The assessment involved choosing personality traits from 25 groups of words. Each group had four words and I was to pick the one word that described me most and the one that described me least. The instructions said to be honest and not to over think my decisions. But that is the limiting factor with self assessments -- our inability to honestly rate ourselves.
I had to keep reminding myself to choose the words that truly reflected who I am, not who I want to be. I want to be easy-going, fun and high energy, but in reality, I am often irritable and even-keeled. I strive to be optimistic and positive, but in light of current events in my life, I found myself leaning towards more of the pessimistic, critical descriptors. I even ended up a little down at the end of the assessment, realizing that I was not exactly the dynamic 30-something I thought I was.
When I received the results, I took an initial read and didn't agree with the entire profile. I was labeled "analytical" which I had always associated with nerds and number-crunchers. After diving deeper and re-reading, it became clear that the analysis was pretty accurate.
On Friday, I'll go through my results with the coaches leading the conference. I'm sure I'll learn more about how to best use my strengths and adapt my weaknesses. However, the greatest learning will likely be what I realized while taking the assessment -- that I am veering towards negativity and pessimism. I also know that I have the power to change that mindset. When I am feeling anti-social and reclusive, I need to push myself to engage and not withdrawal. Nothing is stopping me from being spontaneous and fun-loving. So tomorrow, I will strive to be the dynamic 30-something I want to be.
No comments:
Post a Comment