Several years ago when I began to write this book, a very intuitive friend of mine told me, “The book you’re going to write is not the book you think you’re going to write.” At the time I had no clue what she meant by her uncanny remark. But she was right. The book you now hold in your hands is certainly different from the one I set out to write. My initial intent was to introduce cutting-edge information about a simple personality system that helps people understand who they are and find the work they love to do. This knowledge became the catalyst for my own mental, spiritual and emotional healing, which gave me the courage to discover and pursue the work I love to do. This book is based on my personal experience and insights, as well as feedback from some who I have counseled.
  In my early days as a career counselor, when students would ask me to help them find the work they should do, I would take them literally. It didn’t take long to realize they were really asking much deeper questions, such as, Who am I? Why am I here? What is the purpose of my life? What was I born to do? Where do I fit?
  Many fine books already on the market deal with the nuts and bolts of the job hunting process, how to write a résumé, how to interview, and where to find particular kinds of work. My focus differs by first tackling the age-old issues of knowing who we are and our purpose — internal issues of self-discovery and meaning — before applying that knowledge to the task of finding your ideal life’s work.
  For as long as I can remember, I have been able to see the natural potential in others, but for years I didn’t have a name for it. I was frustrated, because I didn’t know how to explain to other people what I knew. Still, it was clear to me that innate qualities in each individual motivated them to think and behave in particular ways. Everyone has unique and special characteristics that have nothing to do with one’s race, religion or level of education.
  Why is it that some people have the incredible ability to connect and interact easily with other people, while many do not have this gift, yet possess remarkably curious minds that are storehouses for a wealth of information? Why are some people gung ho for life without worrying how they’re going to get where they’re going or what will happen when they arrive, while others seem almost paralyzed without first developing a detailed plan to get from point A to point B?
  As a counselor, I have discovered a way to show others what these traits are and how to use them to find their own unique niche that brings them satisfaction in their work.
  In 1988, I discovered the True Colors Personality System™ and began to use it in career counseling to identify the natural potential in people. True Colors™ was designed in 1979 by Don Lowry, combining four colors with four distinct personality types. He presented his program as a stage production with actors playing the roles of the four personalities.
  I became a trainer for True Colors, teaching many professionals and non-professionals in the United States and Canada how to use this system. In 1989, Don Lowry and I co-authored a workbook, How To Express Your Natural Skills and Talents In A Career, which integrates the True Colors Personality System into the career decision-making process.
  As a career counselor, I had long encouraged others to choose work that would bring out their passion. With True Colors, I now had a tool to show them how to do this. My college career-planning classes became very popular as students not only figured out what they wanted to do with their lives but also understood themselves and their relationships better than ever.
  My personal and professional success with True Colors inspired me to write this book. It spoke to my heart like no other personality system had ever done and I knew I was on to something good that could change lives.
  Classifying individuals according to four main personality types is not a new idea. The eminent physician Hippocrates described four dispositions or temperaments — choleric, phlegmatic, melancholic and sanguine — as long ago as the fifth century B.C. Eastern astrologers devised a system that used four natural elements, air, water, earth and fire, to create the trigons that comprise the twelve signs of the zodiac. Native Americans divide their medicine wheel into four Spirit Keepers, and the four central desires of Hindu philosophy, pleasure, success, duty and meaning, delineate four aspects of human nature.
  In the modern era, Carl Jung’s landmark work Psychological Types reaffirms the ancient belief in fixed patterns of behavior. According to Jung, each of us is born with a particular basic personality and our goal is not to be like anyone else, but to become our “best self.” Despite its powerful influence, Jung’s typology was not adaptable to everyday use until the relatively recent development of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which sparked a renewed interest in personality theory.
  Modern-day psychologist Dr. David Keirsey, in his book Please Understand Me, explains the relationship between the four temperaments and the sixteen Myers-Briggs Types. Keirsey labels the four temperaments as the Apollonian, the Promethean, the Epimethean, and the Dionysian.
  The genius of Don Lowry was to simplify further the language used to discuss personality and replace the complicated labels with simple colors: blue, green, gold and orange. Suddenly, what had been a complex information system available only to professionals was now easily understood and used by anyone.
  You are about to embark on an incredibly exciting journey. Through the True Colors process you will uncover your positive attributes and learn how they already suit you for work you will love to do. Once you have recognized your true colors, you’ll understand why some careers are natural extensions of who you are, while others will never fit — and in fact, might harm your spiritual and emotional well-being. The final steps in this process are to help you overcome your fear, define your mission, and set your course for expressing your true self through a meaningful life’s work
         Carolyn Kalil

Prologue

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