What Is Type C?
If you grew up in the 90s like I did, you may remember the obsession many of us had with teen magazines. I remember skipping over all of the fashion articles and the posters of celebrities in search of my favourite section: the personality quizzes.
I’ve always been fascinated with sociology and what makes a person who they are. Of course, the quizzes published in the magazines weren’t to be taken seriously, but I’ve always been interested in what makes us all different.
Some of the most well-known personality types are what we call “Type A” and “Type B”. During my research, I found that these are less about personality traits, but rather how we relate to time, success, self-worth, and our environment.
Type A
The Type A personality will typically show a behaviour pattern of high drive, competitiveness, urgency and (you guessed it)—high achievement. People with this personality type tend to feel a strong desire to achieve and progress, they are often goal-oriented and self-disciplined, and feel a sense of time urgency. Interestingly, they have a tendency to associate self-worth with productivity and success, struggle to rest without guilt, and feel uncomfortable with stagnancy. Then there’s the tendency to push through stress, illness, and exhaustion. Although this personality may look like a cheat code to success, some of the hidden costs of being Type A include: chronic stress or burnout, anxiety around rest or slowing down, identity collapse during illness or loss, difficulty listening to bodily limits, and shame when productivity slows or halts completely. Check, check, check, check, and check. It is no surprise that Type A, “high-functioning” people become completely destabilized by chronic illness. When chronic illness says “effort does not equal outcome”, the Type A brain is screaming “if I only try harder, I’ll get better”.
When a Type A can no longer use achievement as a coping mechanism, they don’t just become tired and frustrated—they become completely lost and disoriented.
The true danger here is when the mismatch between a thinking pattern and a changed body is seen by the Type A as a personal failure.
Type B
Contrary to Type A, a person with a Type B personality has a tendency to be more relaxed and flexible. Although they can still be very driven, the difference is seen in what drives them; Type B is less driven by urgency and competition, and more driven by balance, enjoyment, and a sense of ease. Type B people tend to feel more comfortable moving at a slower pace, tolerate uncertainty more easily, find it easier to rest, and are capable of separating self-worth from productivity. They are, by no means, lazy, unmotivated, or unaccomplished, but simply don’t define themselves through success. The Type B may experience less stress, better work-life balance, and more enjoyment of the present. Within wellness culture, Type B is typically seen as the healthier and more desirable alternative to Type A.
And I so desperately wanted to be…well, Type B.
So, what is Type C?
I do want to briefly mention that there are actually additional personality types that exist: In this sense, Type C people tend to be analytical, logical, and stressed, whereas Type D people tend to be anxious, worried, and negative.
For the sake of this blog, my version of Type C (“C” for “chronic illness”) is something you become. It’s not something you’re born with or raised to be, but a way of living that emerges when the body sets limits that the mind didn’t plan for—through experiencing things like chronic illness, disability, burnout, grief, trauma, or long-term stress. In my experience, most Type C people used to be Type A’s—raised in achievement culture but unable to organize their lives around productivity, urgency, or control.
Instead, a Type C organizes their life around attunement—the practice of listening closely and responding accurately to yourself, your body, and the moment (the present). In simple terms, Type C attunement is the practice of responding to reality as it is—not as you wish it were. It’s not about giving up. Nor is it about being relaxed. It is about learning to live honestly and authentically inside your reality. Ultimately, Type C is shaped by bodily limits, unpredictability, forced slowness, and the dismantling of achievement as identity.
In practice, a Type C stops before exhaustion (not after), chooses rest now instead of collapsing later, notices emotional depletion as true fatigue, sets boundaries without self-judgement, allows rest without self-guilt or shame, understands that effort doesn’t always match results, practices energy preservation, accepts inconsistency, adjusts accordingly, and exists in the present. Outwardly, this may look like “doing less” to some; however, it is a form of self-trust and skilled regulation—and it is essential to our survival and wellbeing.
The Type C paces instead of pushing. Listens to the body instead of overriding. Plans loosely and revises often. Values sustainability over intensity. To a Type C, success is found in preservation (not in productivity or production). They live where effort meets personal limits and they choose honesty over denial. It isn’t laziness, resignation, lack of ambition, failure, or a wellness aesthetic, but a person who cares deeply about meaning, contribution, and integrity. A true Type C no longer sacrifices the body or mind in order to prove their worthiness—and it is a process, not an endpoint.
The process of becoming Type C may involve: grieving your former self, facing fear about the future, experiencing shame in slowing down, unlearning achievement culture, and even a complete identity crisis. However, there is often relief in no longer performing to capacity.
Type C is not less, it’s just a different way of being. It’s more directional, it’s quieter, and it’s honest. It is the unmasked self—the self who lives in alignment with your values, the self who takes care of you because you’re worthy of wellness, and the self who deeply matters to you—not because of what you achieve or produce, but just because you’re you and you’re here.
(And I am glad that you’re here).
