Are There Nutrient Deficiencies In Your Personality?

While recovering from a cycling injury, I found myself watching a lot of YouTube videos about bikepacking (a cross between backpacking and mountain biking), an activity currently out of my reach. Like a nutrient deficiency, I realized there is a connection between my personality type and where I seek comfort.

I was injured earlier this spring in a cycling accident. My right leg and knee in particular was messed up and all I could do was sit with my leg elevated and binge watch TV to stave off boredom.

For reasons I later learned are tied to my personality, most of what I watched were YouTube videos about bikepacking. I've never gone bikepacking before and never really gave it much thought until I became injured.

Like a kid stuck inside with a cold watching their friends play outside, I became hyper-focused on an activity that was out of my reach.

I became obsessed with learning all that I could about bikepacking. I watched "Best of" videos that compared different bike types and brands. Others discussed what gear to choose and how to pack all of it on your bike based on the terrain, weather and duration of your trip. Even more videos were adventure logs where people narrated videos and snapshots of their multi-day rides in remote areas.

I pored over topographical maps looking for roads and trails where I could explore and plan my own adventure. Visions of multi-day bikepacking trips in remote areas filled my head. I even stood in my garage, analyzing the available space, wondering where I could store another bike.

Why did I suddenly become so focused on an activity that barely occupied more than a few moments of my thoughts prior to my accident?

Similar to craving salty snacks after a sweaty workout, I realized that I was attempting to replenish a psychological nutrient that was closely tied to my particular personality.

Nutrients of Your Personality

When I completed the Core Values Index™ psychometric assessment, I learned that I am a 27-Innovator, 17-Banker, 15-Builder, and 13-Merchant. In conversation, I'd refer to myself as an "Innovator/Banker" or simply a "profound Innovator" (any score 25 or above, with a maximum of 36, is considered profound).

The primary Innovator component of my psychometric profile dominates my personality. I love to solve problems, and when I feel the current problem has been adequately solved, I get bored and want to move on to the next juicy challenge.

Like someone craving potato chips when they've been sweating a lot and depleting their sodium levels, I was seeking out a new problem to solve that was based on the very thing I couldn't do: cycling.

The part of my personality that needs the most attention — my Innovator's drive to solve problems — is the part of me that needs the most soothing when it's neglected.

What is Your Drive?

When you complete the Core Values Index psychometric assessment and read your report, you'll discover which of four primary personality types called core value energies dominates your personality.

Some people have well-rounded psychometric profiles with relatively equal amounts of two or more core value energies. In that case, what feeds their psychological needs is more diverse, but that energy and drive is still there when they're feeling emotionally depleted.

Your core value energies really come into play when you're feeling stressed or when those energies are neglected. In fact, you can often guess with surprising accuracy what someone's primary core value energy is based on how they react to conflict.

Core Value Energies

Here are brief descriptions of the four core value energies and the kind of activities they crave when depleted. Remember that your psychometric profile, the DNA of your personality, is comprised of a combination of all four, each in a particular ratio. It is your specific CVI profile coupled with your life experiences that makes you unique.

Your personality's DNA is comprised of a particular ratio of four personality types called core value energies.

As you read these descriptions, reflect on how much of them are represented within your personality and how you react when that core value energy is feeling neglected or depleted.

Builder

The Builder core value energy is all about power and action. People with lots of Builder energy in their CVI profile enjoy getting things done and checking things off of lists. When your Builder energy is feeling neglected, you will likely feel antsy and impatient. You will want to get up and make things happen. It will be your urge to "work the plan" and check things off your to-do list. Sitting around and doing nothing will make that craving even stronger.

Merchant

The Merchant core value energy is all about connections with others and bringing them together toward common goals. When your Merchant energy is feeling neglected, you will want to reach out to friends and family and reestablish those connections. Your feeling of being disconnected can make you feel lonely, unwanted, or even unloved (or unworthy of being loved). Your Merchant's response will be to reassure and rebuild those connections through communication with those you care about, ideally in person. Isolation will make that craving even stronger.

Innovator

Innovators like to solve problems. They love being the greatest source of wisdom in the room, always ready and able to find the best answer to the toughest challenge. When your Innovator energy doesn't have a problem to solve, you can feel restless and impatient. You will seek new projects, something you can sink your teeth into and find the best solution. Planning a new project will feel like manna from heaven. Sometimes just figuring out a more efficient and less painful way to hobble from one side to the room to the other without using crutches can be appealing to your restless Innovator's soul.

Banker

Those with a lot of Banker energy are driven by the need to learn and gather information and knowledge. Being able to say, "I have the data you need," is one of their greatest joys. What's going to stress out your Banker core value energy? Either not having the required knowledge or being unable to acquire it. When your Banker energy is feeling neglected, you will seek out sources of new knowledge and information. A new research project will be like gold. You will read voraciously, perhaps some new topic to which you've never been exposed. You might binge-read Wikipedia, where you consume copious amounts of data and detail.

You Seek What You Lack

Like the metaphor of seeking nutrients that you are missing in your diet, your personality is much the same way. Builders need to get things done, Merchants need to be connected and feel loved, Innovators need to solve problems, and Bankers need to gather data and information. These are the primary drivers behind each core value energy, and when those drivers are not being met, you will seek out activities that feed them.

If you find yourself focusing on a particular activity more than normal, give some thought to the underlying cause. You may be feeding an important part of your personality that is feeling depleted or neglected.

Core Values Index™ and CVI™ are trademarks of Taylor Protocols, Inc.