How to Make the Most out of Negative Personality Traits

As the old expression goes, “Nobody’s perfect.” You might have negative personality traits, but when you flip them around, you can approach your flaws with a little humor and come to appreciate their advantages.

In this article, we’ll show you how to make the best use of your worst attributes. Whether you’re only concerned for yourself, a constant daydreamer who can’t get their head out of the clouds or an unrepentant pessimist, you’ll see just how far your shortcomings can take you.

Your weaknesses don’t have to hold you down, and through an understanding of their benefits, you’ll leverage them as strengths — starting with these:

1. Selfishness

People-pleasers want to make everyone happy, and they often suffer for it. They’ll prioritize the feelings of another person over their own, a behavior which can lead them to perpetually apologize, clam up with confrontation and respond with an enthusiastic “Yes!” to almost anything that’s asked of them.

Selfish people don’t have these same issues. If you’re selfish, you likely care less about what people do or say. You can better block out distractions and focus solely on what’s ahead of you, ignoring requests from friends and family that would otherwise interrupt your busy schedule.

While it’s an inherently negative trait, selfishness has its benefits. Your impersonal demeanor allows you to say “No” without remorse, giving you more time to concentrate on your own pursuits. As long as you don’t let your dispassion show in an important job interview or intimate conversation, it’s an advantage.

To make the most out of your selfishness, turn your attention toward finances. You can save the money you don’t share with others and invest it somewhere else. It might prove lucrative to enter the stock market or purchase real estate to diversify your income.

2. Overactive Imagination

We’ve all lost ourselves in a daydream during class or work, and it’s only when a peer snaps us back to reality that we realize how much we’ve missed. Though it rarely causes a serious problem, if you lapse into your imagination often enough, you’ll gain a reputation as someone who doesn’t care.

Even if you’re invested in what your friend or boss has to say, an overactive imagination can take you elsewhere. You might be in the middle of a meeting and drift off when someone else is talking. When they ask you a question, you have no idea what they were talking about or what their question is referring to. Many occasions call for being present in the moment, and daydreaming doesn’t help.

That said, you can use your overactive imagination to incredible effect if you learn how to manage it — it sometimes can even increase mental performance. Some of today’s most prolific authors, for example, attribute their success to an overactive imagination, a tendency to daydream and drift into worlds of their own making. Approach this “flaw” with a positive mental attitude, and you can channel your creativity into art.

3. Pessimism

Some people are unable to see the silver lining. They only notice the gray clouds and feel the rain, always without an umbrella and without shelter when the weather turns. They’re self-proclaimed pessimists, quick with a comment about the worst-case scenario.

However, pessimism can be useful. Pessimists are inherently cautious, worried something might go wrong or that their plans will fall short because of an obstacle they hadn’t predicted.

To leverage this trait, make a list of every negative outcome to a project you’re working on and see how you can address them, ensuring success through foresight.

Whether you’re an optimist or pessimist, you can benefit from your perspective.

Don’t Ignore Your Negative Traits

Your weak personality traits are strengths when you learn how to employ them. It’s true selfish people are difficult to collaborate and communicate with, but they might have an aptitude for finances, and daydreamers might struggle to focus, but their imagination can lead them to amazing places.

Whatever negative personality traits you might have, they’re a part of your identity. Don’t ignore them. Use them.