Acting out of character may not only be necessary sometimes, but it can be of benefit for us. Growing up, we experiment with lots of different things. ’Cause we’re exploring at that time, and although we do not fully stop exploring, we do settle into a character one way or the other. And then comes self-awareness… with hard work (though, not to everyone).

Self-awareness is crucial. It makes our lives easier and more meaningful. But here’s the catch. After some point, you have some risk of being rock solid in that character. And that may not be as good as it sounds. If your aim is to make things better, then calculated amount of acting out of character might be better at times. Because life is complicated. Your chance of impacting people is at high risk if you hold on to old patterns. In some cases, settling into a character might even be selfish.

And there’s also the snowball effect. You hold on to something for some time and it becomes part of your identity. So, along with recognizing your traits, you’ll assume that you have some traits that you don’t and vice versa. And that can get to a point where you’re just fooling yourself.