Detailed Summary

The book Personality isn’t permanent is written by Benjamin Hardy. In his book, he has motivated the readers to believe that they can improve themselves at any time and at any age. We need to start making an effort and understand our flaws. When you know your weaknesses, you can overcome them, and that’s when you start improving yourself.

Moreover, the author says that personality tests don’t define you. They only hinder your growth. They make you believe that whatever you are, you will remain like this forever. Whereas this mindset is completely destructive and should be avoided. The book forces the readers to break free from the thoughts and beliefs that limit their growth.

Personality Isn’t Permanent Summary Key Points

What are your thoughts about personality tests? Do you believe personality tests mold you? Well, this is scientifically proven that personality tests do not shape you. They only for one time. It is human nature that can be changed with time.

Besides, we love to do personality tests with the celebs we admire. But the results do not always define you, as the personality is not permanent. You can develop and change your habits and personality over time.

Although we love to check and see our personality tests, these are not what we actually are. We as a human can change the mindset and lifestyle we have dreamed about it. In this book, there are some realistic and factual truths about personality that you must be learned.

Five Destructive myths about Personality

The five myths of personality that keep you from being your best self are shared in the book are:

1. You can categorize personality into “types.”
2. Your personality is ingrained and unchangeable.
3. What happened to you in the past determines your personality.
4.  You have to discover your personality.
5. Your personality test results describe who you really are.

Let’s briefly dive into these and discover why they’re false.

Personality tests based on personality types aren’t scientific. To think we can categorize people is a fundamental distortion of the complexity of being human. According to science and the many experiences Hardy relates in the book, people can and do change.

Furthermore, studies suggest that your personality evolves substantially over time. Consider who you were ten or twenty years ago, and you’ll see how true this is. Because of prior traumas, the identity you believe you have, your subconscious, and your environment, you believe your personality is permanent. Why can’t the way we think about ourselves change as our perceptions of historical events do?

“Personality is not stable but changes regardless of whether you’re purposeful about that change or not.”
― Benjamin Hardy

Goals determine Personality

The author in his book Personality isn’t permanent says that you need to set goals in order to achieve anything in life. Your goals determine your personality, and it shapes your identity.

To better understand this, the author has shared his struggle to get admission to Harvard after serving 14 years in jail. He just intended to ascend the jail hierarchy by killing after his mistakes in his adolescent years got him locked up.

However, following what he describes as a “divine revelation,” he re-examined his aims, updated them to be healthier, and altered his demeanor. He says that your objectives guide every decision you make.

Look at three sources to determine the goals you wish to achieve to modify your personality, i.e., Exposure, Desire, and Confidence.

Open your mind to the possibilities that exist all around you. Take advantage of more opportunities to see what the world has to offer. Next, you must consider your desires because you will not do anything if you do not want to. If what you want right now isn’t healthy, train it by deliberately shifting it to something you know is beneficial.

Finally, you must believe that you can achieve your objectives, or you will not even consider them. If you want to break free from whatever limits your courage, go outside your comfort zone and be willing to fail.

You can also read the book Change Your Questions, Change your Life Summary.

Past doesn’t determine Future

“Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. said, “A mind that is stretched by a new experience can never go back to its old dimensions.”
― Benjamin Hardy

Nate, a young man, and his entire family had long struggled with their weight. When he saw his parents’ health concerns. He used to think about his future. And It’s not always easy to connect with your future self. When you contemplate if you want to preserve your current reality for decades, things become a lot clearer.

The book mentions four steps to determine the future you desire. The first step is to examine the future you haven’t realized you’ve resigned yourself to.

Consider your life at the age of seventy. Are you satisfied with how things turned out? Then, as if you’d already lived your entire life, you can write your own biography. Begin by asking yourself the following questions as you free-write. The final stage is to tell others and yourself your new tale as if it were already true.

Who would I recommend Personality isn’t Permanent Summary Book to?

The book is recommended to anyone who wants to improve themselves and needs to get rid of their toxic personality traits. The book will help them in changing their perspectives and their personality.