Aggression

Aggression mode supports people in being assertive, vital, taking a stand and being focused in the moment in their capacity to solve problem. While it can be used to suppress others, its highest, best use is to wake other people up to what they are not seeing. Tom Peters, a management consultant, is a good example of this quality. He is adventurous, a risk-taker, and you don’t know what he will do next. Aggression is also demonstrated by how many champion fighters possess this quality of being able to dynamically adjust to circumstances to assert their pre-dominance over opponents. In short, Aggression Mode permits individuals to naturally identify the strengths and weaknesses of others, and thereby demonstrate their capacity to prevail.

Individuals doing Aggression emphasize movement and flow. Typically, they are highly motivated in getting activity initiated. For this reason, they can be seen as short-tempered, unpredictable and even dangerous. Complementing this sense of danger, they also have a natural charisma that inspires people to participate in whatever activity they are doing. They are successful because of their ability to push forward and engage others directly, particularly when things are difficult. It shows up best in situations where they are able to be a leader catalyzing people to engage things that the people normally would have found to be fearful. It is useful for emergency rescue personnel and individuals confronting extreme situations to have a Mode of Aggression. They take a stand for themselves and operate in a way without compromise so that others are inspired to do the same.

Many explorers have a natural Mode of Aggression which allows them to push themselves farther than they believe they can go and be adventurous and risk-taking even when a rational perspective would tell others it is time to give up. They consider themselves doers and hate to be seen as passive bystanders. When operating in a natural Mode of Aggression, people only act for the good of the whole and not themselves. What is often misunderstood about the higher expression of Aggression, is that it is always for the common good. It teaches us to push beyond pre-conceived limits and to embrace larger options. This is why Perseverance Mode is the opposite of Aggression Mode. Aggression is and can be expressed in uplifting ways. While many individuals in our society are scared of Aggression energy, particularly Aggression imprinting, this Mode has gotten a bad rap because we are now “too civilized” for it. Individuals with a primary natural Mode of Aggression constitute only 8% of the world’s population, and approximately 18% do some form of natural Aggression.

Aggression imprinted individuals are fearful about assertive activity because, typically, they were at the affect of this in their lives. Usually someone was a bully and attempted to provoke them into taking action, believing that it was for their own good. This is particularly true, because natural Aggression sees it’s contribution as catalyzing different responses to the situation. This means that Aggression imprinted individuals are very careful around people that move quickly or take charge in a way that is direct and forceful. Ironically, their imprinting drives them to be hyper-vigilant which tends to trigger the same reactiveness in others. It is paradoxical that their imprint provokes them to unconsciously attack others, when in fact they despise anyone who is a bully. The difference between Aggression on a primary level and imprinted Aggression is how much they trust their inner drive to express themselves in activity. Aggression imprinted individuals can be identified by the belief that there is no appropriate time and place to be overly assertive, demanding and intense.

Those with Aggression Mode imprinting are more belligerent, obnoxious, and self-destructive in that they seek to be seen as tough externally and, therefore, put themselves in dangerous situations they do not know how to handle. Rather than acknowledge this, they focus their Aggression outwardly by making others wrong. They are often seen as self-centered, pushy, and as using others for personal gain, when in fact, it is mainly their isolation and indifference that causes this reaction. This imprinted Mode particularly irritates those with Goals of Acceptance, Submission or Re-evaluation because it is perceived as unfair and unneeded. With Aggression imprinting on top of a natural Mode of Aggression, people lose themselves in the drama they are creating. It becomes easy to justify attacking others because they feel attacked. With natural Aggression covered up by Aggression imprinting, it creates a situation in which the reaction feeds feelings of persecution, which stimulates natural Aggressive energy into activity that will end the threat. Aggression Mode imprinted individuals are the fastest to escalate a confrontation, when they are in fact unconsciously supporting such. This occurs because they do not see how their hyper-activity naturally provokes a visceral response in the physical presence of others. Examples of where this escalation is unconscious shows up in road rage or other hyper-competitive turf battles.

Primary Focus—Used to put a cutting edge on the personality, sometimes after many passive lifetimes, to take a stand, operate from beliefs, or support their survival.
Responsive characteristics—Dynamic, assertive, action and goal-oriented, adventurous, risk- taking.
Reactive characteristics— Belligerent, pushy, selfish, obnoxious, using others for their own ends, destructive, attacking.
Number of individuals primarily using this mode: 4%.
Examples: Humphrey Bogart, Mr. T, Tom Peters, Val Kilmer, Malcolm X, Werner Erhard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Robert DeNiro, John Belushi, Lucille Ball, Richard Pryor