Supportive traits are like great personal assistants that help us navigate through life’s challenges more smoothly. From handling day-to-day responsibilities to tackling complex issues, we often and consciously rely on these trusted aides—our supportive traits—knowing that they are capable and reliable at what they do. Ultimately, living in the absence of our supportive traits is akin to losing both our arms; we would struggle tremendously to function without them.

Your habits shape your identity,
and your identity shapes your habits.

James Clear

As our supportive traits come naturally to us, we tend to employ them effortlessly, as if we are writing and drawing with our dominant hand. Therefore, we often take our supportive traits for granted, not realizing how valuable they are to someone of a different archetype. If left unchecked, we might even run the risk of overusing them, preventing other parts of ourselves from flourishing.

Like our dominant traits, our supportive traits are simply facets of our personalities. Whether they are strengths or weaknesses is entirely dependent on the way we utilize them. If we cultivate and develop our supportive traits well, they can become valuable additions to our toolbox of super strengths. However, if we use them in an unhealthy manner, the same traits will ultimately lead to our undoing.

With a strong set of principles, one can solve even the most intricate of problems. Thus, Experts are constantly developing their axioms, ensuring they are as refined as they can be. Experts do so by keeping themselves updated with the latest breakthroughs and discoveries, knowing that the more knowledge they take in, the closer they are to the truth. Ultimately, Experts aim to form maxims that accurately reflect reality, enabling them to make optimum decisions in life.

Although Experts can devise great principles, their tenets seldom work for others. As independent thinkers, they prefer forming deductions without taking in any external perspectives. While they may believe that their frameworks are solid, in reality, they are all based on subjective reasoning. Hence, when compared with the consensus, their logic would sometimes be flawed and irrational.

In the extreme, some Experts might unknowingly form principles for self-gain. Always thinking on their own, these unhealthy Experts often use personal motives as the basis for axioms, causing their tenets to become extremely self-serving rules. Thus, as much as these Experts may think that they are living a principled life, in reality, they are simply deceiving themselves with false truths.

In times of calamity and periods of chaos, Experts will always keep a clear and level head. Their astute minds are able to give an accurate analysis of any situation, easily identifying the changing variables around them. This ability grants them a deep and clear understanding of the situations they face. Thus, they can easily deduce an optimal course of action, giving them a huge advantage in life.

But as clever as they may be, Experts tend to have a certain arrogance that irritates other people. Always assuming that they have it all figured out, Experts express their thoughts as if they are speaking the gospel truth. This overconfidence causes them to come off as condescending and pretentious. If left unremedied, people may feel repulsed by them, leaving Experts to live a life of loneliness.

Worse yet, Experts may proudly think that they have the technical know-how to do everything in life. Sadly, this mindset only places them in a bubble of ignorance, as such Experts will rarely consider people's opinions, preferring to handle everything by themselves. Little do these Experts know, they may be falling into a hole of self-deceit, preventing themselves from ever learning anything new.

Experts are well equipped with logical frameworks that enable them to solve problems systematically. They expend great effort to develop these frameworks, putting them through a constant cycle of trial and error. With each iteration, their frameworks become increasingly robust, allowing Experts to tackle any situation that crosses their path with remarkable precision, no matter the circumstance.

That said, Experts may get overly attached to their systems. They think that every problem has to be solved with a framework, sometimes force-fitting them into unsuitable situations. While these Experts may think that they are staying true to accurate methods, they are actually closing themselves off to better solutions. As such, Experts are only wasting time when things could have been done more efficiently.

Worse yet, some Experts may think that they are the only ones who know the right approach to everything. This is merely a delusion, as no single framework can solve all problems in life. When Experts fail to realize this, they will be extremely stubborn, rejecting anything that does not align with their thinking. Ironically, as much as they stand for logic and reason, such Experts will only appear irrational instead.

Thus far, we have explored both the Expert's dominant and supportive traits. In our jargon, these traits are known as one's heroic traits. Think about it, don't we all look like heroes when we put these traits to use? Not just wannabe heroes, but real ones—those who are truly powerful yet unimpressed with their own abilities.

Superhuman strength and the ability to fly are awesome superpowers that we all wished we had. But Superman doesn't pride himself in any of those abilities. To him, using those powers to save the world is just another day on the job. Similarly, even though we are great at our dominant and supportive traits, we do not find them the least bit amazing. From our perspective, there is nothing special about these mundane things that we do every day.

That said, as heroic as our traits may seem, no hero in the world is perfect. Even the most powerful heroes, such as Naruto, Thor, or Wonder Woman, have their own flaws and weaknesses. However, that does not invalidate them as heroes; it only makes them all the more admirable. The same goes for our own heroic traits. They may not be perfect, but our strive to improve them is what sets us apart.

I am not a hero. I just did what any
decent person would have done.

Miep Gies

When our heroic traits bask in the light, they will inevitably cast shadows—traits that we tend to neglect. Our shadows are foreign to us, as they are the complete opposite of our natural traits. Because we fear what we don't understand, most of us will subconsciously push away or suppress these parts of ourselves. Unfortunately, if we allow the fear of failure to overpower our minds, these suppressed shadows will eventually swallow us whole.

Nevertheless, shadows are not our weaknesses. They are simply parts of ourselves that we are unfamiliar with, and therefore, would rather avoid. But if we harness our shadows, they will eventually become our hidden strengths. It may be daunting at first to explore these dark and unknown parts of ourselves. However, with a curious mind and a compassionate heart, there's nothing to be afraid of. With that said, let us venture deep into the shadows within us.

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Shadows Within [Expert]