Metal element personality types can be blunt or cutting but never ambiguous. They are the keepers of standards and source of aesthetic values.
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Reading time: 6 minutes
To begin to understand Metal Element personality types, picture the people you see straightening pictures, even in public places. (I confess I'm one of them.) Or the people who stress if others at work don't follow the rules.
Metal element personality types are also the people who ensure that their architectural designs meet all safety requirements, while greeting the world with breathtaking beauty.
While they might seem cold, they feel deeply. They are the keepers of standards and measures, the source of aesthetic and moral values.
This article on Metal element personality types provides insights into how to understand this most demanding and precise of personality types.
Blunt and to the Point
Metal can either be blunt or cutting, but it is never subtle or ambiguous. Everyone’s family or office seems to have someone with excess Metal.
In this person’s voice, compliments sound negative, criticism is easy, and anything less than the best is failure – or at the very least, worth bitter complaining.
Metal types may genuinely care and love but be unable to emit the slightest warmth or concession. Some professions require a highly developed Metal element, such as pilots, estheticians, plastic surgeons, lawyers, judges, and accountants.
At the same time, while a benefit at work, these Metal types may have a hard time switching gears and relaxing their evaluations during their free time.
Qigong exercises that balance the metal element with the other elements can help metal types relax.
Metal Element Personality Archetype - The Alchemist
Alchemist types embrace transmutation in their pursuit of the perfection of form and function. Through their power of discernment, they distill what is good and pure from what is unrefined and primitive.
In their efforts to extract order from chaos, they fashion the environment so that people perform their tasks with elegant precision.
Defining and refining, the Alchemist types are the keepers of standards and measures, the source of aesthetic and moral values, the defenders of virtue, principle, and beauty. They are the masters of ceremony and discipline.
They keep themselves serene, detached, unflappable. They instruct others in the meaning of ritual and doctrine, providing the structure that enables people to elevate everyday tasks to a place of greater meaning.
Metal Element Personality in Harmony
When in harmony, or balance, Metal types have self-control, cultivating and refining both personal and professional skills. They can grieve thoroughly and then move on to other emotions.
Metal element personality types in balance maintain boundaries, enabling them to listen or help without controlling the pain of others. When they need to change, they have the discipline, consistency, and strength of character needed to evolve, even through some suffering along the way.
Metal is also calm and collected. These alchemist types shine when negotiating, interrogating, evaluating, or critiquing. If you want the truth, ask a Metal type.
Also when in harmony, Metal types can recognize their flaws and accept criticism without a harsh reaction or plunging into self-doubt. They appreciate seeing the truth. On the reverse side, they cannot tolerate dishonesty or withholding. People in relationship with Metal element personality types need to honor this need for honest communication.
The Pain of Grieving and Assigning Blame
When out of balance, Metal element personality types may be unable to stop grieving. They may also be obsessed with signs of quality, rank, or prestige, to the point that the person, place, or thing has lost its intrinsic sensory nature.
Although no element personality is neutral, Metal element personality types specialize in extreme views, (right and wrong, good and bad, useful and wasteful). They struggle with forgiveness, fallibility, and the unpredictability of life.
Someone, somewhere, must be held accountable and take the blame for all this mess.
Furthermore, Metal element personality types can also be hard on themselves. They tend to blame and criticize themselves for any kind of mistake. Their criticisms run from the serious to mundane. For example, they will blame themselves for everything from selling stocks at the wrong time to burning dinner.
No flaw can escape their microscopic lens.
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Disappointment and Extremism for Metal Element Personality
When in excess, Metal types can have unrealistic expectations for themselves and others. After lashing out with scathing criticism, Metal types can feel weak and they can plunge into excruciating self-doubt.
Although Metal types’ high standards can produce growth and innovation, it can me hard for them to feel a sense of joy or passion in the process of creation. Plus, Metal types are easily disappointed.
In excess, Metal types hate to lose, and second place is just as bad. They become consumed by their reputation, rank, pedigree, or image. Every microscopic flaw looms large, and they criticize or insult themselves or others with fierce clarity.
When out of balance, Metal types can feel impatient and tend toward perfectionism. Addtionally, Metal element personality types may even force change through extreme measures, such as weight loss through laxatives, bariatric surgery, amphetamines, vomiting, or starvation.
Strengthened by Appreciation
Metal is strengthened by appreciation. When Metal types are valued for their virtue, ethical consistency, steadfast attention to quality and self-enhancement, and ability to downsize ideas and possessions, they feel happier.
They like and need praise, appreciation, and respect. Nothing makes Metal element personality types angrier than to be treated as a stereotype, lumped into a common category, dismissed as being inferior, or insulted for reasons that are untrue.
Metal types reading this description might have some negative reactions. That’s okay. They can take what fits and use any ideas that help them grow.
Since Metal types have high standards for their own behavior, they may not directly retaliate when people judge them incorrectly, but their self-esteem is easily injured.
To harmonize themselves, Metal types can expand and refine their skill sets. As they self-cultivate, outside validations matter less. When they appreciate themselves, they can even lost without a meltdown.
Physical Concerns for Metal Element Personality Types
Metal pertains to Wei Qi , which gives physiological, immunological, and emotional??
protection. When Wei qi is weak, the sniffles can become the flu, or an overheard comment can damage a Metal types’ identity.
Spicy foods stimulate Metal but can also be drying, leading to a sore throat, dry cough, or irritated sinuses. Although root vegetables can moisten Metal, when eaten in excess, they can produce dampness.
Ideally, Metal element personality types should not eat yang foods, foods that are heating like spicy foods, coffee, tea, alcohol, and fatty foods.
Metal types will balk at these recommendations, stating like they won’t be put into “food jail.” To help with this tendency, Metal types can consider lifestyle changes as experiments.
When they eat less meat, oil, or spicy foods, is their skin less red, itchy, or dry? When they drink water instead of caffeine (a diuretic), are their stools less hard, dry, and painful?
As they make connections between their lifestyle choices and symptoms, they become willing to adopt certain changes long term. If they cannot change, they may suffer more serious, long-term consequences.
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Reaching Metal Element Personality Potential
To reach their potential, these alchemist types need to approach their lives with a sense of curiosity. When they find themselves acting too rigid, they should experiment with "tweaking the formula" of their actions.
To illustrate, they can share their emotions in a safe way with someone they trust. From there they can assess how they feel about the experience. They can ask what worked and what didn't and refine their efforts in the future.
In addition, another way to explore is with their physical environment. If they work in a setting that gives them little ability to control what others do, they can feel stressed and react with intensity. This condition only worsens when people violate rules set by the company.
Therefore, these alchemist types should refine their personal space. Even if it means making their desk drawers organized with dividers, or elegant with pictures of beautiful things, they can create a space of control in the chaos.
Final Thoughts
The power of Metal comes from the capacity to shape and refine. Metal types need to compensate for their rationality, self-control, and meticulousness with passion, spontaneity, and social involvement.
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References
Beinfield, H. & Korngold, E. (1991). Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine.
Lion, T. (2018). Finding Health: Traditional Chinese Medicine Basics.
