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How to Develop Your Personality
WHAT is "personality"? Webster interprets the meaning of the word as " individuality," but like many words that assume added meanings through common usage, this also has acquired the suggestion of a quality not covered by the word " individuality."
You may be discussing a person you dislike very much, with whose ideas you do not at all agree, who represents a type having a low standard of commercial and social honor, and while you might readily admit that such a person might be "individual," you would never for a moment say "So-and-so has personality." Why? Because the word " personality" has grown to mean magnetic power, the sort of power that consciously or unconsciously dominates and controls the individuals with whom it comes in contact.
It is this magnetic power that is at the root of every successful career. Review the life of any great man. You will find that his success is the result, not only of careful study and of perseverance, but, more than all, of the subtle influence of personal magnetism. He has succeeded because his personality convinced people that he was sincere, that he was strong, a man on whom they could rely. Without a well-developed personality, his good qualities would have lain unnoticed and he would have been only another in the struggling, discouraged thousands.
Think of the people of your own acquaintance whom you consider successful. When you analyze their characters, you find in each a certain elusive quality that you can't put your finger on and define. That elusive quality is personality. Or, rather, it is personality developed. If you should ask the director of any school of dramatic art, "What does the instruction given in your institution do for your students?" he would tell you, not that it teaches them to act, to dance, to become elocutionists, but that it develops personality.
At the play you sense the wave of response that sweeps through the audience when the star comes on the stage, and you say, "What a magnetic personality !" It is not her beauty, her technic, her knowledge of stage tricks that move you, but her personality. You hear a sermon, a lecture, a speaker at the club. You may not agree with the point of view expressed, but you are influenced against your will by the magnetism of the speaker.
What is this subtle, elusive force, this radiant, vital energy which gives to its fortunate possessor such unlimited possibilities of success in every department of life? Bliss Carman has said that it is "The balanced perfection of a healthy and beautiful mind, soul, and body." In other words, perfect physical, mental, and emotional poise.
You may be discussing a person you dislike very much, with whose ideas you do not at all agree, who represents a type having a low standard of commercial and social honor, and while you might readily admit that such a person might be "individual," you would never for a moment say "So-and-so has personality." Why? Because the word " personality" has grown to mean magnetic power, the sort of power that consciously or unconsciously dominates and controls the individuals with whom it comes in contact.
It is this magnetic power that is at the root of every successful career. Review the life of any great man. You will find that his success is the result, not only of careful study and of perseverance, but, more than all, of the subtle influence of personal magnetism. He has succeeded because his personality convinced people that he was sincere, that he was strong, a man on whom they could rely. Without a well-developed personality, his good qualities would have lain unnoticed and he would have been only another in the struggling, discouraged thousands.
Think of the people of your own acquaintance whom you consider successful. When you analyze their characters, you find in each a certain elusive quality that you can't put your finger on and define. That elusive quality is personality. Or, rather, it is personality developed. If you should ask the director of any school of dramatic art, "What does the instruction given in your institution do for your students?" he would tell you, not that it teaches them to act, to dance, to become elocutionists, but that it develops personality.
At the play you sense the wave of response that sweeps through the audience when the star comes on the stage, and you say, "What a magnetic personality !" It is not her beauty, her technic, her knowledge of stage tricks that move you, but her personality. You hear a sermon, a lecture, a speaker at the club. You may not agree with the point of view expressed, but you are influenced against your will by the magnetism of the speaker.
What is this subtle, elusive force, this radiant, vital energy which gives to its fortunate possessor such unlimited possibilities of success in every department of life? Bliss Carman has said that it is "The balanced perfection of a healthy and beautiful mind, soul, and body." In other words, perfect physical, mental, and emotional poise.
128 pages, Paperback
First published June 19, 2012
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