By: Jillian Sawers
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2107/the-daily-guardian/15
Dated: March 1st, 2025

When we have a deeper understanding of our own and others’ personalities then our relationships have the potential to be smoother and more rewarding. However, deeply understanding our personality has more far-reaching benefits than those. We can achieve a fully rounded and balanced personality, and enjoy the liberation of being able to truly express ourselves. It gives us the ability to behave in the truest way in whatever scenario we find ourselves in. Just considering one part of our personality as ‘me’ is simply one dimensional – true self-expression is vast. 

As long ago as Hippocrates (460 BC), four main types of personality have been recognised, and in Hippocrates’ case, medicine and treatment of ills, were based on the four types. Although the personality is a complex set of thinking and behavioural patterns, we can look at the four main types, for ease of analysis. The terminology has changed over time, but basically, and simplified:

Extroverts who are task based – Rulers

Extroverts who are people focused - Entertainers

Introverts who are people focused – Relators

Introverts who are task based - Analysts

Ideally, all teams would have all of these types, and within us, ideally these elements of personality would be balanced. Through life experiences, we have veered to one of these types, in a more extreme way. This has occurred because of fear.  We have looked outside for ways to achieve what we needed, because we could not find it within. The ruler is powerful, but when looking outside for power, becomes rude, aggressive, pushy, a control freak. The entertainer can be warm and charismatic, but when looking outwards becomes impulsive, procrastinates, does not follow through, become bored. The relator can be easy going, diplomatic, calm and a peacemaker. When fearful and looking outside, becomes a people pleaser, passive/aggressive, slow to lead. Their strength is love, their weakness is attachment. The analyser wants to get things right, is thoughtful, pays attention to detail, is conscientious and a problem solver. When looking outside and fearful, becomes obsessive, fussy, difficult to please, sees only problems and is suspicious.

The block to accessing the full spectrum and therefore a balance of the personality types, is the ego, fear. We have played many characters in our lives. We may be dominantly a ‘relator’ in this lifetime, but we may have been a ‘ruler’ in many other lifetimes, and this is a lifetime for experiencing another shade of personality, with the aim of balancing the whole personality. It is in meditation that we can detach from the ego, from the fear, and from one idea of ‘me’. We can experience that we are free of a limited personality and affirm our spiritual personality. Our spiritual personality, is the same for all of us, the pure essence:

I am powerful

I am truth

I am loveful

I am perfect

As we begin to experience the qualities or personality of the soul, we can begin to express it with spiritual strength, at the time it is needed. We can be powerful when needed, we can be warm and charismatic when needed, we can be the peacemaker when needed and pay attention to detail when needed. We have all the shades of personality within us, and it is through meditation that we can bring our personality into balance and strength. There will be no fear because we are finding the strength from within.

Jillian Sawers is a professional self-development trainer and has a YouTube channel called ’The Department of Silence’. She is based in Mount Abu, Rajasthan, at the headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris.