Denisa Cerna
Created by Meyer Friedman and RH Rosenman in the 1950s, the Type A and Type B personality theory was first used to research which behavioral traits were linked to a higher risk of coronary disease.
Uhm. Sounds kind of depressing.
But there’s a silver lining! The theory serves as a great tool to get to know yourself. It might not be as complex as some other personality theories out there, but it can still shed some light on how you function and how the outside world affects you.
So let’s dive right in! If you display the following 10 traits, you have a Type A personality.
1) You’re an overachiever
One of the biggest distinctions between Type A and Type B people lies in the focus on achievement.
If you’re a Type A person, the rules are clear: you love success, achievement, and all the social status perks that come with it.
Obviously, being very achievement-oriented means you’re probably always chasing the next high. What else can you do? How else can you reach your goals?
You want to tick everything off your bucket list. You want to climb higher and higher until you reach the sky itself.
The wheel never stops turning. It can get exhausting, but you keep on going because your determination and willpower are off the charts.
Of course, this easily leads you to the point where…
2) You’re a workaholic
Career goals can be measured. This week, you’ll work this and that amount of hours. This year, you’ll get a promotion. This decade, you’ll become the CEO of your own business. Reaching those milestones is an amazing source of motivation and dopamine.
You have such an admirable drive that there’s truly nothing you can’t do.
Unfortunately, not everything is as perfect as it sounds. Workaholics spend less time with their families, forgetting to foster the quality of their relationships for the sake of career success.
You come in to work early. Stay in late. Bring it home with you. Pick up all the calls from your boss even if you’re on holiday.
If this sounds familiar, I encourage you to take a step back and think about your situation. What will you reminisce about thirty years from now? Your family, or that one invoice you haven’t sent on time?
3) You have a competitive streak in you
Naturally, being highly ambitious goes hand in hand with conquering goals and establishing new records.
If Jimmy is the best employee of the month, you want to know exactly how he got there, what he did, and what’s the best way to beat him so that you’re up on that wall for twelve consecutive months.
Okay, this might be a bit of a stretch. But you know what I mean. Type A personalities love challenges, which also means they love competitions, be it against someone else or against their own past self.
To put it briefly, you just love winning.
Your competitive nature may also cause you to have an intimidating personality. If you think that might be the case, check out the below video on 17 signs you have an alpha, badass personality that intimidates others:
4) You’re a productivity machine
Of course, winning isn’t all that hard when you’re insanely productive.
If there’s one thing you detest, it’s falling behind schedule, so you always do your best to stay on top of things. You deliver way before the deadline, work on things long before they need doing, and you’re not against setting your own personal deadlines that keep you on track.
What’s more, you do so much in one day that it boggles the mind.
Type A personalities are always on the move, working on something and moving toward their goals, so chitchatting in the office kitchen isn’t really for you.
You’re just always “on it”.
5) Patience isn’t your strong suit
Remember how I said you’re always on the move?
A big sign you’re a Type A is that you hate being forced to…stop. Waiting in queues, waiting for your coworker to finally send over that deck they’ve been working on, waiting for a taxi, waiting to finally get to work again…
Waiting is the bane of your existence.
As someone who shares many of the Type A personality traits, I can say from personal experience that patience is something Type As struggle with.
And while I’ve learned to cope with it much better over the years, I still get jittery at times, biting my nails and getting the restless leg syndrome.
Speaking of…
6) You look nervous and stressed out
Type A behavior is linked to higher-than-average stress levels. This is understandable given the fact that you’re so goal-oriented and impatient.
Of course, I’m not saying you should be less ambitious.
What I am saying is that giving yourself the time of day to calm down, bring the attention back to your body, and fully relax might go a long way when it comes to your health.
Right now, it’s likely you appear stressed quite often – you’re jittery, there are dark circles around your eyes, your muscles are tense, and the energy around you is just a mayhem of nervous movement.
But hey, don’t worry! There are plenty of ways to cope with stress, from guided meditations to releasing tension through exercise.
You’ve got this.
7) You’re a highly effective multi-tasker
Moving on to something a bit more positive, a common Type A trait is amazing multitasking.
Reading emails while chatting with coworkers? Got it!
Cleaning the house while listening to a podcast? Easy breezy!
Reading a fantasy saga while walking on the treadmill in the gym? It sounds a bit crazy, but you can do that, too! (Trust me, I’ve tried it. It’s great.)
Since you’re so highly efficient, you can easily spread your attention across many different tasks, rendering you even more productive. You can also switch between them with ease, which is yet another plus.
8) Your organization skills are on point
Alright, let’s hype you up a bit more! As a Type A personality, you’ve got your life in order.
Excel Sheets, habit trackers, Pomodoro timers, to-do lists, monthly goals… these things aren’t new to you. On the contrary, you use all the organization tools you can get your hands on to make life admin a bit easier.
I love organizing my life in this way because it’s almost like a game. Suddenly, taking my vitamins isn’t such a chore because at least I get to turn my Excel bracket orange and look at how long my daily streak is.
It’s free dopamine!
9) You have a short fuse
A Type A personality is sometimes described as having “an aggressive nature”. I don’t think being aggressive or hostile is necessarily a great qualifier when it comes to classifying the two types, but it’s true that Type As can have a short fuse from time to time.
This makes sense – after all, stress and aggression have been found to reinforce each other. Since you’re often stressed out, it doesn’t come as a surprise that you can get a bit snappy.
However, do keep in mind that directing your anger toward others rarely solves the actual issue. Usually, it only makes things worse.
Instead, try to cope with your anger in a healthy way. Take a break from the conversation, let yourself feel the physical sensations of anger in your body, and try out some relaxation techniques.
If your anger doesn’t go away, maybe it just wants to get out. In that case, go jogging. Get a punching bag. Scream into the pillow. Let it out in ways that are safe and healing.
10) You can be too harsh on yourself
The reason you’re always rushing forward might be rooted in the fear that comes from staying still.
Maybe you’re terrified that if you don’t receive external validation, you’ll feel inadequate.
Maybe you’re scared of falling behind and missing out on some abstract ideas of happiness.
Maybe you think you’re not enough as you are, with no accomplishments attached to your name.
But those are all beliefs that are grounded in fear and anxiety, not hard facts. In reality, you are enough because your primary purpose is to exist and experience, not to snatch all the medals there are.
You don’t need someone else’s approval to deserve recognition.
Just look at your closest friends. Look at your family. Look in the mirror. All the recognition you need lies therein.
