Jan 21, 2015 / Life

The Fear of Learning About Me

Today I took the DiSC profile test as a part of a work exercise to learn more about myself and my thinking style. I was classified as a “C” – being more task focused than people focused and being more reserved than assertive.

Something about taking tests like this both excites me and scares me. I’m always excited to learn about myself and discover things in my personality or my habits that explain my behavior and reactions. It helps me in relationships to understand ways that I’m unique from other people and these tests open my eyes to see that my way of thinking isn’t the only way or the best way.

The part that scares me though is I feel these tests are defining. If I’m not a Dominant D personality I feel I can’t be a leader. If I’m not an extrovert on the Meyer’s Briggs test I fear I’m stuck being lonely all the time. The flip side here is that more I learn about myself the more I am aware that some of these things will change.

The characteristics I learn through these tests are not definitive of my capabilities.

I can both enjoy a night with a group of friends and enjoy a night at home by myself. I can be both assertive when I need to and reserved when the situation is right. I’m not pigeonholed to a specific personality or thinking style – I am still free to be myself and act differently at different times.