Personality Isn’t Permanent - Break Free from Self-Limiting Beliefs and Rewrite Your Story

Psychologist and bestselling author Benjamin Hardy, PhD, debunks the pervasive myths about personality that prevent us from learning — and provides bold strategies for personal transformation In Personality Isn’t Permanent, Dr Benjamin Hardy draws on psychological research to demolish the popular misconception that personality — a person’s consistent attitudes and behaviours — is innate and unchanging. Hardy liberates us from the limiting belief that our “true selves” are to be discovered, and shows how we can intentionally create our desired selves and achieve amazing goals instead. Filled with strategies for reframing your past and designing your future, Personality Isn’t Permanent is a guide to breaking free from the past and becoming the person you want to be. Advance Praise for Personality Isn’t Permanent......Page 2 Title Page......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Dedication......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Epigraph......Page 8 Introduction: A Personality Test Almost Ruined My Life......Page 9 The Past Is Not Prologue......Page 15 Why Listen to Dr. Benjamin Hardy?......Page 18 Chapter 1: The Myths of Personality......Page 22 Myth #1: Personality Can Be Categorized into “Types”......Page 28 Myth #2: Personality Is Innate and Fixed......Page 35 Myth #3: Personality Comes from Your Past......Page 40 Myth # 4: Personality Must Be Discovered......Page 48 Myth # 5: Personality Is Your True and “Authentic” Self......Page 54 Conclusion......Page 57 Chapter 2: The Truth of Personality......Page 58 Your Goals Shape Your Identity......Page 64 The Three Sources of All Goals......Page 67 Identity Should Be Intentionally Designed, Based on Your Desired Future Self......Page 75 Select and Pursue One Major Goal: Your Future-Self Filter......Page 77 Commit to Your One Major Goal: Why Results Matter......Page 80 Go to Bed One Hour Earlier: Eliminate Destructive Consumption......Page 83 Wake Up One Hour Earlier: Make Power Moves Daily Toward Your Future Self......Page 84 Transform Yourself Daily Through Journaling......Page 87 Expect to Succeed: A Conversation with Your Future Self......Page 90 Conclusion......Page 92 Chapter 3: Transform Your Trauma......Page 94 Trauma Shatters Hope and Eliminates the Future......Page 96 Personality as the By-Product of Trauma......Page 99 Moving Past Trauma......Page 101 Empathetic Witness: How to Transform Trauma......Page 103 Becoming an Empathetic Witness to Those Around You......Page 110 Conclusion......Page 112 Chapter 4: Shift Your Story......Page 114 Creating “Meaning” Through Stories......Page 117 Your Past Is Fiction: It’s Your Story—Get Creative!......Page 124 The Gap and the Gain: Reframing Your Narrative......Page 125 Your Future Is Fiction: What’s It Gonna Be?!......Page 135 Conclusion......Page 142 Chapter 5: Enhance Your Subconscious......Page 144 Your Memories Are Physical, and Your Body Is Emotional......Page 149 Practice Fasting......Page 153 Give Money Away: Make Regular Charitable Donations......Page 155 Conclusion......Page 157 Chapter 6: Redesign Your Environment......Page 159 Context Shapes Roles: Roles Shape Identity and Biology......Page 160 Strategic Remembering......Page 165 Strategic Ignorance......Page 169 Forcing Functions......Page 173 Conclusion......Page 176 Conclusion: Embrace Your Future to Change Your Past......Page 179 Now It’s Your Turn......Page 184 Acknowledgments......Page 186 Notes......Page 190 Index......Page 202 About the Author......Page 214 "If you have ever taken a test to identify your "personality type", like the Myers-Briggs or Enneagram, you might be surprised to learn that such tests are not only unscientific, but are holding you back. The truth is, there's no such thing as a personality "type", or a "real you" that can only be unearthed through some process of self-discovery. Instead, your personality is something you can intentionally choose and create. Rather than being defined by the past and trapped in unresolved traumas, you can build your identity and internal narrative to serve the future you desire. In Personality Isn't Permanent, Dr. Hardy draws on psychological research to demolish the popular misconception that personality-a person's consistent attitudes and behaviors-is innate and unchanging. He offers practical, motivational advice to help you cultivate the traits and achieve the goals you always dreamed of. In Personality Isn't Permanent, you'll learn: · Why you should never be the "former anything". Defining yourself by your past successes can be just as damaging to your potential to grow as being haunted by past failures. · How to flip the script on negative memories and view them as something that happened for you, not to you. · How to design a desired vision of your "future self," and make decisions based on what "they" would want. · How to tap into what psychologists' call "pull motivation" by narrowing your focus on a single, definable, and compelling outcome. · Why you should consistently put yourself in new situations that can initially be emotionally uncomfortable. · Why you should measure your progress by how much you've grown, rather than what you lack. Along the way, you'll hear fascinating true stories of radical self-transformation, like Vanessa O'Brien, who quit her corporate job and went on to obtain Guinness World Records for climbing the tallest mountains in the world; Andre Norman, who became a Harvard fellow after serving a fourteen-year prison sentence; Ken Arlen, who instantly quit smoking by changing his backstory; and Hardy himself, who transcended his childhood in a broken home, surrounded by issues of addiction and mental illness, to get his PhD and build a happy family. Filled with scientific strategies for reframing your past and designing your future, Personality Isn't Permanent is your practical guide to transcending your limitations and becoming the person you always wanted to be"-- Provided by publisher