Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 1 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams Module 2 Week 5: Your Unique Personality Now you’ve learned about the importance of living in the present moment, next we’re going to focus on discovering the real YOU – powerful and uniquely talented. The last module was designed to help you let go of any shame, embarrassment or regret about what has happened in the past. As we said in the first lesson, everything that happens to us has a purpose. We can learn not to repeat the same mistakes or get into the same situations but we can also recognize the incredible value of the experience we’ve gained, the skills we’ve developed and the life lessons we’ve learned. © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 2 WHO ARE YOU? In this module we’re going to focus on developing a picture of the truly talented and powerful person you are and your unique purpose. • Your personality • Your gifts and abilities. • Your passions • Your life purpose • Your soul mission © aSmilingWorld 2015 2 The objective of this module is to celebrate your strengths, gifts and abilities. We’ll take a look at why you think and behave the way you do, why you’re good at some things and less able at others. This leads to self-acceptance and, even more awesome, self-love. Love is the power behind positive manifestation and self-love is a pre-requisite for manifesting positive outcomes. Fears, negative thoughts and negative feelings about yourself and your problems manifest the continuation of those problems. This week we’ll be focusing on your personality and why you are the way you are, then in the following 3 lessons of this module, we’ll be exploring your passions, your life purpose and your soul purpose. © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 3 YOUR PERSONALITY • You have a unique purpose • Your personality is linked to your purpose • Your talents, gifts and abilities are perfectly matched to your purpose We’ve already established that you have a unique life purpose and soul purpose so doesn’t it make sense that your personality in this lifetime should be compatible with your purpose? Understanding your personality type can actually help in revealing your purpose. I had a major aha moment about personality types when I was managing a team in my corporate IT days. I had a couple of team members who I was finding very difficult to manage. I couldn’t understand why one of my programmers kept asking me question after question about a task I’d given him to do. My attitude was “Just use your initiative and get on with it”. The other person was allocated to my team after moving from one team to another and she had a reputation for being difficult to manage and I was finding her personality very difficult to deal with. Then I went on a Myers Briggs (MBTI) course for team leaders at work and it was a complete eye-opener. Naïve as it may seem now, I thought everyone was like me! When I discovered that people think differently, behave differently and have different needs, it was like a lightbulb switching on. I realized that the programmer wasn’t being difficult, he just needed specific details in order to do the task I’d set him, unlike me who was a high level strategist. The lady © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams who had been passed from team to team had a deep need to be appreciated so once I started praising her for the good work she was doing her attitude was transformed. Success is so dependent on building good relationships, and a good relationship is built on empathy and understanding. This is why it’s really important to recognize another person’s preferences so you can adjust your approach to create a positive interaction. This not only applies in the workplace but is especially important in your relationship with your partner and your children. There is a wide variety of personality profiling tools available (many of them are free) to help you develop a better understanding of yourself, and once you understand the principles, it will help you be more understanding towards your friends and family. As you go through the suggested personality tests it is important to understand that these are indicating your preferences and while they may provide you with an explanation of why you dislike doing certain things or find them difficult, they may also indicate areas for development. EXERCISE: Before we move on to looking at the different personality tests, pause this video and spend a few minutes writing down the aspects of your personality that you’re aware of – things you consider to be positive and things you consider to be negative. For example, you may be outgoing and great at making friends and building relationships, or you may be shy and find it difficult to make friends. You may enjoy doing detailed work, or you may prefer looking at the big picture. You may have a very creative mind or you may be very systematic and methodical. There is no right and wrong; this is just honest self-examination to increase your understanding of yourself. © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 4 PERSONALITY TESTS • D.O.P.E. Test • Myers Briggs (MBTI or Jung Test) • Enneagram • Human Design (Jovian Archive) • Wealth Dynamics Here are some suggested personality tests you can take that are designed to give you insights into your preferences in terms of behavior. The ones listed here are tests that I have used personally and that you can use to get insights into your personality and why you behave the way you do. It will also help you to understand other people’s behavior and perhaps become more tolerant of them as you develop an understanding of why they behave the way they do. I’ve included the links to the tests below this video and they’re also listed on the Resources Page. Taking these different tests can be fun and it’s also interesting to see how the different test results build into a consistent picture – if you get a result that doesn’t feel right or seem to be an accurate reflection of you, take the test again and see if the result you get the next time is more accurate. In many cases you’ll get confirmation of how you already see yourself, but it’s also useful to gain insights into why you behave the way you do. Comparing yourself to others is often due to a feeling of inadequacy – wishing you were more successful or more outgoing or cleverer, but you are a unique individual and comparison is meaningless. Instead celebrate your differences and stop criticizing yourself. When I discovered the Myers Briggs personality types, as well as having aha moments about my team I also had aha moments about myself. I understood why I didn’t like doing budgets © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams because my personality type prefers the big picture to detail, so instead of beating myself up about it I could accept that doing budgets didn’t come naturally and also accept that I would have to put more effort into doing them because not doing them wasn’t an option – it was part of my job. Self-love is not only having appreciation for your natural gifts and talents – the things that you’re good at and find easy – it’s also accepting that there are some things you aren’t as good at. If we were good at everything, how would we decide what to do, how to spend our time, what our purpose is? On the next few slides I’ll explain a little bit about each personality test and then the rest of this week’s lesson is to take some of the personality tests and then complete the quiz. © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 5 D.O.P.E. TEST The DOPE Bird Personality Test groups people into 4 personalities and provides insights into every personality’s inner being. The DOPE (an acronym that stands for Dove, Owl, Peacock, Eagle) Bird Personality Test is a readily available tool for those who are interested in self-discovery. The questions are done in a fun yet introspective way. To gain meaningful insight, use the tool to discover your inner strengths and positive qualities. Albeit there are much more complicated scientific tools around, the 4-Bird personality test promotes self-assessment, intensifies self-improvement, complements career and personal development, and can be used to improve how we interact with others. Here are the straightforward designations of the DOPE 4-Bird Personality Test. 1. Dove The peaceful and friendly Doves are persons of diplomacy and tact. Overall, they are peopleoriented, sympathetic, supportive, and team players. They have good listening skills, pleasant to work with and can be relied upon. They usually find professions as teachers, mentors and social workers. When there are conflicts, they are more likely to avoid confrontation, change, and assertiveness. They will often seek affirmation in what they do. In relating with Doves, be warm and sympathetic. Remember that they are naturally relaxed and slow-paced. Earning their trust might take a while, so be patient. 2. Owl © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams The wise and analytical Owls are the perfectionist, methodical, determined, well-organized and systematic lot. Their bywords are precision and logic. They provide balance in the workplace because of their perseverance, diligence and penchant for structure. Decision-making can take a tedious and meticulous process, and they can be bullheaded and unbending if logic dictates so. They are also wont to be critical and fault-finding, especially on other people’s ideas. While they are at home with details, they shun risks; so be objective as you present your ideas with concrete facts not personal feelings or opinions. They usually thrive in the field of engineering or accountancy. In relating with Owls, be painstakingly detailed and well-organized as you would support their preoccupation with systematized workplace. 3. Peacock The showy and cheerful Peacocks embody happiness and optimism. They love to talk, and they prefer the fast chase and spontaneity. Because they are glib talkers filled with enthusiasm, they work well in sales and marketing of ideas. While they are social and fashionable fowls, they are oftentimes inattentive, impatient and manipulative. They are not keen on time management and are inattentive to details. Every so often, they seek recognition in what they do. In relating with Peacocks, try to avoid protracted arguments; instead, focus on rallying behind their ideas and visions to win them over. 4. Eagle The bold and authoritative Eagles are typically dominant and decisive persons. They are typically thought of as Type-A people. As leaders, they are dynamic, natural achievers and decisive. They are output-oriented who prefer the workplace to be well-structured and fully functional. Because of these traits, they are often on the top of the ladder as CEOs or military officers. Negatively, they can be impatient, manipulative, domineering, compelling and insensitive to other people’s needs. In relating with the Eagle, be sure to argue with facts, not opinions; and, if possible, be supportive of his goals and objectives. Deal in a businesslike and formal manner. Source: http://examinedexistence.com/the-dope-4-personality-test-which-bird-are-you/ © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 6 MYERS BRIGGS - MBTI The MBTI or Jung Test is based on the work of the eminent Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung, who was the originator of Jungian Psychology. There are four different key preferences. • Extraverted (E) vs. Introverted (I) • Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N) • Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F) • Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P) A free test is available at http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm although you can find others by searching for free MBTI or Myers Briggs tests According to Carl G. Jung's theory of psychological types [Jung, 1971], people can be characterized by their preference of general attitude: Extraverted (E) vs. Introverted (I), their preference of one of the two functions of perception: Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N), and their preference of one of the two functions of judging: Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F) The three areas of preferences introduced by Jung are dichotomies (i.e. bipolar dimensions where each pole represents a different preference). Jung also proposed that in a person one of the four functions above is dominant – either a function of perception or a function of judging. Isabel Briggs Myers, a researcher and practitioner of Jung’s theory, proposed to see the judgingperceiving relationship as a fourth dichotomy influencing personality type [Briggs Myers, 1980]: Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P) The first criterion, Extraversion – Introversion, signifies the source and direction of a person’s energy expression. An extravert’s source and direction of energy expression is mainly in the external world, while an introvert has a source of energy mainly in their own internal world. © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams The second criterion, Sensing – Intuition, represents the method by which someone perceives information. Sensing means that a person mainly believes information he or she receives directly from the external world. Intuition means that a person believes mainly information he or she receives from the internal or imaginative world. The third criterion, Thinking – Feeling, represents how a person processes information. Thinking means that a person makes a decision mainly through logic. Feeling means that, as a rule, he or she makes a decision based on emotion, i.e. based on what they feel they should do. The fourth criterion, Judging – Perceiving, reflects how a person implements the information he or she has processed. Judging means that a person organizes all of his life events and, as a rule, sticks to his plans. Perceiving means that he or she is inclined to improvise and explore alternative options. All possible permutations of preferences in the 4 dichotomies above yield 16 different combinations, or personality types, representing which of the two poles in each of the four dichotomies dominates in a person, thus defining 16 different personality types. Each personality type can be assigned a 4 letter acronym of the corresponding combination of preferences. (Source: http://www.humanmetrics.com/personality/type) © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 7 ENNEAGRAM PERSONALITY TEST The Enneagram can be seen as a set of nine distinct personality types. It is common to find a little of yourself in all nine of the types, although one of them should stand out as being closest to yourself. This is your basic personality type. The Enneagram Personality test: “The Enneagram Institute is dedicated to the Work of human liberation and transformation. For thousands of years, spiritual teachers from many different traditions have reminded us of the richness of the human spirit and its potentials. But without real self-knowledge, it is not possible to awaken to the deeper truths of the soul or to sustain whatever degree of realization we have attained. One of the most powerful tools for understanding ourselves and others is the Enneagram, an ancient symbol of unity and diversity, change and transformation. Type One is principled, purposeful, self-controlled, and perfectionistic. Type Two is generous, demonstrative, people-pleasing, and possessive. Type Three is adaptable, excelling, driven, and image-conscious. Type Four is expressive, dramatic, self-absorbed, and temperamental. Type Five is perceptive, innovative, secretive, and isolated. Type Six is engaging, responsible, anxious, and suspicious. Type Seven is spontaneous, versatile, acquisitive, and scattered. Type Eight is self-confident, decisive, willful, and confrontational. Type Nine is receptive, reassuring, complacent, and resigned. More details are available at https://www.enneagraminstitute.com/how-the-enneagramsystem-works/ © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 8 HUMAN DESIGN – JOVIAN ARCHIVE Human Design uses your birth data (the date, time and place of birth) to calculate your Rave Chart, or Bodygraph. Human Design uses your birth data (the date, time and place of birth) to calculate your Rave Chart, or Bodygraph. Through an analysis of this chart you can see different aspects of yourself: What is fixed and reliable within you. Where you are open and potentially sensitive and vulnerable. It offers tools and strategies how to operate and how to make healthy decisions in your life. The Human Design System is a synthesis of two streams of science, traditional and modern. The traditional Sciences: Astrology, the Chakra system, the Kabbalah and most importantly, the I’Ching, the Book of Changes - these are the traditional elements in the synthesis that is Human Design. Combined with the modern science of reading the genetic code, this offers you a profound insight into how you are designed to navigate the material world. There are 5 types within the Human Design System and these are: Generators Manifesting Generators Projectors Manifestors Reflectors © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams Descriptions of the 5 types are given at http://loveyourhumandesign.com/2010/08/28/the-5types/ This is probably one of the more complex tests to understand but there’s a wealth of free information in the media library at http://www.jovianarchive.com/Media_Library. © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 9 WEALTH DYNAMICS Wealth Dynamics is the world’s leading profiling tool for entrepreneurs. Take the test to find out which of the eight wealth profiles is your natural path. The Wealth Dynamics test is designed for entrepreneurs to identify their profile and where they fit within the overall structure of a successful business. The eight wealth profiles identify the essential functions needed in business and by knowing your profile you can identify where to fill the gaps in your team, whether as employees or by outsourcing these functions. Your personalized report will give you clear direction on what path to follow in your job, business and investments. Instead of making things hard work, you can follow your flow. Benefits of doing the Wealth Dynamics test: • Get clarity on what advice to take, what to leave, what opportunities to say ‘yes’ to and ‘no’ to. • Follow the right role models. Oprah created wealth very differently to Warren Buffett. • Understand your customers, your family and build world class teams that work in flow. • Learn when your winning formula becomes a losing formula through the cycle of time. This is the only one of the personality tests I’ve included that isn’t free, but there is a free Genius test by Wealth Dynamics at http://geniusu.com/?a_aid=asmilingworld which shows you what path to follow in life to be in alignment with your natural genius. © aSmilingWorld 2015 Empower Your Life : Achieve Your Dreams SLIDE 10 CONCLUSION Explore Enjoy Grow Have Fun In this lesson I’ve given you a choice of personality tests so you can go on a journey of exploration and self-discovery. The more you get to know yourself the more you are able to make conscious choices that play to your strengths and put you “in the flow”. It’s when you’re in the flow, doing what you love, that possibilities open up for you – probably beyond what you thought was possible for yourself. Be bold, have courage and step into your power. You deserve it and you’re worth it. Next week we’ll be delving deeper into your passions and what brings you joy as the next step to understanding your purpose. See you next week! © aSmilingWorld 2015