Mohamed Dosou™

Even after “settling down,” people continue to evolve - dramatically. This article explores why human beings transform over time: how events, mindset, narrative, and deliberate interventions reshape who we are - even into midlife and beyond. 1. Stability and Change: A Frame Around 40–60% of personality is inherited , limiting - but not defeating - our ability to grow. Early life sets a baseline; the rest depends on experience and choice. Large-scale studies confirm moderate rank-order stability (r ≈ .7); we stay who we are relative to others, yet mean-level shifts occur across the Big Five. With age, we tend to become more conscientious, warm, and emotionally stable, while extraversion, neuroticism, and openness often decline. 2. Life Transitions & the Midlife Tipping Point Major changes - such as marriage, divorce, promotion or career loss - can accelerate personality shifts. About 20–30% of people exhibit significant change per trait in their 30s and 40s. The So...

  “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson Personality isn’t set in stone. Throughout what feels like a single lifetime, many of us feel that we’ve reinvented ourselves - or at least, that the same self from years ago would barely recognize who we’ve become. Modern psychology confirms this subjective experience: while some core parts of our identity stay consistent, the rise and fall of circumstances, values, and emotions can transform how we think, act, and feel. 1. The Dual Nature of Identity: Stability & Change Genetics accounts for roughly 40-60% of what makes us “us” , with the rest shaped by environment, experiences, and choices. Big Five personality trait studies show rank-order stability (who is more extroverted than whom) remains fairly constant into adulthood (correlations r ≈ .66-.80), but mean-level changes (how extroverted we are on average) happen steadily across the lifespan. Generally, as peo...