Have you ever thought about your personality traits?

I’ve learned over time to understand how I think.  I’ve been placed in situations where I come across information that I’ve had to evaluate and make a decision from.

It makes me wonder how other people see situations, instances, information or crisis actions.

The general questions are:

• Good news or bad news first?
• Half full or Half Empty?
• The best: first or last?  

What kind of mindset do you possess? 

I’ll share how my brain/personality seems to work.  I’ll answer the question above (maybe just to learn more about myself).

Examples:

I always want the bad news first.  I want to know what is going wrong.  I find that I want to deal with the problem…now.  I want to see if I can resolve or start the process to eliminate the issue.  In a sense, I want to stop the bleeding.  Once resolved, or on track for (possible) resolution, I then feel free to look ahead and try to make things better.  Somewhere along this process, I want to “good news” to see how that fits into the current issue/process.

I generally find the glass half full, but only in the sense that I seem to have the drive to fill the glass back up.  I don’t believe I feel as though I’m missing the (top) half empty part of the glass.  Maybe I just feel there is half a glass to fill up.  Though, sometimes I also think, just because “a” glass is half full, that doesn’t necessarily mean the glass was ever, or ever will be full.  Not everything in life needs to be perfect/full.  I live by a life-calming statement of “everything has a ding.”  Nothing is perfect.  No need to try and make everything perfect.  I just try to enjoy the best of what I can do and accomplish.

No surprise to me, I tend to save the best for last.  I will get the bad stuff (work/tasks) out of the way so I can then enjoy the good stuff.  Thinking about the FI lifestyle, this is one form of delayed gratification.  I don’t believe waiting for the good stuff is required, but I do think the intentional decision in the selection process may be just as valuable.

My grandma would ALWAYS grab dessert first at any buffet.  She decided to start with what she enjoyed the most.  I always thought that was awesome.  She did something that was so far outside the norm (salad, entrée, dessert) without any regard for what others thought.  Also, she always a full selection of dessert choices.

Balance:

So I wonder, get the bad out of the way and save the best for last?  Take advantage of the best now since we never know what the future will bring, or if it will even arrive for us.

How do I balance my inherent nature for delay (wise) gratification with a life optimization mentality?

As a fairly risk-averse person, I guess I will try and continue to take care of the issues/planning and aim for the good stuff while keeping a very close eye on the future and making sure I’m not sacrificing future stability for immediate gratification.

See, nothing is easy when you try and break things down and really think about them.  Enjoy your life, enjoy your days.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.