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Push the Boundaries of Your Personality
Maximize your contributions in fulfilling new ways
When I was 16 years old, doctors told me I had a rare and catastrophic genetic mutation, one that would lead to cancers in multiple organs.
Within a year, I had lost all sight in one eye to large tumors. The doctors said I would almost certainly face cancer in several other places, from my kidneys to my spine. For someone born in my generation with this mutation, life expectancy was about 40 years.
I am now 44. Just as the odds suggested, I have spent the past 25 years battling pancreatic cancer, adrenal tumors, kidney cancer, and several spinal tumors.
My condition gave me a sense of urgency to make the best use of my time. None of us truly knows how much more time we have. As a result, I have been trying to figure out how all of us can reorient our efforts toward making the most substantive contribution possible over a lifetime.
My extensive research and exploration have led me to the following conclusion: We need a whole new way to think about our life’s work. Think of it as moving from “You are what you do” to “You are how you help.”
Which brings me to another crucial learning: There is no good reason to believe you’re simply stuck in a role that you’ve come to realize doesn’t suit you. This means redesigning your job — and, to some extent, yourself.
Pushing your personality
A topic of never-ending debate is the degree to which talent and personality are fixed versus developed over time. Let me be clear on my take: People do change over a lifetime. Sometimes a lot.
Research has shown that we can deliberately push the boundaries of our personality and that doing so doesn’t take all that long. A review of 207 studies found that interventions designed to change specific personality traits yielded results within six months, on average. Which means there is no good reason to hold back from pushing yourself to move into a career you think you’d find more fulfilling but worry you may not have the right personality for.
All the personality tests I’ve taken over the years, for example, have labeled me an introvert. I don’t dispute…
