Self-Awareness
Money as Power vs. Money as Security: What Your Spending Says About Your Core Fears
Two people can earn the exact same salary and relate to it in almost entirely opposite ways. One saves obsess…
Editorial library
My Traits Lab Blog
Helpful articles about self-awareness, relationships, work style, emotional patterns, communication, and personal growth.
Self-Awareness
The Gambler's Mindset: Why High Openness to Experience Can Lead to Financial Ruin
You've watched someone brilliant, genuinely intelligent, talented, curious, make the exact same risky financi…
Self-Awareness
Philanthropy and the Ego: The Psychology of Why We Give (And Who We Tell)
You make a genuinely generous donation. And within minutes, you're deciding whether to post about it, wonderi…
Self-Awareness
The Workaholic's Wallet: Why High Earners Are Often the Most Spiritually Bankrupt
You check your bank balance and feel nothing, which is somehow more unsettling than feeling bad about it woul…
Self-Awareness
The "Sunk Cost" Career: Why Your Personality Won't Let You Quit a Job You Hate
You dread Monday by Sunday afternoon, every single week, without fail. You've been miserable in this role for…
Self-Awareness
The Eldest Daughter Syndrome: How Birth Order Shapes a High-Responsibility Character
You were managing your younger siblings' schedules before you were old enough to fully understand what a sche…
Self-Awareness
The Compliment Rejection: Why Positive Words Feel Like Inaccurate Data
You have just finished giving a major presentation at work, or perhaps you finally wore that outfit you spent…
Self-Awareness
The Routine Anchor: Why Small Changes Feel Like Huge Threats to Your Stability
You have a perfectly calibrated morning. You wake up at exactly 6:30 AM, you brew a specific brand of coffee…
Self-Awareness
The Doomscrolling Trait: Why High Neuroticism Feeds on Bad News
It is 11:45 PM. You are lying in bed, the blue light of your phone casting a pale glow across your face. You…
Self-Awareness
Identity Liquidity: Why Gen Z Personalities Feel More Fluid Than Previous Generations
You are talking to a younger coworker, a sibling, or perhaps you are a member of Gen Z yourself. One month, t…
Self-Awareness
Self-Compassion vs. Self-Indulgence: The Fine Line in Modern Self-Care
You've had the conversation. Maybe with a friend. Maybe with yourself, in the quiet of your own head. Someone…
Self-Awareness
The Mid-Life Mindset Shift: Why Our Personalities Recalibrate in Our 40s
There's a moment — and if you're in your 40s, you know this moment — when you look around at your life and th…