Understanding Type Three, The Achiever

People with Type Three personalities learned from a very early age to figure out what other people admired or respected and they have an amazing ability to reach inside themselves to draw out whatever is required to be a success. They work hard and continually motivate themselves to do whatever it takes to improve themselves. Usually highly efficient, they can produce twice as much as others. The problem is that quality is sometimes compromised for the sake of quantity, since Threes develop a tendency to evaluate themselves based on how much they have accomplished and how things appear rather than on the depth or substance of what they have produced.

Threes are engaging people who seem confident and self-assured in almost any situation. They have a knack for knowing how to dress for the occasion and others look to them as role models. While they can easily reflect the qualitites that are valued in their families, work groups, or culture, they have trouble looking within to discover who they really are once the layers of success are peeled away. Then the usually cool Three can become very emotional, image conscious and competitive. Sometimes they get in trouble with narcissism and believing that they deserve to have whatever they want.

Inside every Three is a child self that can be delightfully playful when it gets the attention it needs. If the assurance of loving acceptance is uncertain, this inner child becomes anxious and self-doubting. Because they believed that the love they received was conditional on their achievements, they are afraid of failing or of disappointing people. When they can accept their insecurity and learn to love themselves as they really are, their deep inner confidence shines because it is based in the knowledge that they are part of something bigger than themselves.

FAMOUS THREES: Bill Clinton, O.J. Simpson, Oprah Winfrey, Tiger Woods, Kathie Lee Gifford, Whitney Houston.