Isn't YouTube wonderful! Not only do we get an interview with Jessica Alba on video from CBS's The Talk, but the subject is her post-pregnancy diet.

My colleagues and I believe Jessica Alba has a Blue temperament. It's most evident in her highly approachable personality, her gentle body language and especially her soft, very open hand and arm movements.

Unlike Jessica, few of us can afford home delivery of all of our meals, but the idea suggests there is hope of sticking to a diet if our food intake is made automatic.

With her financial resources, Alba can rely on others to help create an atmosphere that makes her stick to a fitness program. Odds are she not only pays for food delivery, but also for a nanny during her six hours(?) of workouts, and probably has a trainer to keep her working out properly. She can't possibly have those famous abs exclusively from Mother Nature, can she?

So what can the rest of us do? Automatic is automatic. Meals can be prepared in advance for an entire week, and those tempting "bad" foods can be completely eliminated from the household. Our workout trainers can be people we know and love, or even our fellow weight-busting friends. When we workout with our friends, we have to do that on some sort of schedule, so discipline is easier to keep up with peer pressure and the pride of hanging in and hanging on one's friends.

A client I'll call "Sam" called me the other day and asked what career fields are best for Blue people. Sam said he had "the blues" in his current job and wanted to look for a job with a better fit to his personality.

The easy answer is to go online to a personality typing site where lists are freely offered. The following link is such a place: http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/careers/. At the end of this article, I'll offer some cautionary advice, but let's go for a minute with those online lists.

For all of you of the four different Colors that wish to look up career choices, you need to know this: the Colors stem from Myers-Briggs and Keirsey temperament designations. Here they are.

·         Blue = NF (enfp, infp, enfj, infj)

·         Green = NT (entp, intp, entj, intj)

·         Gold = SJ (estj, istj, esfj, isfj)

·         Orange = SP (estp, istp, esfp, isfp)

Most of those online services use those designations. If you want a full explanation, go to keirsey.com or Wikipedia.

Simple advice is the best, I think. When you confront those lists, just read through them and check those career choices you think you'd get excited about. Don't forget to check those choices that you would be afraid to try, even though you know it would be exciting to explore them. Also check a few career choices that make no sense to you, but you know doing those jobs would make you learn and grow.

Now here is the cautionary note. Such lists ARE NOT A ROADMAP. Their only reality is that lots of people with your temperament have chosen those fields.

The roadmap you must follow is your own. Those online lists are good for triggering ideas but, ultimately, you may choose a profession that somebody of a totally different temperament (Color) tends to thrive in. For example, Sam - Blue as he is - might really enjoy high math and could see himself as a designer for customer management software. Such people are more often Green, by the way.

I asked Sam to first consider what activities excited him throughout his entire life. For example, what jobs did he like best and why? What about volunteer activities? What hobbies have turned him on? In what activities did he feel he was "in the zone" - totally and intensely absorbed and energized just because of the fascination and excitement of them? Such speculation is surely a clue to the nature of an ideal career, wouldn't you say? We hear all the time, "Do what you love."

I do know that using temperament theory to choose a career is very important. Many years ago, the results of a Myers-Briggs Type Indicator told me I should work in human resources. I made the wrong assumption that people in personnel all sat at a desk, wrote rules, printed checks, and led horrid boring lives. I decided then and there that Myers-Briggs was a lot hooey.  It was not until a full twenty years later that I discovered my favorite job as a trainer for a personnel department in a very large city. I could have had a much richer career if I had paid attention to the Myers-Briggs tool and had explored its meaning deeper with an expert.

Anyway, I hope Sam got something out of our chat. If you have career questions, just send me an email at Dermody@cox.net. I do have to warn you, though. I am not a quiet therapist-type who urges you to rattle on, "discover" yourself, and tell me how you "feel." Be prepared for an onslaught of ideas from me. I can't help myself.

Jack