Ambitious. Aggressive. Competitive. Impatient. Perfectionist. Obsessive. Stubborn. Stressed. Workaholic.
How many times have you heard these words used to describe a type-a person? I’m willing to guess a million and one times. As someone who associates with the type-a person, I am here to tell you the things that maybe you don’t know.
Ambition is often rooted in fear.
It’s no secret that we type-a personalities try to conquer the world in one hour. However, what most fail to realize is that we set our standards to high because of fears we are running from. Personally, I have been running for the past 19 years of my life simply in fear. In fear of hardship and living in debt, I have chased riches instead of something most people wouldn’t trade for the world—happiness. So at 19, I am learning how to be happy again.
Passion is mistaken as aggression.
We are the go-getters. The ones that know what they want. We go forward passionately, and don’t stop until we have what is ours or we die trying. Others can mistake this as aggression, however, we know just what it is we are doing. We are chasing what we want with intent, dedication, and determination. While others sit and wait, we pursue the prize.Competitive… well…. That one’s just true.
Ensuring we are the best we can be at all aspects of our life is just in our genetic code. Seriously. That’s the only way to explain it.
Our impatience/inability to sit still is often driven by anxiety.
Often this is a misunderstanding. Though we seem put together and like we all have our ducks in a line, the truth is most of us suffer from mental health issues like anxiety and depression due to putting so much pressure on ourselves. Before I got a handle on my anxiety, I used to uncontrollably shake my legs while sitting or tap my foot while waiting in line. People used to literally push my knee down so I would stop shaking the table we were sitting at, and this carried into routine things most people found relaxing. I found myself doing this at family dinners, waiting in lines, during tests, and so many other places where it was often taken as impatience when in all reality it was a nervous/anxious habit.
Perfectionism arises from fear of failure.
Similarly to our ambition, we become perfectionists in fear of something, too. We do this in fear of failure. We are so scared to fail at something we attempt, that we obsess over it until it is perfect because we feel that if it is perfect in our eyes and everything goes as planned, failure is eliminated. So we nitpick and re-read and redo until it is molded to fit every shape, size, curve, message, etc. we see it as.
We are so dedicated to what we want that it is often seen as obsession.
Type-a people tend to get so focused, that our focus leads to obsessing over getting what we are working towards. We get tunnel-vision. All we can see is what we want and what we need to do to get there and we are going to do just that. That’s just the type of people we are. We get so focused sometimes that we are obsessed with that goal or final destination that that is all our mind is able to comprehend until we are at that spot.
Stubbornness stems from strong-will.
More often than not, stubbornness is used in a negative connotation, and more times than not, this is the appropriate viewpoint. However, when it comes to us, we aren't stubborn to be simply pig-headed. We stand by our beliefs and don't let the influence of others sway us in their favor.
Most of our stress comes from trying to carry the world and more on our shoulders.
As a type-a person, you often tend to put the weight of the world on your shoulders just by yourself. However, most people don’t know that we drop everything to help those we care about. I often find myself adding more weight to my load just to lessen the weight on someone else because I know what I can carry. Like a pack-mule, we pile and pile and pile until we can’t take another step because of the weight we are carrying. So yes, I am usually stressed, but I do it all with good intention. I can handle a lot of stress, so if I can help someone that can’t withstand their stress, I will help even if it adds a little bit more to my own.
Being driven leads to being termed as a workaholic.
Countless times I have been told I am a workaholic, and that I try too hard, and *insert statement here* when it comes to what I want. Suddenly, being driven is seen as a bad thing. If I am termed a workaholic for working towards my goals, dreams, and aspirations, then so be it. A workaholic I am.
So yes, I am ambitious. I am aggressive. I am competitive. I am impatient. I am a perfectionist. I am obsessive. I am stubborn. I am stressed. And I am a workaholic. But what is often overlooked is that I am fearful, passionate, anxious, dedicated, strong-willed, caring, and driven. But most importantly, I am just like you and everyone else. Above all, I am human.
