More on Personality

Personality assessments are something that I've always found to be intriguing. At times I have trouble putting into words how I think, or maybe have the tendency to think that everyone else processing information as I do. Doing a survey such as Carrer Direct's is for me a needed reminder of the many different gifts God has given to each one of us. It shows me how valuable the thoughts and opinions of others can be. My tendency to be very blunt and direct, though good in some situations, needs to be balanced by people who are more aware of others feelings. I need you (if you're like that) to challenge my blunt statements and remind me that I'm dealing with people, not projects or facts. I realize that, especially at work, I tend to be so focused on what I'm doing that I neglect interaction with people who are outside the area that I'm focused on. Going around to talk to people and get caught up on their lives is something that I would naturally tend to consider to be unimportant. But, we are to care for one another and bear one anther's burdens. And you can't do that unless you talk to and relate to each other. So this survey has challenged my thinking on how quick I am to get focused on tasks at work.

It's interesting that even an unusual survey like that one will reveal that I do "seek perfect outcomes in all of your plans and projects." I've gone back and forth in deciding if I'm a perfectionist or not. I am not a perfectionist to the level that Dad or maybe Elijah is. But, I do want things to be done right. Perfectionism is something that can really mess a person up. Mentally I used to have really negative "self-talk" (for lack of a better description) when I made a mistake. Accepting less than perfect actions from myself did not come easy. Rather, I would dwell on it - I did compartmentalize the negativity, but would take it out of it's mental box when convenient and think about how I messed up for a long time. Realizing that I too am a human that makes mistakes and realizing that God created me in such a way that I will mess up at times is something I have only really understood in the last year through conversations with someone in my church. Giving those failures to God and releasing myself from blaming me for them has really seemed to make a difference in my mind. No longer do I have what used to be the ever-present negativity in my mind dragging me down.

Looking at another aspect of the survey, I see that it mentions that I like to see the larger vision and create efficient methods and procedures. I don't know if that is really who I am (though I would like to think so). I do like to know the reasons for doing something, and to understand the whole process (such as our inventory system at work). Also, I do enjoy and seem to be good at thinking of ways to accomplish a larger goal. I've found that making personal goals each year that include smaller goals done on a daily basis to be a very effective way for me to achieve what I desire.

It says that I like new challenges and look for situations where I can offer logical solutions. I do like new challenges such as making a new report that will make a process easier to do. But, thought I do like variety, change also is something I tend to approach with some trepidation. Going into something different (whether it be college or a new job) is hard. It's not something I look forward to, but will do once I've determined that it is the right thing to do. I do like logical solutions. I hate not knowing why something was done. If it doesn't make sense, then in my mind, it needs to be changed.

I find it interesting that they call my personality profile type "Analyze". I guess with that personality type, it should come as no surprise that I like things like excel, databases, tracking money, tracking time, and even looking at Google analytics reports and reviewing the results. I don't necessarily tend to remember very well those things that I analyze, but to me it's fun to track and review.

Well, I need to post this and get ready for the day. I had a good run this morning - it was wonderful weather! I ran 4 miles in 36.5 minutes or just over 9 minute miles. It felt good, and I wasn't pushing myself too hard. I found this new 4 mile route a couple weeks ago and think I'll keep using it for weekend runs. I don't end up retracing my steps and it gives me something different to look at.

Anna and Jubilee and I are going shopping today. We're going to hit one or two of the second hand clothes stores and see what we can find. Some people have told me they've found some nice stuff at them, and we just haven't gone to them in years.