Typical Phlegmatic Temperament Major Weaknesses And Strengths:
First off, let’s consider some of the phlegmatic’s temperament strengths that enables them to navigate through life and succeed in their marriage, career, leadership and interpersonal relationships.
Phlegmatics has got some strengths and qualities that often enables them to succeed in various fields of life. Top among them, is their calm, peaceful, gentle and quiet nature. This qualities makes them easily likeable by people, plus their congenial dispositions that often helps their interpersonal skills and relationship with people.
It’s for this reason that predominant phlegmatics could easily find favour before any other temperament. However, they are the temperament that are more easily dominated and often taken advantage of, by other temperaments in their relationship because of their simplicity and quiet lifestyle.
In terms of their marriage and career, their loving, caring and commitment lifestyle to the good and well-being of their families, plus their peaceful and very organized qualities often helps their families to remain organized and bonded to one another.
When it comes to their career or jobs, phlegmatics are the most diligent and dedicated people. They take their routine jobs very seriously, and do it with calmness, without any noise and colour. If you need a very diligent and loyal employee, a phlegmatic is the best person to work with.
When it comes to leadership, a typical phlegmatic is a very passive leader. He’s rarely forceful, high-handed and bossy like his choleric counterpart. Because of their organized, congenial, adminstrative and calm qualities, they could be entrusted with some leadership positions.
But rarely do they stick out their necks to vie for leadership, unless they’ve got another more ambitious and self-motivated, plus socially active temperament of almost equal ratio with their basic phlegmatic temperament.
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Let’s now consider in details, 5 Major weaknesses of phlegmatics that often affects them in life:
Phlegmatics are the most gentle, quiet gracious, and efficiently organized individuals among the temperaments, and these attributes consequently makes them easily likeable.
They may not have to encounter much problems in their marriage and in interpersonal relationship with others, since they’re more often than not dominated and subdued by others in the relationship. But just like every other temperament phlegmatics have their own major weaknesses which among other things, often affects his personal success in life.
Phlegmatic’s weaknesses mainly affects his personal success, that is reaching the height of success he’s meant to attain in life as an individual and most times in raising his kids.
And it could be further worsened if he’s been influenced negatively by weaknesses of other temperaments like the sanguine and melancholy. In this post, we want to consider some five major weaknesses of a typical phlegmatic that negatively affects his personal success in life.
5 Major Weaknesses of Phlegmatics:
1. Lack of Motivation:
This is one of the major weakness of a phlegmatic which limits him in life. A phlegmatic is ill-motivated or lacks the self-motivation to push himself up to stepping on the first rung of the ladder of his personal endeavor and success, outside his success in career or job.
He often restricts himself by being comfortable in his comfort zone, and he could remain confined to that zone as long as he’s happy and relaxed. He may desire something or have big dreams, but he’s the least motivated person to dare going for it or taking a step towards realizing his dreams.
Many phlegmatics dies with their dreams, desires and aspirations not fulfilled, while some lives never to accomplish them if they dare taking the first step because they lack the determination to persist. He often becomes a spectator in life, because he’ll rather watch things happen or watch others do what he’s got the opportunity to do, but failed to do it.
Never tell a him about your big dreams and visions, because his first reaction and disposition will be very discouraging for you to go ahead with it. Many phlegmatics do not achieve tremendous success in doing great and extraordinary things in life, because they lack self-motivation, which consequently makes them believe that they can’t, unless they’re consistently pushed.
They could be successful in their career and rise to executive levels in their jobs, but rarely do they achieve personal success outside their jobs and careers. Unless they’ve got a secondary temperament like choleric or melancholy at almost equal ratio or proportions, they’ll hardly motivate themselves to achieving much more than they could have achieved in life.
2. Indecision:
Phlegmatics like their name implies are very slow and sluggish in character, being lackadaisical and painfully docile is also not uncommon for them. Sorry, if that hurts, you don’t need to be hurt or displeased because that’s just your nature and everyone needs to understand that.
This attitude permeates into every aspects of a phlegmatic’s life, even in taking decisions. Phlegmatics are rarely decisive people. Eventhough the buck stops on his table, he will rather delay or procrastinate in taking a decision until everything gets worse or bastardized.
He’s not prompt in making decisions since he needs to get everyone to agree with and support him even in the most critical situation before he can take any decision. A phlegmatic is rather reactive than being a proactive individual, he’ll often wait and watch things happen and gradually go very bad before he’ll begin to seek opinions and advice from people on what to do. This trait no doubt negatively affects his success in life, especially when entrusted with leadership, where others looks up to him for guidance and direction.
Apart from a melancholy who comes close, who always wants to get all the facts and details before arriving and sticking to his decision. A phlegmatic for no obvious reasons, often by act of procrastination, delays deciding on anything as long as the situation hasn’t gone so bad, and also if he’s presently happy and relaxed. But if phlegmatics can be more prompt in making decisions and be proactive rather than reactive, they’ll make very good and effective leaders.
3. Lack of Vision:
As long as a phlegmatic is relaxed, happy and comfortable in his present comfort zone, he thinks of no other thing than to make everyone happy and comfortable, and everywhere conducive and organized as he can. He’s not a visionary individual. Thus, big and extraordinary achievements often eludes him.
I’ve known many phlegmatics who had opportunities to do big and very remarkable things for themselves and the society at large, and reach the zenith of success in their endeavor, but they let all those opportunities slip and couldn’t make use of them to transform lives, or at least make themself a force to reckon with, because they lack vision and are contented with their little successess and achievements.
Lack of vision has hindered so many phlegmatics from achieving big things. Whereas, other temperaments like Cholerics and Melancholies have utilized the same opportunities to transform lives, turn things around and had become very renowned personalities in the world because of their personal achievements.
But if phlegmatics will deliberate about learning to not be contented with little successess in their comfort zone, but have visions of achieving or accomplishing big and uncommon things, they’ll be happier and more successful.
4. Lack of Determination:
This is another weakness that also hinders phlegmatics from climbing the next rung of the ladder of success in life. He could take the first step towards achieving his goals or visions if he’s got one, but he’ll within a very short while backtrack or succumb to some little pressures, challenges and unforseen circumstances immediately he encounters any, along his way.
A phlegmatic easily yield to pressures and challenges more than any other temperament, because he does not want anything to be a source of conflict to him, especially in his relaxed and excited mood.
Unless he’s trained never to bow to pressures and challenges or has another secondary temperament of either melancholy or choleric, which are more determined than his basic phlegmatic traits, and which must also be in almost equal ratios with his primary phlegmatic temperament, he’ll find it very difficult holding on to what he believes in.
5. Fear of the Unknown:
Phlegmatics are like oysters, overly secured but not creative. For to live creatively, one must be able to stick out his neck and tread on unknown paths. But rarely do phlegmatics stick out their necks to tread on paths unknown to them or they are totally unfamiliar with.
Phlegmatics likes the already known and treaded paths and often sticks to it, until he’s forced to go through the paths unknown to him in order to accomplish a task. Predominant Phlegmatics are overly conscious of their security and safety, and they’ll rather not go to people, places or environment that they’re not familiar with just for the fear of what they might encounter.
He often sticks to himself and his environment. This attitude more often than not affects his success in life, and makes him miss so many valuable opportunities to become exceptionally successful. Fear of the unknown, taking risks, and also attempting to do something new or different, had obviously made many phlegmatics miss some valuable opportunities to better their lives.
If phlegmatics could be a little bit more flexible and open to attempting something new and different, they will become more creative in their approach to things and also more successful in life.
How Can Phlegmatics Overcome Their Weaknesses?
In one of my previous post about how to manage your temperament weaknesses, I stated the fact that influence is one major way everybody could be able to manage the various weaknesses associated with their temperament. When we interact and relate amongst ourselves, there’s every possibility that we could influence one another, one way or another.
As a typical phlegmatic, by making other temperaments who has got strengths that typifies courage, self-sufficiency, decisiveness and determination as your close friends, you’ll basically be influenced by their strengths. And the best temperament that has got such strengths, is a typical choleric.
As a phlegmatic, by relating and interacting frequently with someone who has got choleric as their primary temperament, you’ll no doubt gradually reduce the impact of your temperament weaknesses on you. And the choleric person will also learn to be a more organized and considerate individual. This is exactly the way influence shapes our character.
In addition to that, and to further help you to not only managing your temperament weaknesses, but to also see if you can totally overcome it, I’d like to recommend Spirit-controlled temperament by Tim Lahaye, to you. This book helped me in my early days when I was seriously battling with self-persecution and low self-esteem as a melancholy.
From the spiritual angle, the book will help you to completely overcome some of the weaknesses associated with your temperament, and make you a better person. The book is available on Amazon online store.
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Personality Traits and Temperaments. 