Tag Archive for hard work

Discover Your Sweetie’s Personality Style-Part 2

High I

In recognition of Valentine’s Day and the month-long celebration of love, I am sharing my take on the four personality styles in the DISC profile to help those of us in relationships better understand our significant others. The more you know about a person, the more you grow in your love. So, let the knowing and growing continue.

Yesterday I wrote about the High D or dominant personality. Today I will explore the High I personality style. High I’s are inspiring, influencing, impressionable, interactive, and involved. These people tend to be fun loving and spontaneous, outgoing and charming. It goes without saying that these people are the life of the party and love being the center of attention. High I’s also like physical activity and excitement. As you are reading this, someone you know has probably popped into your head. We all know someone like this. They’re “people” people. They seem to know everybody and can work a crowd beautifully. This is sooo my BFF. She loves being around people and will get involved in any good cause she can find because she loves to help others. I don’t mind helping people, but she and other High I people take it to a whole other level. It is also interesting to note that High I’s tend to start well, but have difficulty finishing, are noisy, and always on the go. And if they don’t get what they want, they QUIT. Yep, once they’re done, they’re done. My BFF once again. (Sorry BFF if you’re reading this).

Now every personality style has its flaw, so let’s go there, why don’t we? The High I’s blind spot is that they can be impulsive and illogical. Ding, ding, ding! That explains the difficulty finishing, the challenge with volume control, and the constant moving and shaking. Much of these things is done without much thought or reasoning through, which is why I have such a hard time relating. I am the total opposite, as I think EVERYTHING through several times. As for being illogical, the High I can jump to conclusions a bit and throw a fit in the heat of an argument, but if you already know that going in you can anticipate it and hopefully soften the blow. Thank goodness for strategies. Learning the following strategies for the High I has helped me understand my bestie a little better, and it can help you too if you have a High I in your life.

1. Create an environment of fun and excitement. High I’s thrive on fun like a kid thrives on candy. It’s their secret fuel, and they just have to have it. If there is no fun involved, trust me, they are going to make it fun for themselves and they will take others along for the ride. The more people involved the better. Let’s apply this. If you are dating or are married to a High I you may want to keep this in mind when planning dates together. They aren’t going to go for quiet, relaxing evenings at home every weekend. You’ve got to spice it up and go heavy on the fun every once and a while. I know that involves planning and creativity on your part, but seeing your sweetie smile is worth it, right?

2. Help them develop planning and goal setting skills. It is challenging for those with impulsive tendencies to actually get beyond the here and now and plan for the distant future, but they need the reality check too. Let’s be real, fun can only last but so long. The tasks they find boring or pointless are what they have trouble finishing, but those are the things that are necessary. How can you apply this? If your High I has a great idea for a new business opportunity (they probably have a few of these), encourage him or her to sit down and make a plan for success. Help them think through the details and give them an extra push to keep going when the excitement of it all begins to wane.

3. Provide social involvement as incentives. One way to help encourage your High I to finish what they start is to offer incentives in the form of social interaction. Remember they love people, and they love you. Spending quality time together is a plus. This time should include real involvement, not just the two of you being in the same house at the same time. That does not count as social involvement. Go shopping together, cook together, take a walk, or go away for a romantic weekend (I’m talking exclusively to the married folk here)–just make sure to be there for them and be fully present while you’re at it.

4. Recognize their efforts and talents. High I’s love a pat on the back when they’ve worked hard on something. Don’t get me wrong, everyone wants to be recognized for their efforts, but High I’s are on another level with this too. So do praise and do it big for these social butterflies. But don’t worry. If you do forget to recognize them they will let you know it. I’m speaking from experience here. And this is probably a good time right here on the world wide web to go ahead and drop my best friend, Melissa Watson’s name to recognize her for being such a great friend. Thank you, Missy! I love you! You’re the best! See, I practice what I preach. 🙂

If you’re a High I, feel free to let me know if I nailed it or NOT. I welcome comments. In the next post I will discuss the High S personality, so stay tuned.

Dare to Dream–Then Wake Up and Do Something About It

Have you ever had a really good idea for an invention or a business that you wanted to start only to find out later that someone else beat you to the punch? It has happened to me, and it is not a good feeling. I, like so many believers out there, let a good thing slip through my fingers not because I was incapable of carrying it out, but because I was too lazy to put in the work and because I allowed doubt to hinder me. Now I know better.

I believe that God gives his children inspiration for million-dollar ideas, and I believe He gives million-dollar ability to carry them out. It’s part of the covenant that He made with His children.

“But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day” (Deuteronomy 8:18 KJV).

God’s will is for His children to prosper, but what He’s not going to do is drop your wealth from the sky and into your lap. He plants the seed of an idea into your spirit (inspires you) and gives you the insight you need to perform it.

But there is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” Job 32:8

He then waters the seed with confirmation until you get up and work the ground for harvest. Case in point, God gave me the idea to write the book “Wait on God: What Every Single Woman Should Know to Receive God’s Best” for women three years ago. I would write in spells, sometimes letting months pass without working on it at all. A part of me wanted it so badly, but another part of me wanted to enjoy my free time by doing absolutely nothing. That was laziness in full effect. I wanted the prize, but I wasn’t willing to put forth the necessary effort consistently to obtain it. Sometimes we often like to use the excuse that we don’t have enough time to pursue our dreams, but truth be told we do have time, we just squander much of it away on meaningless things. I’ve learned that anything worth having is worth working hard for. God does His part. We just have to do ours. He’s the alpha and omega–the beginning and the end, meaning the idea begins and ends with Him. Our part is to fill in the middle by following His guidance and putting in the work. Once we get in motion, God causes everything to fall into place. 

Now let’s talk about doubt.  I had lots of them. How am I going to write enough to make a whole book? Will I have enough money to get it published? Who’s going to buy it anyway? Who wants to hear what I have to say?  The doubts persisted, until I heard a Word from God that reignited my dream. The prophecy, spoken by a prophet of God who visited my church, was “You’ve been working on that project for three years, and God is about to fund it.” From that point on I knew that I could not afford to allow doubt to smother my dream of being a published author. The time was now! So I buckled down, finished writing the book, found a publisher, chose a cover design, and here I am today, a few weeks from holding the book in my hands.

Wait On God Cover (1)

Here’s proof that God’s Word is true!

Now I want to challenge you.  I challenge you to step out on faith and dare to walk in the destiny that God has for you. What dreams has God placed in your heart and what ideas has He inspired in you? It’s time to live it out. If anybody should be experiencing the good life, it should be you, child of God. I am not a prophet, but I want to encourage you with these words. You will succeed in fulfilling your dream. God will bless the works of your hands. And the next idea you see becoming a success will be yours!