws of behavioral genetics—and as of last week, a 4th law has been added. Keep these laws in mind anytime someone tries to sell you on the importance of genetics.

Remember, these are not theories, they are laws:

1. All human behavioral traits are heritable. [That is, they are affected to some degree by genetic variation.]

Source: Time

What this means is that if you read about the god gene, the divorce gene, or research suggesting that the length and expression of a single gene explains your preference for The Spin Doctors, think again: Everything has a genetic contribution, so we should never get excited about the discovery of what is obvious. Complex human behavior is unlikely to be governed by a single gene. If one gene is too valuable, humans become too vulnerable. (See Law #4.)

2. The effect of being raised in the same family is smaller than the effect of genes.

3. A substantial portion of the variation in complex human behavioral traits is not accounted for by the effects of genes or families.

Much of what influences our personality has to do with the presence of life events, both positive and negative, and our response to choice points: Do I approach or avoid my co-worker who regularly demeans me? Do I wake up early and work out or sleep in? Do I ask out the girl I've had a crush on for months or do I keep my feelings to myself? No single decision matters, but the patterns do. The decisions we make, the people we surround ourselves with, and the behaviors we engage in are the building blocks for the quality of our lives. Small changes accumulate over time leading to large changes in who we become.

4. A typical human behavioral trait is associated with very many genetic variants, each of which accounts for a very small percentage of the behavioral variability.

Source: Alliance/Shutterstock

Instead of a single "divorce gene," it makes more sense to consider a series of temperamental qualities that influence the probability of divorce, including self-control, impulsivity, behavioral inhibition, distractibility, adaptability, persistence, and mood. For instance, low self-control, high impulsivity, low behavioral inhibition, high distractibility, low adaptability, low persistence, and highly frequent and enduring bad moods is a suboptimal profile for a long, healthy romantic relationship. Each of these qualities has a strong genetic basis; together, they help explain why there is a genetic contribution to whether or not someone gets divorced.

Knowing the origin of what matters most to human beings is invaluable. Behavioral genetics is part of this origin story. Let's take a moment to understand what a genetic contribution means and be skeptical of overly simplistic ideas about what humans do in the wild.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/curious/201508/what-really-makes-you-happy-person

The Procrastination Problem

Procrastinators delay until the day after tomorrow what they know they should have done the day before yesterday.

What does procrastination look like?

We all put off working on unpleasant or tedious tasks from time to time. Washing the car, taking out garbage, cleaning windows, or making stressful phone calls are no one's idea of a fun way to spend time. But where most of us do this only occasionally, procrastinators do it most of the time, and that's where the problems start.

Procrastination is a stress factor

Procrastination is a behavior that leads to stress, because it makes plans and wishes fail at what should be the point of fulfillment: theater tickets and vacation packages sell out before procrastinators get around to calling. Planes take off, deadlines pass, jobs go to other applicants--the ones who got their resumes in on time.

Procrastination has negative effects

The Procrastination Research Group at Carleton University in Canada did an online survey. They received 2,700 responses to the question, "To what extent is procrastination having a negative impact on your happiness?" Almost one person in two (46%) said "quite a bit" or "very much," and around one person in five (18%) reported an "extreme negative effect."

Procrastination threatens happiness

Though procrastination is often trivialized, procrastinators suffer when their careers crash or when they otherwise fail to reach their potential. Long term and wide scale, "the big P" can become more than just a threat to personal health, happiness, and productivity of individuals: it can carry that threat into our companies and communities.

Traits of the procrastinators

How can you spot a chronic procrastinator? Procrastinators avoid revealing information about their abilities, they make poor time estimates, they tend to focus on the past and do not act on their intentions, they may also prefer service jobs. These characteristics are linked to low self-esteem, perfectionism, non-competitiveness, self-deception, self-control, self-confidence, depression and anxiety.

There are no easy answers

There are no easy "buck up" answers, though. As Joseph Ferrari, professor of psychology at DePaul University in Chicago says: "It's not about time management. To tell a chronic procrastinator to 'Just Do It' is like telling a clinically depressed person to cheer up." We need to look at the kind of procrastination people practice to understand the reason they do it and find the appropriate cure.

Why do people procrastinate?

Take your pick! Ferrari found that some procrastinators had particularly authoritarian fathers. He sees the p-habit as a continuing rebellion against those demands. Others lay the blame on strong parents who don't leave their children room to develop initiative. Clary Lay of York University, Toronto, creator of the General Procrastination Scale, takes a different tack and believes that procrastinators think and act in terms of "wishes and dreams" while people who do not procrastinate get on with "oughts and obligations." He says, "Procrastinators are also neurotically disorganized in their thinking, making them forgetful and less likely to plan well."

How do people procrastinate?

Procrastination research is a new field, but researchers are starting to describe different types of procrastination. Two types that are particularly common are behavioral- and decisional procrastination.

Behavioural procrastination

Behavioural procrastination is a self-sabotage strategy that allows people to shift blame and avoid action, for example: a student may do poorly in an exam and use procrastination as an excuse. "They'd rather create the impression that they lacked effort than ability," says Ferrari. "They can blame their failure on the lack of time."

Ferrari also thinks that procrastinators suffer from low esteem and self-doubt and worry about how other people judge their abilities. "Procrastinators view their self-worth as based on ability," he says. So according to their logic, "If I never finish the task, you can never judge my ability."

Prolonged procrastination and failure to perform adequately creates a cycle of self-defeating behavior, which results in a downward spiral of self-esteem. Self-inflicted degradation and shame of this kind often translates into stress and (mental) health problems at some point.

Decisional procrastination

The decisional procrastination strategy is to put off making a decision when dealing with conflicts or choices. People who practice high level decisional procrastination tend to be afraid of errors and are likely to be perfectionists. These procrastinators seek out more and more information about alternatives before attempting to make a decision, if they make one at all.

Over informed decisional procrastinators run the danger of falling prey to a further self-sabotage strategy, called optional paralysis: they create so many choices for themselves that they feel unable to choose, for fear of choosing an option that is less than perfect.

First steps to change

Insight is the first step to change. Understanding is the second step. After that, a course of behavior modification therapy may help, especially if procrastination is causing serious problems in connection with work and relationships. Though there is no Band-Aid solution for procrastination, anything that helps procrastinators take concrete steps goes a long way to re-building a healthy level of achievement and self-esteem and helping them feel better about themselves.

http://www.successconsciousness.com/guest_articles/procrastination.htm

The 5 Traits of Entrepreneurs Famous for Making All the Right Moves

Consistently making the right moves at the right time is the difference between a good CEO/entreprepreneur and those we consider great.

The perceptive investor, Warren Buffet, knows to “be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful.” The exceptional entrepreneur, Richard Branson, knows when to say “screw it, let’s do it” but also when to hold back a product. The outrageous visionary, Steve Jobs, knew to listen to his heart when it told him to back an innovation and to the inner voice that could tell him he'd made a mistake.

Recognizing the right move is the key to all success. Here are 5 ways an aspiring entrepreneur can learn the signs indicating the right moves that will unleash your company’s potential.

1. Be progressive. Success typically does not happen overnight. It is the product of time and effort. Do not follow that potentially debilitating mantra of ‘perfection or nothing’ when growing your business. Business success or capability grows in complexity and sophistication over time.

Realise that you and your business are constantly evolving. You can consciously help that process by frequently asking yourself three questions that hold much power: What is working? What isn’t working? What do I need to change?

2. Be clear. To make the right moves, we must first know what we aim to achieve. Do you want to be a market leader or a specialist high-value niche player? The direction you set will ultimately determine the moves you make.

The legendary CEO Jack Welch earned GE the accolade of “most valuable company in the world” by setting a goal that everyone in his organisation understood. Be number one or two in your market, or be prepared to be sold off.

3. Be passionate. An essential feature of making the right moves is doing or being that which you love! A deep-rooted passion for what we do encourages us on the path of knowledge, experience and success.

As Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently revealed, it’s his curiosity and thirst for learning that has shaped his success. When we love what we do and stay with our passion, our moves get bigger, better and more refined over time.

4. Be courageous. The path of innovation veers sharply from the path of convention! Making the right moves will require the courage to break free from the pack (and your closest competitors), perhaps going it alone. You must be fearless at times to make headway in your business.

Steve Jobs knew this path well. As the journalist Geoff Colvin pointed out, “Time and again, as the CEO of Apple, he introduced products, services, and entire business models completely unlike anything in existence.”

5. Be perceptive. The greatest entrepreneurs are in tune with their world. They have developed rich mental models of the markets in which they operate and have, therefore, enhanced their ability to perceive more ‘right place-right time’ opportunities. They recognize market dynamics and know how to adjust profitably.

You must know what your customers want and need to make the right moves. Make every effort to stay in touch with your market. Where your products or services meet the needs of the world, therein lies your greatest success.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/236526