Lachlan Brown
Having a strong personality is more than just being honest and direct.
At the core of it is an attitude, an unbreakable self-confidence: eyebrow-raising, head-turning self-confidence.
It’s the lack of fear about trying something new or saying something different that makes others ask questions and impose what you can and can’t do — but do you care? Maybe not.
While others (who may not be as self-confident) go about setting “rules”, the only thing on your mind is achieving your success.
If their words bounce off of you like a bullet on Superman, then you might just have a strong personality.
Check out these 12 more signs to learn how much of a strong personality you really have.
1. You Couldn’t Care Less About What Others Think About You
It’s ingrained in our minds since we were children having to obey the orders of our parents and school teachers.
If we just follow the rules, don’t make too much noise, stay in line, and raise our hand if we have a question, we’ll become model citizens of the world.
Listening to what others say, however, can only be so effective. There are going to be moments where conventional wisdom may be flawed.
Others will tell you that your business idea is too out there to ever become successful, your art is too abstract to ever be admired, your novel too strange to ever become a best-seller.
Time and again, however, there are business moguls, artists, and authors that prove them wrong.
So you choose to follow in their path — or rather, on your own.
2. You Have Your Own Moral Codes
Influencers and the media have a stronger sway on consumers now more than ever. It’s almost become a game of following the leader.
Masses of people buy into the trends and products of these influencers with little consideration just to keep up with whatever’s recent. But not you.
You’re aware of your own actions. Although you may be liberal with your personal beliefs, it’s rooted in an underlying moral code, unimposed by anyone except yourself.
Because of this, you have the tendency to question authority and social norms.
3. You Don’t Keep Quiet About Your Beliefs
There’s a man getting angry at their child in public or you see someone littering on the street.
What may be a socially acceptable response would be to keep your head down and mind your own business. These are other people’s problems. Not for you.
When you encounter questionable behavior out in public — ones that you don’t stand for– you aren’t afraid to speak out about it.
You call people out regardless of who they are and where it is.
Others would want to avoid making a scene, but your moral code takes priority.
You’re fearless and can handle yourself in confrontations.
4. You Tell It Like It Is
People tend to watch what they have to say.
They want to make sure to offend the least amount of people possible.
What happens, then, is far more sugar-coating than would be acceptable for you. You believe in honesty — total honesty.
When someone asks for feedback on their work and you think that they genuinely could do better, you aren’t going to half-heartedly give them your praise; you’re going to tell them that they could do better.
You come from a place of truth and honesty.
You believe that other people would benefit from hearing the cold, hard truth upfront rather than skirting around it for the sake of being polite.
5. You’re Confident In Your Abilities
When someone tells you that you can’t do something, it doesn’t discourage you — in fact, it’s like adding fuel to your fire. You’re driven to prove others wrong.
You know that you’re capable of achieving large goals, despite what other people might say.
Even when the deadline looks impossibly close or the project is too ambitious, it gives you a boost to work even harder to see it through.
Doubt and fear are common feelings that hold people back from achieving their true potential.
They worry about what other people might think about their work or performance without giving all their effort to make it as best as they can.
You stare down these negative feelings and act despite them.
You have full confidence not only in your abilities but in yourself as a person, that no matter what may happen, you’ll come out of it in one piece.
6. You Stay Cool In Stressful Situations
There are going to be moments in life that will be a test of patience: someone’s walking too slow in front of you when you’re rushing, the client’s arriving but the presentation isn’t finished yet, the event is starting but something’s gone wrong with the catering.
In those moments, it’s almost expected that panic and anxiety would spread.
While those may be the expected reactions, they aren’t exactly the most productive.
In the heat of the moment, people need to turn to a stable force.
They’ve lost their footing and need someone to hold onto. That person is you. You’re the person that doesn’t flinch when things go wrong.
You break down the problem instead of letting the problem give you a breakdown.
7. You Can Pick Yourself Up After Getting Knocked Down
No one is impervious to failure.
There are going to be errors and mistakes along the way. But, as the Greek stoic philosopher, Epictetus said, “It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
When life knocks people down for a tumble, their response can naturally be unproductive. They spiral into madness or they reach for the bottle or the needle.
You, on the other hand, understand the cost of such actions. They’re band-aid solutions.
While it’s a struggle to get back on your feet, you take it a day at a time, promising yourself that you won’t stay down. Life isn’t going to get you that easily.
8. You Aren’t Looking For Attention (But Get It Anyway)
In the famous Think Different video ad run by Apple in the early 90s, the narration praises, “the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes”.
It would go on to say, “You can quote them, disagree with them. Glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.”
People want attention and they’ll do anything to get it. The problem with their efforts is that it doesn’t come from a genuine place. They do it for attention’s sake, not to live authentically.
When you’re going through life following your own rules, guided by your own thoughts, it’s going to turn some heads.
People aren’t used to seeing people break formation to go on their own path.
Ironically, the people who choose to live and think differently without wanting attention are the ones that get it the most.
9. You Know How To Work Hard Without Complaining
You understand the value of putting your head down and getting to work.
You know the cost of success and achieving large goals is going to be the draining hours spent working.
Not many people are up for that (as much as they say they are)
While others might sit around and form groups based on rants and complaints about upper management, you’re busy working hard to escape such dead-end activities, eventually climbing the ranks to become their boss instead.
10. You Can Admit When You’ve Made A Mistake
Taking responsibility is an act of courage.
When someone publicly tells people that they’ve made a mistake, people think that it only exposes their flaws.
On the contrary, it reflects a strength of character that isn’t often found among individuals.
Others would rather sweep their errors under the rug to avoid exposing themselves to comments and criticisms. What they end up doing is stagnating personally.
You’re willing to admit when you’re wrong because it’s a chance to learn and grow as a person.
11. You Remember Your Manners
Having a strong personality doesn’t mean being rude to others. It simply means not concerning yourself with what other people might think about you.
When someone is yelling and disrespecting you for unfounded reasons, it would be easy to respond in a similar manner.
You’ve got the upper hand anyway, so it’s time to put them in their place.
But, instead, you remember to be kind. By standing your ground and keeping a level head, the other person exposes their own flaws instead of spotlighting yours.
12. You’re Sure Of Yourself
You stand tall, calm, and assured that you can overcome your struggles.
While others might wallow in self-pity about how little money that they have, you don’t allow such things to bother you. Instead, you look for solutions to your problems.
Like a stoic, you hold steady with equanimity, focusing on what you can control instead of what you can’t.
It’s this self-assurance that tells others that you’re not someone to be messed with.
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