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The Gas That Drives the Car- Motivating the 4 Temperaments

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Most people are familiar with the 4 temperaments
At the risk of oversimplification, here is a brief overview

Sanguine - tending to be happy and carefree, socially outgoing, can have strong emotions but they get over it fast, sometimes needs help staying on track
Choleric - strong drive, task oriented, often likes to be in charge, strong emotions often tending to anger, strong sense of justice
Melancholic- introspective, natural tendency to contemplation and prayer, tendency to see the negative, strong emotions that run deep, introvert, does not want to be the center of attention yet sensitive to slights, real or perceived, - sympathetic to the needs of others
Phlegmatic- calm, easygoing, emotions are light and easily gotten over, sometimes needs help getting motivated

We all have a tendency to one or a combination of these temperaments.

Another book treated of the temperaments in a slightly different manner;
it classified the temperaments as sanguine, choleric or melancholic and gave each a "hot" or "cold" quality. (the "cold" sanguine being what would otherwise be called the phlegmatic)

So for instance, the "hot" sanguine is more of a Tigger personality, whereas the "cold" sanguine is Pooh bear.

A "hot" choleric would be more loud, center of attention leader type, whereas a "cold" choleric would be a quiet, calculating strategist type of leader

The "hot" melancholic,likewise, would have a lot more to deal with emotionally than the "cold" melancholic

Any book on the 4 temperaments usually has tips on raising and motivating children and this could be applied to any person who wishes to pursue their own goals;

Sanguines typically are gung ho to get going, but need more direction on how to stay on track and persevere
Cholerics need to see the fairness and justice in how they are treated. If they can see the good sense behind a course of action they will be more likely to cooperate
Melancholics need to be guided gently, with encouragement
Phlegmatics are typically slow to start, and need help and encouragement to keep going

It occurred to me that this might be why some people find a certain book or program great while another might be turned off. Sometimes it's not the ideas themselves but the presentation of those ideas that makes all the difference. Some writers just "click" with us more than others.

Another element to motivation would be whether the person is male or female. Men seem to take the "boot camp" type of "in your face" exercise programs in stride and while there are programs for women like that, I have yet to meet a woman who likes that approach.
My daughters used to take Taek Won Do. Emphasis on "used to". Needless to say, their teacher's well meant intentions to motivate by intimidation backfired.
More recently, I have seen for myself that some motivational books can be interesting, informative and chock full of good advice, but just a bit "off putting".
Realizing that gender and temperament can play a role in motivating can be helpful in "interpreting" a book. Sometimes the message is great. We just need to reword it to ourselves so that we can use it to our advantage.

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