Being mindful is something that is discussed both in popular culture and amongst career coaches. But what does it truly mean? Mindfulness is the ability to stay present in the moment without judgment. Career coaches value mindfulness because being mindful is present in healthy-minded individuals. When a person is mindful, they have shown to be less stressed, less emotionally reactive, and have better focus in their day to day tasks. How does a person become more mindful? A new paper published in the journal Consulting Psychology may have the answer.

 

Research led by Christopher Altizer of Florida International University gave participants two common personality tests. The first test was the Hogan Personality Inventory and the second the Hogan Development Survey. The reasoning behind giving these tests was to reveal which personality traits might indicate mindfulness. Five traits related to mindfulness: ambition adjustment, leisure, excitability, and cautiousness.

 

Adjustment Personalities

Mindfulness and adjustment seem to go hand in hand. The adjustment refers to a personality trait in which a person is able to pay attention while remaining focused and nonreactive during stressful situations. Career experts would advise that the ability to roll with the punches of the career market is vital to success. Coaches also help people make important changes in order to find the career they want. Taking on responsibilities of working on improving oneself will inevitably bring on challenges, therefore being able to adapt to change is key. Being less reactive, helps people assess the situation they are in and leads to them be mindful of how they are going to react.

 

Excitable Personalities

Excitable personalities are the opposite of adjustment in that these personalities are less mindful. Excitable people have a habit of being more volatile and emotionally immature. In the job hunt, career coaches would have a hard time placing these individuals. Not being able to control one’s emotions makes finding a career much more difficult because stressful situations are unavoidable. This leads to overacting to minor events. Excitable people will not be able to interact in a professional matter with this stress. Career professionals would be focusing on improving this trait as much as possible in order to help a client achieve success. Excitable types are obviously more emotional and that leads to the absence of mindfulness.

 

Ambitious Personalities

Ambitious personalities are people who are socially confident, leaders. Ambitious people are competitive and have a large amount of energy. These people also tend to be more mindful. When guiding a client ambition is something that every career mentor would want in a client.  Although ambition may be associated with achieving a goal at all costs, ambitious individuals are skilled at balancing their attention to achieve a goal. This leads to being mindful of everything and keeping your mind in a zone. Being ambitious is crucial in a balanced life, especially when working toward a career.

 

 

Leisurely Personalities

Another personality, entitled as a leisurely personality, is defined as people indifferent to the wants or needs of others. Career mentors would have a hard time preparing a person for the workplace if they are unconcerned about others. Many may interpret leisurely personalities as independent. But these people are, in reality, petty or passive-aggressive. When working in a group, toward a common goal, which many people do in the workplace, a leisurely personality would not be motivated as others to achieve. They’re concerned more with their own advancement than the group. Obviously, leisurely people are not very mindful. Mindfulness includes focusing on oneself and interacting with others. Clearly, people need to show concern for others in order to be mindful in their careers.

Cautious Personalities

When it comes to being a Cautious person, these personalities are resistant to change and unwilling to take risks. According to the Hogan Development Survey, these people are afraid of failure and work hard to hide weaknesses. When it comes to mindfulness, cautious personalities unfortunately are not very mindful people. This provides many challenges to experts attempting to place their clients in a career. Coaches work hard to help people to point out their flaws and improve. This would be very difficult for a cautious personality. The reason researchers find that people who are cautious are not mindful is fear. Trying to move through life full of fear, obviously makes it difficult to adapt to change, which is an integral part of any career. Being able to “go with the flow” is a trait of mindful people, not people who live in fear.

Overall, being mindful really means knowing yourself. It means that a person has the ability to balance their emotions and can control those emotions in stressful situations. Being mindful also leads to having the ability to go with the natural ups and downs of life. A person looking for success in the trials of their lives should work on being as mindful as possible.

 

Book a complimentary 30 Min session with me at   https://paulallencareercoach.com/contact/

Paul Allen,

From Possibility to Reality.