Are You an Athletic Personality?

 Are You an Athletic Personality?

     There are many ways to analyze personalities. Are you extroverted or introverted, etc.? But one way to group people that I find very fascinating categorizes people into four personality types.

They are:

1.     Social People (Spirit)

2.     Emotional People (Soul)

3.     Intellectual People (Mind)

4.     Athletic People (Body)

     Of course, we are all made up of all these parts, but one personality trait dominates and can define our relationships in every thing we do or don't do. When a patient has had injury, they will predominately see the injury from one of these perspectives. That perspective can help with injury rehabilitation and can get in the way of that rehabilitative process. There are positives and negatives to each of these perspectives. 

     Based on this classification, you have one primary focus/life force that comes easily to you. You are a natural at it, and you need to work hard at the other three areas to develop them. If you think of your friends or family members, you should be able, with a little thought, to know what type they are. I am an Intellectual Personality, my wife is a Social Personality, one co-worker is an Emotional Personality, and my sister-in-law Kathy is an Athletic Personality. We all have to work really hard at being well-rounded, developing the sides of us that do not come as easily. It is easy for me to sit here thinking and writing due to my personality, but I have to work harder at good physical health habits, being social, and expressing my emotions. See how this works? So, what is your basic personality type?

     Each of my patients come into the office with a different perspective on their injury. I have to get a feel for their attitude on their injury, based on their personality, and work with them from their center, not mine. If I approach all patients with my intellectual focus, I may not totally meet their needs. It is one of the dilemmas in medicine in general (or the people who write manuals on putting things you buy together!!)

     I try to approach an injury from all four aspects, at least until I know the patient well. When you approach an injury from these four personality types, you can achieve more success, since the patients will work with you. What is the social environment of their injury and rehabilitation? What emotions have been caused by their injury? What is their intellectual approach to this injury? What is their athletic approach to this injury? Here are more questions or considerations to help you assess your patients.

Social (Spirit)

• Does their injury affect them socially due to the pain?
• Do they work out alone or with groups better? 
• Does the workout affect them socially because of their physical benefits?
• How has their injury affected them psychologically?

Emotional (Soul)

• What emotional stresses does the injury produce?
• What is their emotional reserve to handle the injury?
• How do emotions play in their view of the injury?
• How do emotions play in their attempt to get better?
• Are they too scared to do things in rehabilitation to their detriment?

Intellectual (Mind)

• How much research are they doing to help themselves get better?
• How much are they analyzing what is working and what is not helping?
• How well are they logically progressing in their rehabilitation, or are they letting their emotions get in the way and ignoring pain?
• Are they over-thinking their injury?
• Are they not doing their rehab since they are spending so much time researching?
• How influenced are they by current fads?

Athletic (Body)

• How well do they understand good versus bad pain?
• Are they cross-training well when one activity is prohibited due to their injury?
• Are they allowing their knowledge base of their body to help in their rehabilitation?
• Are they exercising too much?

      Health care practitioners and patients need to look at injuries from different angles to speed rehabilitation. With many injuries, patients develop a team, each working from these different angles. A commonly seen team approach is when the physician takes the intellectual side, the physical therapist/personal trainer takes the athletic side, the patient takes the emotional side, and the patient’s friends, spouse, and teammates all take the social side. Success is on its way!!

This was an excerpt from my book "Secrets To Keep Moving: A Guide from a Podiatrist".