Strengths

Limitations

Your Personality Style as a yellow

As a YELLOW, you consider life to be a party that you’re hosting. You are highly inclusive of others and genuinely believe the philosophy of "the more the merrier." You get great pleasure from engaging others and rarely find yourself in circumstances where you feel like a stranger in a crowd, even if you are new to the group. You engage others easily and with a flare that becomes almost addictive to them. The more they are with you, the more they want to be with

As a communicator, you often steal the show with your lively dialogue. Quick on your feet and highly articulate, you love the rapport you instantly establish with others. People often feel like they have known you forever after meeting you for the first time. You pay attention to people and are so easy to talk to that people often share far more than either of you bargained for. You like quick exchanges and tire easily if topics become dull or laborious. You are highly persuasive in your arguments and bring an engaging presence wherever you go.

There are many challenges that threaten to limit your ability to engage with others at a deeper level. The first, and most common, is your unwillingness to give up your freedom. You love being able to move as you wish, wherever and whenever you desire, which makes commitment rather challenging. If you stay with a particular career path for any extended period of time, you often discover success. Many of your fellow YELLOW colleagues jump ship at first sail and never develop their professional depth in terms of legitimate respect from others in their field. Nor do they spend the necessary learning time to achieve intellectual excellence before bounding elsewhere.

You prefer to move through life with a short attention span for a myriad of reasons. One significant reason is that you lack strong self-regulation. This often creates a difficulty in people being able to trust you to show up when promised, and may become an issue of respect. Oscar Wilde, the famous playwright, must have been YELLOW because he said, "The only trouble with living is that it is so daily." You can do anything for a day, but this consistency thing is enough to drive you to distraction.

A second reason for moving through life with a short attention span is your perspective on how life should be lived. You see life as a buffet with far too many succulent offerings to stay in any one place for too long. Your child-like wonder is delightful and inviting to be around, but can become a serious impediment to your life success if you allow it to become childishness —in other words, all play and no pay! Your greatest ally in beating the odds is becoming disciplined and finding healthy ways to enjoy the moment while making honest bank deposits (emotionally, physically, financially), such that you can draw against them legitimately in the future.

A father once said this about his YELLOW son: "Jack failed at everything in life but living!" The "Jack" referred to was John F. Kennedy, Jr. who had an obvious zest for life. He failed the bar exam and struggled in his marriage, but is forever remembered in our hearts as a man who knew how to enjoy life. What a tremendous gift as a YELLOW. You arrived on earth with your willingness to share life so abundantly. Every day is yet another opportunity to feel life. You squeeze every minute out of every day. You love experiencing life in a timely fashion, so very little of your attention is ever spent on the past or the future. You relish the "here and now."

You must discipline yourself to do certain rituals daily in order to develop the necessary muscle that life requires of adults. You must fight the urge to ignore the easy route conveniently offered you on every front because of your engaging personality. YELLOW rarely think of the long term consequences of their actions. They can become frustrated when it’s time to pay and would rather continue to play. Growing up means becoming responsible. It can be a real wake-up call. YELLOWS need structure in order to pace themselves successfully in life.

You are uncomfortable receiving negative criticism, especially when it is given harshly. Hearing that others do not approve of you or find you superficial and untrustworthy often drive you to those who can’t seem to get enough of your charming ways. You listen with your heart and have tremendous instincts about people, but you must be willing to listen when it feels personal and unfriendly. Learning to accept the truth and live by solid principles will not limit your abilities to relish life’s many curiosities. Living by truth actually frees you more than ignoring it. For you, freedom is second only to fun in your driving core motive. Treat it wisely, because the loss of freedom for you would be devastating.

You are a lucky soul. You love the world and the world loves you back. You wake up every day happy and invite others to share your enthusiasm for daily life. You seem to have an answer for whatever life sends your way. You are gifted with resilience and often baffle people with your ability to bounce back and see life so positively. You are the sunshine, which can sometimes become the glare, in others’ eyes as they observe you navigating life with such apparent ease. One of your most enchanting gifts is how easily you value others with whom you work—this may explain how you travel so well through life.

You have a strong need for attention and being praised. You relish knowing that others adore you and enjoy you, such that you are vulnerable to playing to the wrong people simply in an attempt to hear what you most like to hear. You have a tender heart and hide it by superficially, entertaining others who rarely pierce your veneer to see your sensitive soul. You are highly guarded on deep issues but talk freely about matters that don’t hit too close to home. Once another has seen behind your curtain, it bonds you intimately for life.

You often appear so nonchalant that people think you don’t care about anything. Nothing could be further from the truth. You need emotional connections. You need a great deal of attention and appreciate physical affection. You often enjoy touching others and being touched. For you, physical contact is often the most direct, comfortable, and intimate connection. Being liked and popular is important to you, and you find holding court or being at the center of attention very comfortable.

You bring a remarkable ability to live life abundantly, engage others comfortably, and play in the rain. As an adult, you will continue to bless so many lives if you have created a system for abiding by truth and making legitimate bank deposits in the areas of emotional health. You love people and they love you back. Loneliness will come only if you neglect to share your enthusiasm for life with others and fail to move to a disciplined consistency, so that you can trust yourself and earn the respect of others. Life without you would truly be a life without the sun. Once you are gone, you will leave a dark void, reminding the world of all the magic you invited others to experience by your side. The world is yours if you will simply remember it isn’t only all about you.

Quick Lesson on Motives:

1. Motives are the innermost reasons behind your behavior and form your innate personality. 2. Your driving core motive influences your behavior and acts as the lens through which you see the world. 3. Driving core motive is not linked to heredity or environment. 4. You have only one core personality, driven by one singular core motive, though; you may have strengths’ and limitations from more than one color.

As a YELLOW, you are motivated by Fun. This does not mean that you are constantly looking for a party. (Although you usually do know where to find one!) You are instinctively happy and gravitate to people and situations that provide carefree adventure and playful interactions. Even under the most serious of circumstances or daunting tasks, you seek an element of personal fulfillment and "spontaneous enjoyment" in the experience. Spontaneous play and genuine "in the moment" fun are not merely important to you—they are as essential to your very being as eating.

Every YELLOW is different and unique. While you may not possess all the intricate nuances of the YELLOW personality, all YELLOWS share the same driving core motive of Fun, which determines how you see and interact with the world around you. Only people with the same innate personality fully understand how central the driving core motive is to their very being. It is like breathing. It is innate and natural. No driving core motive is positive or negative in and of itself. Driving core motive simply reflects what is most crucial to every individual who shares the same color personality.

YOUR ROLE AS A light weight

As a YELLOW you are considered to be a "light weight" among the personalities. Both YELLOWS and WHITES represent the personality light weights, defined as such for their constant refusal to be controlled by others. Simply stated, you do not care what others think is the best thing for you to do or way for you to live. Right or wrong, you want to make your own decision and live your life on your terms. In fact, light weights will even make "wrong" choices just to make a point to the REDS and BLUES that they refuse to be controlled.

Both heavy weights and light weights are critical to the balance of life. REDS and BLUES are classified as heavy weights sole because they spend their entire lives trying to control others. Remember that life is all about relationships. Your ability to understand the roles played by each color will greatly enhance or seriously sabotage your skill in building meaningful relationships with others. You will find yourself more successful by picking your battles and seeking other’s best interests, instead of denying the value of other’s influence in helping you make correct decisions. That said, you enjoy a quiet resolve to live your life independently and in your own unique style.

Relationships are more positive when each personality acknowledges their nature and works to enhance others as well as themselves. Neither is right or wrong. It’s more about motive and timing. For example, there are times when YELLOWS and WHITES would perform better allowing themselves to be controlled and REDS AND BLUES need to let go of their need to control and be right about how everyone needs to live their life. Both need each other. Both bring styles that enable them to survive in life and contribute to the well-being of others. You would do well to embrace the gifts that both light weights and heavy weights bring to the spectrum of relationships.

DO YOU HAVE A SECONDARY COLOR? -YES , blue….

As a core YELLOW with a BLUE secondary, you are driven from a strong emotional orientation. You enjoy life with an artistic flare and are prone to taking "side trips" in order to appreciate more fully what others miss. Emotion is your greatest strength and can be your greatest limitation. Life is not just about completing tasks, although you are very committed and able to do so. You see life being more about meaning and people than mere task completion. For example, at work you enjoy the camaraderie involved in task completion much more than simply doing your work. You enjoy team involvement and process of the journey as much as completing the task and arriving at the final destination.

People like you and feel drawn to open up to you emotionally. You are always up for a good conversation and find negotiating relationships an important part of your life. You take the time to share yourself and hear others’ stories. You are very capable of doing quality projects but can get sidetracked with unnecessary interruptions or emotional side trips. You are highly motivated by others’ adoration. Life is best experienced in your heart rather than in your head. If you can’t feel the interaction, it has much less importance for you. You are highly intuitive and are able to sense another’s agenda when you engage them. While your engaging style appears to be more superficially you are adapt at reading nuances about people with great accuracy and depth.

You often open up to others rather quickly only to become frustrated when they judge you or when they refuse to share themselves. You remain rather naïve in your willingness to trust others and can be deeply hurt when you discover they are less legitimate than they initially present themselves to be. You need people and yet can become easily irritated by their demands on your time or lifestyle.

Remember that people may find your changing emotions difficult to accept. They may distrust you because they don’t know how you are always going to react. Commit to living life optimistically, but keep your wonderful sense of appreciation for doing things with quality and continue to enjoy emotionally intimate relationships. You have the benefit of experiencing life with tremendous emotional diversity, as long as you select the best traits from your blended personality.

The breadth and diversity of your personality provides ample opportunity for you to express yourself artistically. You enjoy both creating and accomplishing. You have a strong "wing span" and see life from a broad range of perspectives. On the other hand, you can set yourself up for internal struggles with your internal diversity. Your personality sometimes seems conflicted because of your vast variety of emotional reactions. You may take on a project with a YELLOW flare only to exhibit the BLUE traits of guilt and inadequacy when you realize that you are unable to complete the assignment after you truly see what it entails.

You may then flip into YELLOW again with great enthusiasm for what you are being asked to do and use your BLUE tenacity to complete the work. It is a highly volatile roller coaster ride, which is often hard enough for you to understand, let alone those around you. Once you learn to work your very different (but highly emotional) orientations, you can successfully smooth out the ride for yourself and others. You have to be kind to yourself and learn how to look at your challenges in life from a logical perspective.

Application Activity

You may or may not feel that you necessarily possess all of the needs and wants listed above. Therefore, cross out the needs and wants that don't quite seem to fit you, and circle the top two or three that you feel are most critical to you. Remember, even though there are only four major personality types, no two yellow are exactly alike. Needs and wants do tend to fluctuate somewhat from one person to the next, especially when a secondary color is present. It is a healthy practice to communicate your top needs and wants to those with whom you are interested in creating a more dynamic relationship.

Stay Congruent

Now that you know who you are, as defined by your driving core motive, you can focus on "being you" more consistently. This concept we call congruence ("acting in harmony with who you innately are") strengthens your self-awareness. When you get out of bed in the morning, isn't it nice to know that the sun is going to rise in the east? We value congruence and our knowing that some things, and people, remain constant. Part of your being effective with others is demonstrating consistency in who you are when you interact with them.

In the process of personal development, congruence comes first by working on getting comfortable with "you" before you move on to developing positive character traits that you don't naturally possess. Trying to grow without first coming into harmony with who you innately are, would be like the Wright Brothers trying to fly without first understanding the laws of physics. Becoming a better "you" by adding to your personality is crucial, but don’t forget the power of your core personality or minimize the value of who you are by deviating from your core altogether. To do so would be extremely limiting to you and your life.

Personal Development Tasks to Consider as a Core yellow

The following list includes action items for you to pursue in your personal life that will help you improve who you are en route to better relationships. Identify what you should START doing, STOP doing, and CONTINUE doing as a yellow to reap more happiness and success in your life.

START

• Following through on promises you make to others
• Prioritizing what you want to accomplish and managing your time effectively
• Creating a structure where tasks get completed

STOP

• Ignoring the importance of details
• Taking the shortcut and do things right
• Excusing yourself for irresponsible behavior (e.g. missed deadlines)

CONTINUE

• Your enthusiastic promotion of others
• Being inclusive of all people and departments
• Using your social gifts to maintain strong customer relations

START

• Setting a routine and practice consistency
• Disciplining yourself to do the right thing even though you don't want to
• Visualizing your future and what you need to do to get there

STOP

• Your impulsive behavior
• Interrupting people in conversation
• Scattered busyness; focus on meaningful activities instead

CONTINUE

• Enjoying living in the moment (nobody does it better!)
• Laughing at yourself and entertaining others
• Waking up happy everyday

START

• Taking your significant other more seriously
• Paying attention to details in the relationship (e.g. remembering birthdays, anniversaries, etc.)
• Demonstrating your love by doing the difficult things that aren’t much fun

STOP

• Making promises you don’t intend to keep
• Thinking everyone is enjoying you as much as you are
• Expecting your significant other to compensate for your irresponsible shortcomings

CONTINUE

• Sharing your heart
• Being spontaneous and playful on dates
• Promoting hope and optimism in life situations

WHY COLOR CODE YOUR LIFE ?

When was the last time you saw yourself for who you really are? And, we're not talking about the typical mirror image of yourself, your likes and dislikes, your behavior in any given situation. No, we're talking about who you innately are, what drives you, what makes you who you are. Like an internal mirror, your Color Code Personality Profile reveals the truth about who you are inside. It reveals your innate strengths and limitations, your needs and wants, where you are less likely to succeed. What's more, the cutting edge insights from your personal profile not only reveal who you really are, but they teach you how to leverage your unique personality to enhance the quality of your life.

While personality profiles only explain what you do, the Color Code delves deeper to determine why you do what you do by uncovering your driving core motive, the innermost reason why you do what you do. Instruments that describe simply what you do (behaviorbased) aren't telling you anything you don't know already. In order to improve your life and relationships, you need to understand why you do what you do (motive-based).

Your results from the Color Code will add insight into your life. Your profile takes what scholars at Oxford University regard as the most revolutionary and correct personality theory in existence today -the Color Code- and uses it to provide you with a complete guide to enhancing the quality of your life with the gift of self-awareness. Your Color Code Personality Profile reveals who you innately are. This enables you to understand why you choose certain behaviors, and teaches you how to leverage your unique personality to enhance the quality of your life in just a single sitting.

Recent studies in Emotional Intelligence (EQ) demonstrate that your EQ is four times more critical to your success in life than your IQ. Emotional Intelligence identifies five critical areas of development: self-awareness (Color Code offers you valuable accurate insight into yourself and others), self- regulation (WHITE gift), motivation (RED gift), empathy (BLUE gift), and social skills (YELLOW gift). Understanding your color code and the gifts from each of the personality colors will give you demonstrated advantages in your life. You will discover each of these gifts as you embrace the process of becoming Charactered with the help of specific diagnostic tools we offer you.

WHAT COLORS ARE IN YOUR LIFE?

The Four Basic Core Color Descriptions

When we see a photograph in which we are included, we typically will look first at ourselves. Once we have located ourselves in the picture, we will then look at the others with whom we were photographed. This tendency to look at ourselves first will also exist as you read this report. As you discover yourself, you will find it more intriguing to see how "photogenic" others are who play significant roles in your life. You will not be able to resist applying this new knowledge to your peers, boss, spouse, or children. The following is a very brief synopsis of what all personalities look like so that you are better able to see all those included in the "photograph" of your life.

What follows is a description of the four personality colors. The characteristics outlined are based on the respective driving core motive of each personality color. (Incidentally, when a person is referred to as being a particular color, this should not be misinterpreted as a reference to race or color of skin. Each of us should be color blind in that regard.).

REDS are motivated by POWER. Power simply means moving from point A to point B. These people seek productivity and need to makes things happen. REDS typically think they know the right thing to do. Subsequently they often want their own way in getting things done. They like to be in the driver's seat and willingly pay the price to be in a leadership role. REDS value whatever gets them ahead in life, whether it is in their careers, school endeavors, or personal lives. Whatever REDS value, they get done. They are workaholics. Selfishly, however, they often resist doing anything that doesn't interest them or offer personal incentives.

REDS only value approval from others whom they respect. They seek validation for their practical approach to life, and the ability to enhance the bottom line. REDS would rather be respected than loved and if they can't respect you, they will struggle to love you. REDS are confident, proactive, and visionary, but can also be arrogant, selfish, and insensitive. When you deal with REDS be brief, factual, direct, AND show no fear!

BLUES are motivated by INTIMACY. Intimacy means genuine connection and sharing between people. They need to be understood and appreciated. Everything they do is qualitybased. They are loyal friends, family and business associates. Whatever or whomever they commit to is their sole (and soul) focus. They love to serve and give of themselves freely in order to nurture others' lives.

BLUES come with distinct preferences and have the most controlling personality. While REDS think they are always right, BLUES know they are! Their personal code of ethics is remarkably strong and they expect others to live honest, committed lives as well. BLUES don't lie and struggle intensely when others lie to them. They enjoy sharing meaningful moments in conversation as well as paying close attention to special life events (I.e. birthdays and anniversaries).

BLUES are dependable, thoughtful, and analytical, but can also be selfrighteous, worry-prone, and moody. They are "sainted pit-bulls" who never let go of something or someone once they are committed. When you deal with BLUES be sincere and make a genuine effort to understand and appreciate them for their depth of connection and commitment to quality in life.

WHITES are motivated by PEACE. Peace means harmony with clarity and acceptance in diversity; it is the absence of contention. They are extremely kind and value that from others. They resist confrontation at all costs. To them, feeling good can be more important than being good. They are typically quiet by nature, process things very deeply and objectively with great clarity. Of all the colors, WHITES are the best listeners. They respect people who are direct but recoil from perceived hostility or verbal battle. WHITES don't want to control others and resist being controlled as can be evidenced by their silent stubbornness or passive-aggressive ways.

WHITES need their "alone time" and crave independence. WHITES want to do things their own and in their own time. They ask little of others and resent imposing too intensely of them. WHITES are much more resilient than they often appear. They enjoy hearty endurance and a strong competitiveness, but they don't easily reveal their feelings. WHITES are eventempered, diplomatic, and the voice of reason, but can also be indecisive, (just ask one where they want to go eat!) unexpressive, and emotionally detached. When you deal with WHITES be kind, accept and support their individuality, and look for non-verbal clues in order to accurately identify their feelings.

YELLOWS are motivated by FUN. Fun means being in the moment and enjoying what you are right now regardless of future consequences or expectations of others. They are personally inviting and embrace life as a party that they're hosting. They love playful interaction and can be extremely sociable. They are highly persuasive and seek instant gratification. YELLOWS need to be adored and praised. While YELLOWS are carefree, they often hide their emotional sensitivity and remain on high alert to others' agendas to control them or negatively judge them. YELLOWS typically carry within themselves the gift of a good heart but can become self-centered con artists if undisciplined in their lives.

YELLOWS need to look good socially, and friendships command a high priority in their lives. YELLOWS wake up happy! They are articulate, engaging of others and crave playful adventure. Easily distracted, they can never sit still for long. All YELLOWS could easily be diagnosed ADD. They need to be managed behaviorally or they struggle with focus. They embrace each day in the "present tense" and choose people who, like themselves, enjoy a curious nature. YELLOWS are charismatic, spontaneous, and positive, but can also be irresponsible, obnoxious, and forgetful. YELLOWS live by the motto, "If you don't want me, you can't have me." When you deal with YELLOWS take a positive, upbeat approach and promote light-hearted, creative, and fun interactions.

Filters Impact Your Self-Expression

Despite the remarkable accuracy with which your driving core motive describes your personality, you will always remain uniquely yourself. Numerous "filters" affect self-expression within each of the four colors. For example, consider introversion versus extroversion. Some yellowS are introverted (their best energy comes from being alone) while other yellowS are more extroverted (their best energy comes during interaction with others).

Other key factors, which are less significant than driving core motive, but are relevant in creating your unique personality include: intelligence, birth order, gender, religious upbringing, family environment, and cultural forces."

Demographics

Our studies indicate that while different cultures promote and value different colors (core personalities), the general population in each culture runs true to the following percentages:

These percentages vary widely by profession because certain job responsibilities and performance expectations match better (or worse) with various personality types. People are naturally attracted to work that best suits their unique skills and personal preferences. For example, REDS are reflected as a higher percentage of CEOs while YELLOWS have higher representation among Fire Fighters. Any color can be successful in any career, but certain colors find different careers more appealing and easier to achieve success by the very nature of their innate personality fitting easily with performance expectations for the job.

NEXT STEP: BECOMING CHARACTERED

When you look at the personality profile results, it is important that you remember that your profile does NOT put you in a box. It only creates self-awareness, the starting point of positive change. Also, the traits that you see listed under each category were what you came with innately (your nature). You may have already begun to change some or even many of them by choices you've made in your life.

Here are some important principles for you to remember:

1. It is NEVER wise to give up your driving core motive. While it is essential to move away from the limitations of any color, it is just as important to keep "the good stuff" as well. In other words, be true to your personality core, but seek to develop the strengths of the other three colors as well.
2. Whether people around you are familiar with the Color Code or not, they will sense that something is not right about you when your actions stem from limitations outside of your core color. Work on eliminating these limitations first.
3. Get feedback from others, because they typically will see you more accurately than you see yourself.
4. This is a process, not an event. Do not expect to change overnight. The best way to be successful is to consistently work at making progress, no matter how small it may seem. You can get there if you want to!

The key to becoming Charactered can be found in one powerful phrase: Do your work. Doing your work requires paying attention to the parts of your personality that needs fixing (what inadequacies are limiting you, what limiting characteristic traits do you need to overcome, etc.) and spending the time and effort to make those fixes.

People do not typically see who you are inside. They see you for what you are on the outside. They see how you behave. Becoming Charactered means finding positive antidotes from other personalities to replace limitations in your innate personality. Doing your work is vital to getting over yourself because it entails accepting that being who you innately are isn't necessarily the standard that everyone should seek to attain. You must develop the discipline to value the strengths of the other colors and seek to cultivate them yourself, if you want to achieve true success in life.

People behave in four basic patterns. They are Charactered, Healthy, Unhealthy, or Dysfunctional. If people fall under the Charactered pattern, they are exhibiting positive traits outside of their core color. In the Healthy pattern, they are exhibiting positive traits inside their core color. In the Unhealthy pattern, they are exhibiting negative traits inside their core color. In the Dysfunctional pattern, they are exhibiting negative traits outside their core color. In other words, Charactered and Healthy individuals seek to build on the strengths of their personality, while Unhealthy and Dysfunctional individuals let their limitations dictate their lives.

While we may operate in all four patterns at any given time, most people commonly find themselves in one of three blends of these basic patterns. They live predominantly in the realm of Charactered, Healthy-Unhealthy, or Unhealthy-Dysfunctional.

The more Charactered you become, the more valuable you are to yourself and others

WHAT'S NEXT?

Watch for the Hartman Character Code. You can prepare for this by reading Color Your Future by Taylor Hartman, Ph.D.