I’ve long had a fascination with personality types, and I’ve taken most of the quizzes that are available. . . Myers-Briggs (MBTI), the Enneagram, DISC, StrengthsFinder, those silly BuzzFeed ones, etc. Like most people, I’m drawn to these quizzes because they give me the words that help me describe who I am, and how I interact with the world around me.
Yet, I know that these quizzes can seem like unnecessary “fluff” to some people, and there is a lot of controversy around the legitimacy of a few of them.
I don’t write this post to try and argue about whether or not these quizzes are all that accurate.
I did, however, want to share why I use them as the foundation of the work I do with my clients.
First, I know — and like to reiterate to those who work with me — that no one test will ever be 100% spot-on in describing someone. We are each as unique as our fingerprints, so these tests cannot tell us exactly who we are.
Second, I may have my clients take these tests to get their results, but that’s as far as it goes. I am not teaching anything about these quizzes (I am not a trained facilitator for any of them), nor do I dive deep into the meanings of this or that quiz result.
Third, my personal experience with personality quizzes is that, if you take enough of them, you begin to see patterns emerge. And this, right here, is exactly why my clients go through a handful of quizzes, right at the beginning of our work together!
By seeing the “bigger picture” of how you act and respond, plus your underlying motivations, we are then better able to piece together what kind of work is going to best align with who you are.
And, when you align what you do with who you are at your core, I believe you are much more likely to find consistency, clarity, meaning, and fulfillment in your day-to-day life, and you’ll know how you can serve the world in your own unique way.
Basically, you uncover your personal brand — your “special sauce”, so-to-speak.
Now, I have worked with clients in the past who really didn’t care for personality quizzes, and thought they were silly or pointless. Still, they humored me and took the tests anyway… and they ended up shocked because the results so closely depicted the way they saw themselves!
And again, I’ve gotten so much clarity and self-awareness through taking various quizzes, that I am convinced that they are a fantastic place to start.
One side note: I have also had someone take the Enneagram quiz, and then feel like God was warning her to stay away from digging any further into it. I would never want someone to go against what the Lord has told them, so I respected this gal’s wishes, and we left it alone.
However, as I mentioned previously, I’m not going to be delving into all of the meanings and uses behind these quizzes. My clients simply take the tests to get their results, and then I look it all over and use this information to help them craft a strategy and plan for the kind of work they can pursue in order to feel aligned and alive, going forward.
If you have any questions, I’d be happy to discuss them with you — drop me a comment below, or send me a message! And, if you would like to go through this self-discovery process, you can do so through my Unique Blueprint self-coaching guide.
I love personality quizzes! Mind you, I’ve always been very self-reflective, and I love psychology (knowing what makes people do what they do).
Either way, I honestly believe that knowing my personality type has brought me freedom. Let me show you how…
A LITTLE HISTORY
I started learning about personality types back in 1997. Florence Littauer’s books were the first to introduce me to these, and from there, I have taken several others.
THE RENAISSANCE SOUL
Margaret Lobenstine has a book called “The Renaissance Soul“, and it describes me perfectly! When I found this book, I immediately recommended it to my sister, and she, too, feels that it perfectly describes her. She and I now frequently reference this aspect of our personalities. 😉
STRENGTHSFINDER 2.0
Tom Rath’s book, “StrengthsFinder 2.0“, had a code for you to go online and take the Clifton StrengthsFinder quiz. From that, I learned that my “Top 5” are Learner, Input, Connectedness, Individualization, and Intellection.
This explained for me my love of keeping empty boxes around in case I might need them some day (Input), and my love of books & reading (Intellection / collecting knowledge!).
MYERS-BRIGGS TYPE INDICATOR
Through reading several descriptions online, I learned my MBTI — only to then take a quiz at 16personalites.com and have my findings confirmed. I am an INFJ (the Advocate).
ENNEAGRAM
I haven’t done enough research on this one, yet, so I don’t know enough about it. But, from the quiz I took, my Enneagram number is 7 (the Enthusiast)! [fact: The Enneagram tells you the underlying motivations for why you do what you do… whereas, the Myers-Briggs test tells you about your behaviors]. {2022 update: I’m most definitely an Enneagram 5 wing 4!}
HOROSCOPE
Generally, I tend to stay away from Astrology & horoscopes — they’re never very accurate, anyway. However, there are bits of the Sagittarius profile (my horoscope) that fit me perfectly … fiercely independent? Yep! A fiery temper? Not so much. I’m quite easy-going, in fact.
CORE VALUES
I also researched my core values, and came up with a list of my top 10 (plus a few extra). Suffice it to say, Freedom is my #1 core value, and my site has that as its overarching theme — the thread that ties all of my various interests together.
So, having done all of these quizzes (plus, a whole slew of the ones through BuzzFeed… Thanks, Facebook! LOL), I now feel I have a really good grasp of who I am, what makes me tick, and why I do what I do… especially on default/instinct, when I’m not really responding, but reacting.
LEARNING TO “SEE”
Because I know my personality type and core values, I can now see why certain jobs never fit me (mainly any of them where I work for an employer! LOL), and why I’ve acted as I have — or made certain choices — in the past. Knowing that I’m a right-brained creative, for example, shows me why the left-brained, secretarial jobs I’ve had never worked out for me (I had 3 of them in 3 years!). I was trying to force the proverbial square peg into a round hole, so-to-speak… acting in a way that was in opposition to my type.
{2022 update: I also have been diagnosed, now, with Attention Deficit Disorder, which really sheds new light on why those jobs never suited me!}
During the second of those secretarial jobs, I was super-stressed because of work, and decided to make up a list of all of the things I both loved & hated from all of my previous jobs. Doing this, plus taking into account my personality & values, I was able to make my next job a much better fit for me, even if it still wasn’t perfect. Of course, at that time, I still hadn’t realized the bit about my right-brained creative side (I knew I had it, but it’d been buried for years at that point). Therefore, I still didn’t see that secretarial jobs weren’t a fit for me. After all, I’d gone to college and had gotten a certificate in Office Administration! So, I assumed that that’s what I needed to (should) be doing! I knew that, eventually, when finances allowed, I wanted to start my own business — I didn’t know what business, yet, but I knew I wanted to work for myself. But again, finances at that time didn’t allow for that.
Well, fast forward nine months, and I found myself out of a job — again. And, being that the job market was pretty sucky (especially in the small town where I live), hubby suggested that I go through the government-run self-employment program (here in Ontario, Canada) and try starting up the business I’d told him I’d been considering (virtual assistance for authors). So, I did!
LIGHTBULB MOMENTS
Since October 2013, I have been self-employed (yay!). As previously mentioned, I’ve always had a gut feeling that I was meant to be an entrepreneur — long before I got the chance to be one! I come from a family of entrepreneurs, actually (both of my grandfathers, two of my uncles, and my sister), so I like to say “it’s in my blood!” LOL
Mind you, even my first year-and-a-half of self-employment was a learning curve. As I’m sure you’ve guessed, the “virtual assistant” thing didn’t last long, partially because it was yet another secretarial gig.
I then thought about doing Life & Business Coaching and took the steps toward that, but I realized I’d need years of training first, which I didn’t have the time or money for. So, that got set aside…
…Until now.
Four-and-a-half years into my self-employment journey, I realized that coaching really is the thing I’m meant to do with my life. I was able to look back through my journals (from the past several years), and connect the dots. And it stood out like a glaring light… Plus, it helped that I found some Life Coaching courses on sale through Udemy, which I purchased, and am working through.
FREEDOM!
The biggest thing my path has shown/taught me, though, is first, to know myself (ala Socrates), and second, to trust my intuition. All of the various versions of my “business(es)” over the last few years have been me getting an idea, trying it, feeling that something was still “off” (not quite “it”), and then pivoting to the next thing. It’s been frustrating, at times, and somewhat discouraging, too. However, I was blessed to have an amazing business coach & friend who helped me work through all of that, as well as my sister — a business-owner herself — whose business is thriving!
Another thing that helped add to my feeling of “freedom” was going to an Art Journaling class once a month, via the local library. This helped me to reconnect with my creativity.
I used to spend a lot of time doing “creative” or artsy things, but motherhood pushed that (mostly) into the background for seventeen years.
I also met some great new friends, in the last couple of years, who are musicians and creatives, themselves — which helped me to realize (after having spent time with them) that they are my “tribe”, my people… the creatives and the dreamers are with whom I feel at home.
So, be encouraged. If you still don’t know what you are meant to do, just keep experimenting. And, if you need help, you can always check out my self-coaching guides!
Do you know YOUR personality type? (Share it here! I’d love to see what mix we have!) If so, how has it helped you?
