I'm a First Born And Proud Of It!

I stumbled onto this interesting article about birth orders.  A few years back I was watching a show and they were talking about how your birth order can influence you greatly in almost every aspect of your life.  You can read the article here or if you don't want to read the long version read this one that summaries what your birth order says about you.

This is what it had to say about being the oldest:

If you're a first-born

Your philosophy is “I’m going to do this the right way, and so should you.”  
This is COMPLETELY true.  Anyone who knows me will agree.

You are Conscientious, reliable, serious, capable, goal-oriented, organized, analytical, well-prepared, precise.
My sister was over last night and we were talking about how different we are from each other (night and day in every aspect) and one of the words she used to describe me was "serious".  I'd like to think I am reliable and precise.  I can be VERY organized, I am a list maker through and through (it's not uncommon for me to make the same list over and over because my original list is too messy once I start crossing things off).  I am goal-oriented, analytical and well prepared (how can you not be with lists??).  I am not one who enjoys not knowing the bulk of what's coming, I can't control the unknown... wait... was controlling in there??


You crave Perfection.
I don't know about craving perfection.  I am no where near perfect and I know that. 


You avoid Unpredictability.
I can't control the unknown.

Related Features

People see you as A natural leader, a problem solver, an upholder of tradition.
On the way home from the Okanagan last weekend Danny and I were talking about what kinds of things I'm good at (in the hopes to find some sort of work I can do from home) and he asked me "what are you good at?" and I said "leadership".  I am a leader (not a follower, by any means).  I have to laugh at the "upholder of tradition" - my sister and I (one of the few things we do share) love our traditions, especially when it comes to Christmas.  As we've gotten older we've had to adjust our normal traditions (well, I've adjusted better than she has) and allow room to create new traditions.  I want my children to enjoy certain things about events in their lives. 


People may be put off by Your critical eye, lack of forgiveness or bossiness.
Me? Bossy? Never..... (I didn't make it through with a straight face).  My lack of forgiveness is something that has been tested over the last few years.  Normally, I am a very trusting person and I will trust someone entirely until they break it, and it doesn't have to be a big thing (or even a medium thing) to break that trust.  Once my trust is gone it is a very hard thing to get back.  Having been through everything I have been through these last 10 years it's taught me that not everything is as black and white as I want to believe things are and I need to open my eyes more.


Careers Engineering, law, medicine, education, nursing, accounting, management, information technology, research.
I could see myself doing something in the education, management or research fields. 


Relationships You expect as much of 
others as you do of yourself, which may set you up for disappointment or frustration. A marriage between two first-borns may be like “a cat and a dog in a sack,” says psychologist Kevin Leman, as you each strive to be the leader. Therapist Marion Balla suggests carving out separate areas in which to lead, such as one in the workplace and the other at home. Your best romantic match? A later-born.
I do expect the same out of people that I do out of myself, and I am let down when it doesn't happen that way, in my personal and professional life.  One of the obvious ways I see this is when I am a customer of a store.  Having worked for the same company for the last 6+ year, which has a Fantastic stance when it comes to customers and what they should expect out of us as a company I expect that same level of customer service from other stores.  Sadly, I am constantly disappointed.  When Danny comments on my frustrations with service I tell him (often) that I expect to be treated the way I treat customers and I rarely am. 


Parenting your first-born or only You may set unreasonably high standards for your children, even subconsciously encouraging perfectionism. If your already perfectionist eldest child rips up a drawing or a project because “it’s not good enough,” Leman suggests you say, “I know it’s a big deal to you, but it’s not to me,” and walk away. 
I can see this being an issue for Lynden, from me and Danny who is adamant "Lynden IS playing hockey".  I want to push Lynden (and Alyssa) to be the best people they can be and achieve their goals, whatever they may be, but I don't want to set unreasonably high standards for them.  This article did enlighten me, as it was more accurate than not, and hopefully I'll be able to see these qualities (good and bad) more easily and work on them so I can use them in the best way possible. 


Famous first-borns Oprah Winfrey, Prince William, Kate Middleton, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Stephen Harper.
Oh, poor Prince William and Kate - they're going to be "a cat and a dog in a sack", but that might explain why Bill and Hillary ended up the way they did. 



Was your birth order profile right?  Were you surprised?