Assertive Personality Types: Adulting Superpowers and Projects

Identity traits act as umbrella traits over all the other traits that are included in a person’s personality type. The Assertive Identity trait offers a relaxed, confident influence over the other traits in a type. You might assume that bringing confidence to the table of adulting would end the story. How can confidence not make adulting easy? But there’s more to the story than that.

Let’s look at a few advantages and disadvantages of the Assertive personality trait as it relates to adulting. But before we start, if you don’t know whether you have the Assertive trait or not, follow this link to our free test to find out.

The Adulting Superpowers of Assertive Personality Types

These will make things easier for adulting Assertive personality types.

Confidently Striding into Adulthood

As might be expected, Assertive individuals would probably not have a lot of fear or concern when it comes to taking responsibility and showing independence. They likely already assume that they’ve got adulting covered. Attitude always comes in a little handy when a person is trying new things.

Assertive personalities are not likely to fear making mistakes as much as their Turbulent counterparts do, and they’re more likely to brush off any mistakes that they do make. They would much rather keep moving in a positive direction. There are some pros and cons to this. The pros are that they simply jump into the pool before testing the water temperature. They see little need for hesitation and can start adulting on a bolder note. Adulting is all about taking action. We’ll look at some of the cons in the next section.

All Things in Perspective

Assertive individuals may not see adulting as anything worth mentioning. It needs to be done. You do it. That’s the end of the story. What’s all the fuss about? Assertive individuals are not likely to see adulting as some stellar event. It’s merely something to be managed, not conquered. Piece of cake.

This allows people with the Assertive Identity to fold the acts of adulting into their lives with more ease. Rather than spend a lot of time worrying about all the implications, they are more likely to step forward and simply adult.

Potential Adulting Projects for Assertive Personality Types

Nobody is perfect. Everybody needs to pay attention to the obstacles in their lives and maybe even turn some into projects for improvement.

Everybody Needs a Little Guidance

One of the problems with confidence is that it’s not all that far from overconfidence. Assertive individuals are always dealing with that line. They mustn’t assume too much, and consulting with others can help them avoid overreaching. One of the things Assertive people might assume is that they know what they’re doing when, on occasion, they might not have a clue.

With adulting, this may come in the form of not asking for help or clarification when you need it. Despite being basically willing to ask for help, Assertive personalities may not really see a need to do so. With some things, that may not be such a big deal. So your white clothes came out pink because you thought it would be fine to add your new red shirt to the laundry. It’s not great, but it’s also not tragic.

But suppose you’re confident about the retirement program that you put all of your savings into. That is, until you see your broker being taken away in handcuffs on the six o’clock news. Maybe stopping and getting some advice before sinking all of your money into a scam could have saved your savings. Asking the right questions to the right people can be extremely valuable when adulting. And Assertive people may need to remember that confidence isn’t necessarily the same as competence.

It’s Easier If You Spot the Problems

Similarly, Assertive personality types are sometimes so sure of the direction they’re headed in that they fail to see potential problems. This can apply to adulting as well as other things in their lives. If the assumption is that everything is just fine, they can potentially keep making similar mistakes over and over again. Adulting involves growth – particularly the growth of a habit. If Assertive individuals overlook problems, they may miss opportunities to grow. On top of that, they may miss the same opportunities again and again.

As an Assertive adult, you might want to keep an eye out for the problems that lurk everywhere. It would be unusual for any endeavor to be completely problem-free – it’s just a matter of how many problems and the degree of their impact. Being aware of this and intentionally looking for difficulties can help moderate an overly optimistic perspective that misses some harsher but essential realities.

Final Thoughts

Confidence? Yes. Overconfidence? No. Confidence can be a driving force that accelerates all adulting efforts. It gives those attacking the tasks of adulting some mojo to work with. But overconfidence can limit valuable awareness, and that leaves the overconfident missing essential details and problems.