I love personality tests. From Meyers Briggs to "Which Street Figher Charater Are You", I enjoy listening to different people's explanations for why I'm the way I am. But personality tests can be a double edged sword on your business mindset if you use them incorrectly.
1) Remember that it's all theoretical. Taking a test isn't like visiting the oracle on Mount Delphi and hearing about your tortured fate. All the personality test is is some guy's idea about how to categorize people and where you might fit in to it. Personality theory isn't based on any hard science. It's meant to be helpful, but as with everything, if the model isn't helping you, throw it out, call it junk science, and ignore it.
2) Don't let the test give you new excuses. The test often comes with a list of negative qualities, and it's easy when reading it to just say, "Snippy, that's me. Lazy, that's me. Shallow, that's me " and then later when you're being lazy and snapping at people to tell yourself, "It's okay, the test tells me this is the way I am". We've got enough excuses that come naturally without needing some psychologists to put their credentials behind our excuse-making.
3) Think of negative personality traits as opportunities for character development. If the test has got you pegged on something that you don't like, remember that might be the way you've been, but it's not the way you have to be. The amazing thing about being a person is getting to decide who we are in every moment. Maybe it's helpful to think about the person described in the personality inventory as your default setting. That's how it comes out of the factory, but you can change it if you want. Sometimes when I take a personality test, I feel like it's describing a younger version of myself minus any character development I've had since then. Other times I feel like it's an alternate reality version of myself, like what I might've been like if I had made different choices.
4) The main value of the test is in helping you identify your strong points. Generally, you'll see a list of roles or jobs that the test makers think you'd fit most naturally into. This is a good thing, because you always want to leverage your strengths in whatever you're doing. Don't think that you have to be in one of the careers it suggests if you don't want to. I had a test tell me I'm a phlegmatic, and it said I'd be good as a night watchman. Well I used to work night shifts watching guys in a group home, and I don't really want to go back to it. It's much better to think about how I can take the strengths that made me a good night watchman and apply them to what I want to do. In this case, it helps me see that tedium and loneliness don't really bother me. So my approach to network marketing might be one that seeks to leverage those special tolerances I have. I think it's fun to write every day, for example, but other people might think it's tedious.
Personality testing can serve you if you let it help you find the strengths you can build on and areas of weakness you can improve on. The trick is figuring out how to apply what you've got, which I think is best done both by bringing in people that know you and by getting thoughts from people that are getting to know you. Working with a network marketing team is a great way to do this, where we focus on personal growth related to building a lasting business. Send me an email to let me know that you're interested and we can get started today.
No comments:
Post a Comment