Even as infants, our personalities are evident. Some babies are quiet, calm and submissive. Others seem to be born with a baseball cap on backwards saying: “Make me.”
There are two types of personalities: Type A and Type B.
Type A’s have a hard time relaxing. One guy’s New Year’s resolution was: “I’m going to learn to relax if I have to spend seven days a week, 24 hours a day learning to do it.” Now that is not relaxing.
Type A’s are the hard-driving movers and shakers. They think things like: “If I could do this in the microwave, I could do it more quickly.” I heard about a guy who put the VCR in the microwave and watched “Gone with the Wind” in 14 minutes. They switch from lane to lane on the highway and read their mail while talking on the phone.
Type A’s are very competitive. When Type A’s play in a church softball game, they want to beat the other team to death (in the name of Christian love, of course). If you play Ping-Pong and suggest playing just for fun — you know, just hit it back and forth — they think you’re a communist.
Every now and then they stop to smell the roses — then they decide to sell them for Mother’s Day. They finish people’s sentences, don’t listen well, make lists, and like to talk about how much they’ve done. Their conversation revolves around their accomplishments. (“Enough about me, let’s talk about you. What do you think about me?”)
I love to watch Type A’s in the grocery store. They get in the checkout line and, of course, it’s the lane that isn’t moving fast enough, so they switch lanes. Naturally, the lane they switch to will slow down, and the lane they left speeds up. Then they move between the two lanes — sort of in the middle — waiting until the last minute to see which line goes faster. I have some free advice for Type A’s: The law of lines says that whichever lane you are in slows down, and whichever lane you switch to slows down. Stay in the first lane — the rest of the world will go faster.
I guess you can tell that I have Type-A tendencies. I count the number of items in a person’s cart if she is in the express lane and go ballistic if someone writes a check in the cash-only line. Type A’s spend their lives in the fast lane. The final result is that they get to the end more quickly. They concentrate more on what they do instead of who they are and measure themselves by their accomplishments. They are in the express lane to burnout.
The other personality type is Type B. These people don’t burn out — they rust out. They write the checks in the express lane. They cause stress for the rest of us. They are so slow they get USA Yesterday. If they slowed down any more, they would be in reverse. It takes them two hours to watch 60 Minutes. They believe the problem with doing nothing is that they can’t stop to rest. They have no sense of urgency. They don’t have to bring up their accomplishments — they don’t have any. Relaxing in a recliner doesn’t make them feel guilty. A formal evening includes watching Wheel of Fortune with their shoes on. The only word processor they are familiar with is Vanna White. They aren’t full of stress, but neither are they full of success.
We are all traveling on the highway of life and trying not to fall into the ditch on either side — the ditch of over-achievement (burnout) or the ditch of apathy (rust out). Some of you are in the fast lane, some are in the slow lane, and some have managed to find the middle. This is neither the fast lane nor the slow lane, but the best lane. This lane — the Type-C lane, gives life to words like character, control, compassion, commitment, consistency, continuation and courage. The key to life is neither to burn out nor to rust out, but to last out. Finish the trip of life on the road that was designed for you.
So, for all the Type A’s, don’t forget the rest stops. (By the way, since most of you Type A’s are leaders, don’t forget the people you lead. You may be able to go 100 miles without stopping, while the people in the back seat just want to find the bathroom.)
And for all you Type B’s, don’t forget to make progress.
Let’s make sure we are in the right lane, and if we see people in the ditch, let’s help them out. No matter what your personality, you can take the road best traveled.