Personality traits are simply labels that summarize typical patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. For example, some people tend to interpret situations pessimistically, while others naturally expect things to work out. Some react quickly with irritation when they're inconvenienced, whereas others are more inclined to assume good intentions. Some people plan ahead meticulously, while others rely on last-minute bursts of effort.
Despite spending the last 15 years studying behavior change, personality development, and developing evidence-based treatments, I still feel the pull. Why? Because wouldn't it be wonderful if meaningful change were quick and easy? The idea that a single insight, habit, or system could instantly transform how we think, feel, and behave is deeply appealing, especially when we're tired and overextended (which, of course, we are as the holidays come to a close).
The idea that personality never changes once you reach adulthood continues to be challenged by study after study. There's one big problem, however, even with the most sophisticated study, they use the wrong measure of personality. The well-known Five Factor Model, or Big Five, with its scales that measure neuroticism, openness, extraversion, conscientiousness, and agreeableness, wasn't designed for anything other than one-time, stable measurements.