How to Discover the Soul’s Role in Personality Typing….My Messy Midlife Awakening (and a Soulful Reunion)
Many moons ago, I found myself sitting on my couch, crying. Staring at the an empty beer cans on the floor (today 5 years sober)…wondering; How did my life come undone? Why didn’t I see this storm coming? As I reflected I realized it wasn’t this one big moment—it was the slow accumulation of “shoulds,” expectations, and small compromises. The marriage I tried to hold together, the career I thought defined me, the quiet fatigue I brushed off with a smile.
I now call that time my seven‑year tsunami, and it was the most sacred unraveling of my life. In the middle of that storm, I rediscovered a truth I’d overlooked for decades: the version of me I’d built was an assumed self—a persona shaped by fear, cultural myths, and everyone else’s values. My true self was still there, softly whispering beneath the noise. That quiet inner voice eventually led me to the work I founded Spiritual Personality Typing℠—a soulful bridge between your human personality and your divine essence.
This practice redefined everything about how I understand identity, purpose, and spiritual evolution. And today, I want to share how it can help you rediscover your true self too.
Spirituality Typing for the 21st Century A Roadmap to Awaken Your True Self – a book excerpt from Unpack Your Personality: Let Your Inner Guide Be Your Travel Guide. Grab Your Copy Here.
The Soul’s Role in Personality Typing To Rediscover You Is Specific to You
Traditional personality typing (like the Myers‑Briggs® framework) explains how we think, decide, and relate—but what it doesn’t explore is why our soul chose these specific traits in the first place.
When you bring your higher consciousness into the conversation, personality typing becomes a sacred roadmap to your soul’s purpose—not just your habits or preferences.
Each personality type is like a spiritual fingerprint. Your traits aren’t random—they’ve been divinely designed to help your soul evolve, to express its gifts fully, and to support the mission you came here to live.
During my own midlife unraveling, I realized that I’d been living almost exclusively from my inferior trait—what I now call the shadow aspect. I had buried my natural gifts under layers of fear, overachievement, and people‑pleasing. But once I began working with my dominant (soul‑aligned) traits instead of against them, clarity, peace, and even joy started to flood in.
When Life Feels Like It’s Falling Apart (It’s Often Falling into Place)
If you’re feeling anxious, unfulfilled, or stuck in uncertainty, pause for a moment. Ask yourself:
- “What part of me am I living from—my true self or my false self?”
- “Am I honoring my soul’s whispers, or am I following inherited expectations?”
- “What desires have I silenced because they didn’t fit the ‘role’ I thought I should play?”
These questions are not small—they are doorways into your personal awakening.
Like many of the women I’ve guided through 1:1 Awakening Calls, you may sense an inner restlessness. It can show up as burnout, boredom, or a yearning for something more. That “something” is your soul inviting you back into alignment.
Reframing the Myths: Who You Think You Are vs. Who You Really Are
We’ve been told that personality is fixed, that who we are at 25 or 45 is the end of the story. But the soul knows better.
Your soul’s role in personality typing invites you to see your personality not as a cage but as a compass. The outer edges—your quirks, preferences, and tendencies—are simply expressions of a deeper design. The real work (and yes, the joy) comes when you align your personality with your inner calling.
For me, that alignment meant redefining success. It meant leaving behind what no longer served me—old stories, guilt, overwork, and constant striving—to make space for stillness.
Stillness is not laziness; it’s the place where your soul finally gets a word in.
Stillness: Where the Soul Speaks
One morning during that messy midlife, I woke up with heaviness in my chest and couldn’t get out of bed. Financially exhausted, emotionally empty, I was done. But what I thought was the end was actually an invitation—to stop, be still, and listen.
Stillness became my sanctuary. Yoga, journal writing, slow walks in nature—all these small rituals reconnected me to my higher self.
You don’t have to wait for a crisis to begin your own stillness practice.
Start with 10 quiet minutes every morning. Let silence become your teacher.
From that place of inner awareness, you can begin to sense how your personality (your earthly self) is in conversation with your soul (your eternal self). That intersection is where Spiritual Personality Typing℠ truly comes alive.
Three Soulful Questions to Begin Rediscovering You
These questions are a starting point—simple, but profound. They gently open a dialogue between your conscious mind and your soul’s wisdom.
- Do you really know your personality type—or just your surface type?
Most online tests reveal your behavioral type, but they rarely uncover your soul‑inspired personality. I discovered that I had been living through my less‑developed traits, not my true dominant gifts. Once I understood my spiritual type, I could see where fear had been driving the bus.
(If you’re wondering about your type, I offer complimentary discovery sessions—schedule yours here.) - What are your emotional triggers trying to teach you?
Triggers aren’t punishments—they’re invitations from your soul. Each recurring reaction is a flashlight illuminating the parts of you still craving healing.
Try this: over the next 30 days, keep a “trigger journal.” Note recurring emotions or patterns, then reflect on what deeper truth they might be revealing. - Who are your teachers in disguise?
The people who challenge you most may actually be helping your soul evolve. Look at each person as a mirror reflecting lessons back to you. When I began to view relationships as classrooms, not battlegrounds, compassion—and self‑understanding—blossomed.
Journal Prompt
What part of me am I ready to let go of to make space for who I’m becoming?
Spend 15 quiet minutes journaling this question. Let your soul answer, not your mind.
When the Old Life Crumbles, the True Self Rises
Reinvention is tender, messy, and miraculous.
To rediscover yourself, you must be willing to release everything that no longer aligns with your truth—career titles, toxic dynamics, outdated beliefs, even the identity that once made you feel secure.
Yes, it’s scary. But brave souls walk through the fire to find freedom on the other side.
During my 7‑year transformation, I came to see that every hardship was sacred training—a soul curriculum designed just for me. And every breakdown revealed a new strength. The same will be true for you.
A Modern Roadmap to Spiritual Typing
Personality typing may have begun in the 1940s, but we’re entering a new consciousness. I created Spiritual Personality Typing® to bring soul and science, curiosity and intuition together.
In my book, Unpack Your Personality: Let Your Inner Guide Be Your Travel Guide, I walk you through this modern roadmap—a guide to using your type as a key to transformation rather than a label. You’ll explore the balance between your human personality and your soul’s higher guidance system, discovering how each decision, pattern, and behavior can serve your spiritual evolution.
This isn’t about fixing yourself; it’s about remembering who you already are.
Your Soul + Personality = The New You
When your soul and personality work together, everything changes:
- You stop performing and start being.
- You trust yourself deeply, no longer needing external validation.
- You live in alignment with your passions, values, and authentic expression.
- Challenges still come, but grace walks with you.
Every day becomes an unfolding—an intimate dance between divine wisdom and human experience.
Join the Awakening
If you’re standing at a crossroads wondering, Who am I now?, you’re in the perfect place. This is your awakening moment. Let’s walk it together:
- Schedule a 1:1 Awakening Call to explore your spiritual personality type and receive personalized guidance.
- Subscribe to The Awakening Letter for soulful insights, journal prompts, and resources to nurture your rediscovery journey.
- Or, if you’re ready to dive deeper, grab your travel guide for the inner journey—Unpack Your Personality.
Remember, rediscovering yourself is not a one‑time event—it’s a lifelong conversation with your soul.
And your soul is so ready to be heard.
I think you may enjoy this YouTube Post: Unpack Your Personality: Find Yourself in a World of Copycats.
Who Is Nina Zapala?
I created Spiritual Personality Typing℠ during what I call my “midlife tsunami,” a season of upheaval that stripped away illusions and brought me to truth. A liberating lesson taught me; old-school typology only tells half the story. This realization lead to a new personality paradigm one that bridges the personality and soul. This isn’t another new activation it’s alignment—a committed way of living true to your self.
Today I guide women just like you to ignite the relationship between soul and personality the totality of your true self-expression—free from fear or compromise. Think of it as a coming into wholeness–gracious, yet audacious; releasing the patriarchy, invisibility, and anti-aging tropes. A return to simple and soulful living. Vibrant. Free. Liberated.
Here’s what I’ve come to know: Every wrinkle is a story. Every scar, a sacred map. When we deny our true self, the soul withers. When we embrace her, we bloom into timelessness.
Image from Unsplash
