Self-Management (SM)

Center: Self-Survival
Triads: Memorializing • Aligning • Exchanging

Basic Description
The Self-Management instinct is about feeling truly alive through tracking the elements that sustain and enhance ideal bodily vitality. Individuals driven by SM see the body as a symbol of strength, sensuality, and vitality, and their instinct is focused on creating the optimal conditions for the body to thrive. This instinct involves aligning routines, habits, and choices to maximize the potential for well-being, growth, and longevity. For those who value SM in their stacking, their physical health and sensual experiences are seen as gateways to a deeper sense of happiness and fulfillment.

SM 1st (SM/–/–)
For Self-Management dominants, life is organized around the management and cultivation of bodily vitality. These individuals feel alive by tracking and adjusting their routines, habits, and environment to enhance their sense of well-being and physical potential. They are highly attuned to the changes in their body, from minor shifts in physical health to broader patterns of vitality and decay.

Happiness is found through the alignment of their lifestyle to the best version of themselves. Whether it’s through diet, exercise, or cultivating sensual aesthetic experiences, SM dominants believe that the body holds the key to aliveness, and they are constantly seeking ways to improve and optimize their physical state. They are driven by the sensation of thriving, and their routines are often tailored to ensure that their body is a reflection of their growth and strength.

These individuals track the passage of time carefully, often seeing their body as a canvas that reflects their experiences and efforts. They might place a strong emphasis on beauty, sensuality, athleticism, flexibility or general health, seeing these as direct representations of their vitality. Self-management means tracking and exchanging what doesn’t work for what does, constantly adjusting their routines to match the physical ideal they are striving for.

SIP vs. SPI Stackings
In SIP, Self-Management manifests through present-focused tracking of how interpersonal relationships and day-to-day experiences affect bodily vitality. The focus is on sensual management of health and resources in a way that is nurtured by sustained interpersonal engagement. In SPI, Self-Management is driven by purposeful alignment, where chasing after the wonder in meaning is seen as an instrument for the body’s health, vitality, and strength. They focus on balancing daily management with their sense of purpose, using their ambition to support the high of attaining bodily perfection.

SM 2nd (–/SM/–)
When Self-Management is second in the stacking, it plays a supportive but essential role in how individuals engage with their primary instinct. They use bodily vitality as a tool to enhance their primary desires. Self-Management second individuals are often aware of their health and sensual well-being, but they approach it with a sense of flexibility—they are neither overly focused on it, nor neglectful.

For these individuals, tracking the body’s needs is a way to maintain stability and alignment in their life, ensuring that their physical health supports their primary goals. They enjoy the process of tuning in to their body’s signals and making adjustments when necessary, but they don’t let it dominate their attention. SM second allows them to enhance their primary instinct by keeping their body in a state of balance and readiness for whatever challenges or pleasures come their way.

PSI vs. ISP Stackings
In PSI, Self-Management plays a role in supporting purpose through bodily alignment. These individuals focus on how to optimize their physical health and routines to achieve long-term goals related to meaning and significance. They see their body as a vessel for purpose, and their routines are aligned with their daily existential quests. In ISP, Self-Management is more focused on maintaining physical vitality to enhance interpersonal relationships. Their attention is placed on ensuring their body and energy levels are in the right state to fully engage with others in all possible circumstances, using their physical state to draw in and deepen connections. 

SM 3rd (–/–/SM)
When Self-Management is in the last position, individuals often have a tricky relationship with the instinct. At first, they may neglect or overlook the steps it takes to manage the state of their body. They might have trouble finding ideal routines or fail to figure out how they can “level-up” their practical skills, despite the desperate desire to do so. However, once they begin to understand how SM can strengthen their primary and secondary instincts, they find a deep satisfaction putting in the necessary energy to maintain and enhance their body’s vitality.

For SM last individuals, it’s often a matter of learning to integrate the body’s needs into their life in a way that supports their core desires. Once they figure out how to balance their physical health with their relational and purpose-driven goals, they discover that self-management brings a sense of control and stability over the resources that bring them pleasure. They may struggle to fully embrace this instinct at first, but once they find the right path, they feel a strong sense of aliveness through bodily alignment.

IPS vs. PIS Stackings
In IPS, Self-Management supports interpersonal relationships by ensuring the individual’s body is in a state of readiness to engage deeply with others. It helps create a foundation of physical vitality that allows them to feel secure in relationships, ensuring their physical well-being enhances their emotional and social interactions; a life is built on finally discovering the ideal routine. In PIS, Self-Management serves as a way to fuel purpose-driven exploration, allowing individuals to manage their bodily resources in a way that supports their long-term meaningful pursuits. They focus on ensuring their physical health enables them to be engulfed by higher purpose, using the body as a support system for their larger ambitions.

Tension & Lines
Self-management is the tension between the security and alchemy instincts. On one hand, these individuals are driven to track their comforts and resources to enhance their strengths like the security instinct. On the other hand, they are driven to track attraction, chemistry and who finds them desirable to know that they are flourishing like the alchemy instinct. The tension between these two inner drives creates the specialized focus on the vitality, strength, productivity, and energy sensitivity of the self-management instinct.

Self-management is connected to, and in turn, comprised of the unknown and bonding instincts. When one is driven to track their own strength, vitality, and bodily energy, they inherently focus on the exploration and wonder that is held within the body like the unknown instinct – as well as the desire to be accepted for who they are despite faults like the bonding instinct. The sum of these two connecting instincts, multiplied by the tension between the neighboring instincts are what all culminate together to form the self-management instinct.