Personality improvement often sounds like a huge life project, but it usually starts with small, everyday shifts. If you have ever wondered how to improve your personality, the truth is that our habits, choices, and environment quietly shape who we become.
Psychologists say our nature isn’t as fixed as we once thought. These personality improvement tips show how simple, unconventional actions can gradually change the way you think, feel, and behave.
KEY POINTS
- Personality is more malleable than many people believe, and intentional behavior can shape traits over time.
- Unconventional interventions—like using alter egos or curating your environment—can spark meaningful changes.
- Sustainable personality change begins with small, consistent actions that align with the targeted traits.
We often treat personality as if it’s carved in stone—unchanging and inherited. But a growing body of research suggests that your personality is more like clay: shaped by experience, environment, and even choice.
In fact, psychologists now believe that with intention and effort, you can change aspects of your personality in lasting ways.
Related: 6 Steps to Map Out the Life You Truly Want
While traditional approaches to self-improvement focus on therapy or major life shifts, there are unconventional—but surprisingly simple—ways to start transforming your personality today.
Here are five strategies that blend psychology, creativity, and everyday behavior to help you reshape how you think, feel, and act.
5 Strange Ideas for Personality Improvement
1. Use an Alter Ego
Think it’s just for actors or superheroes? Think again. Creating an alter ego—essentially a separate identity with the traits you wish to adopt—can help you bypass old patterns and unlock new behaviors.
Want to be more assertive? Channel your inner “Commander Claire” at work. Trying to become more emotionally open? Let “Empathic Eli” take the reins in conversation.
Research suggests that stepping into a role can temporarily boost traits like extraversion or openness, and over time, these enacted behaviors can become part of your core personality.
It’s not about being fake—it’s about practicing a version of yourself that aligns with your goals.
2. Design a “Personality-Boost” Environment
Just like we design spaces to be productive or relaxing, we can also design them to reinforce the traits we want to build.
If you want to be more conscientious, surround yourself with calendars, checklists, and cues of organization. Looking to be more creative? Incorporate color, novelty, and inspirational books into your space.
Environmental psychology shows that our surroundings subtly shape our thoughts and behaviors. The trick is to build an environment that acts like a mirror of your desired self—not your current habits.
For example, extraverts tend to have more photos of family and friends on their office desks and walls, compared to introverts.
3. Talk About Yourself in the Here and Now
“I’m trying to be more patient” sends one message to your brain. “I am a patient person” sends another. While it may feel awkward at first, using present-tense affirmations can create a kind of cognitive dissonance that nudges you toward behaviors that align with your new identity.
Don’t underestimate the power of narrative identity—the story we tell about who we are. When you tell a new story, especially in the present tense, you begin to believe it. And belief is the first step toward change.
4. Track Trait-Consistent Micro-Actions
You don’t have to overhaul your personality overnight. Instead, track one small behavior each day that reflects the trait you’re trying to grow. Want to be more open to experience? Try a new food. More agreeable? Compliment a stranger. More emotionally stable? Practice one moment of mindful breathing when stressed.
Over time, these micro-actions add up. In a landmark study on personality change, participants who set daily goals consistent with desired traits—such as being more extraverted or less neurotic—showed real change after just a few months.
5. Borrow Someone Else’s Personality for a Day
Think of someone you admire for a trait you’d like to develop—say, your calm friend Rachel or your adventurous cousin Leo. Ask yourself: What would they do today in your shoes? Better yet, act as if you are them for a few hours. Walk how they walk. Speak how they speak. Respond how they’d respond.
It might feel like play-acting, but this temporary impersonation can stretch your behavioral range and make the unfamiliar feel more natural. Social psychologists call this “behavioral mimicry,” and it can help you rehearse new patterns until they feel like your own.
Related: How Can We Move Beyond the Limits of Our Self-Image?
Conclusion
Personality change doesn’t require a total reinvention or years of therapy. It begins with curiosity, small steps, and the willingness to try on new versions of yourself. As science continues to confirm, who you are today doesn’t have to be who you are tomorrow.
© Kevin Bennett, Ph.D, 2025
References:
Gosling, S. D., Ko, S. J., Mannarelli, T., & Morris, M. E. (2002). A room with a cue: Personality judgments based on offices and bedrooms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 82(3), 379–398. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.82.3.379
Hudson, N. W., & Fraley, R. C. (2015). Volitional personality trait change: Can people choose to change their personality traits? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 109(3), 490–507. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000021
Written by Kevin Bennett Ph.D.
Originally Appeared on Psychology Today
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