How Well Do You Know Yourself?

One of the many things I love about my job with the College Plus Program is reviewing a H.A.N.D.® Plan with the students.  It’s a tool that helps students with goal setting and futures planning using a hand as an easy reference tool.  The first thing we ask the students to do is describe their strengths, gifts and talents.   What I have found is that some of our students don’t realize just how smart and talented they are!    So I began a hunt for some tools I could use to help the students understand themselves a little better.

Why is self-awareness important?

First off, let me address why I am providing this list.  Self-awareness, I believe, is critical to our overall well-being because it:

1. 1. Helps you understand what motivates certain behaviors, positive and negative
   2. Helps builds self-esteem
   3. Helps you understand what you are good at
   4. Helps direct you in your career path
   5. Helps get you closer to your purpose

The ability to objectively evaluate ourselves and acknowledge our weaknesses can help us learn from our mistakes. Then, we can make necessary changes to move forward in our lives.  Additionally, knowing your strengths can boost self-esteem and direct you to that dream job!

So, what I’ve compiled are my three favorite tests, which are also FREE!

I recommend 16 Personalities for Overall Personality

16 Personalities uses letters to identify 5 aspects of your personality, measured on a scale, based on Five Big Personality Traits.

• • Mind: How we interact with our surroundings
  • Energy: How we see the world and process information
  • Nature: How we make decisions and cope with emotions
  • Tactics: How we approach work planning and decision making
  • Identity: How confident we are in our abilities and decision making

Once you’ve been rated on all these things, 16 Personalities use four Roles (describing goals, interests, and preferred activities) to categorize your personality, under which they provide four strategies (describing preferred ways of doing things).  I’ve taken the test twice and both times I received the result INFJ-A, which I’d say is accurate!  So what are you waiting for? It’ll only take you 12 minutes to complete the test!  https://www.16personalities.com/

I recommend The Quiet Revolution for an Introverted/Extroverted test

While the 16 Personalities test includes an introverted/extroverted factor, I still like to throw in a test specific to this.  I am an introvert, so I won’t pass up the opportunity to educate on the difference between introversion and extroversion!  http://www.quietrev.com

I recommend VIA Survey for a Strengths Based Assessment

In recent years, there’s been a shift in management style focused on strength-based assessments for employees.   Instead of concentrating on weaknesses, the strategy is to place emphasis on enhancing and developing the employees in the areas of their top five strengths.  It’s been very effective in building morale and motivating staff.

VIASurvey provides  “the only free, online, scientifically validated survey of character strengths.”  https://www.viacharacter.org/www

So, I’ve taken all these tests, and found them to be accurate for me, so hopefully they can provide a deeper understanding of yourself as well.  I’d love to hear what you think when you try one or more out.  Also, please share any tools that you have found useful!  I can be reached at mindyh@voiceandvisioninc.org.

Photo courtesy of Nathan Anderson via Unsplash.