A couple of years ago, I was taking a business training program from Spectrum Training Solutions. Tim is a leader in teaching people the art of selling with integrity. I am continuing to seek his advice on opportunities and speaking engagements, and he is a master trainer in my business development course online.
How I met Tim was in the back of a CAPS class, a speaker’s forum. We shared the same opinions on flashy speakers and what it takes to be a great speaker. Do you need the gimmicks or just deliver? I knew in that moment I met another director.
Finding your mastermind group and advisers can happen by sitting in the back of the room or when you least expect it. This mastermind group is one of the keys to creating a successful lasting business. When Tim shared about his course, I decided I knew everything about marketing and nothing about sales. During the sales class, the first thing we had to do was take a personality test. I always find them fun so I was eager to start.
Knowing yourself is essential to creating a successful business. I had done the Myers Briggs before, where I discovered I am an introvert, intuit, feeler, and judger. INFJ’s are 2% of the population.
What does being an INFJ mean? I am idealistic, I have faith people will do the right thing, and when they don’t, I am continually surprised. I think all parents should love their kids and all animals deserve a home. I am often discouraged with human beings and harsh realities of the selfishness and constant alienation of people. I disown people whose word has no value or meaning or anyone who comes up with an excuse to fail or change their minds. I say nothing, but I am no longer accessible to them. My life is private and if you invade that space by finding my home number online, calling after 8 pm for business questions, or to change your appointment and cross those boundaries, you will be slowly filtered out of the people I trust. I truly want authentic connections with people, meaning I have never been able to make small talk. I am only deeply interested in who you are, what makes you tick, and how I can support you or how we can support each other.
The Carl Yung test was different. It explained many things to me which I would have loved to know as a child. That yes, I was different but here is why. My brain is wired differently. I have a different perspective. With the Myers Briggs test, your answers can change depending on whether you are at work or on vacation. With the Carl Yung test, he states the personality you were born with.
What it means to be a director thinker/healer
I look warm and fuzzy, kind of like a lion, and will be there 100% during your treatment or course. But I have distinct boundaries, and I have an edge. Most healers do not have an edge, they feel like they constantly have to be in service of others and work for free or in poverty. That is not my mind set. In my approach, there has to be an equal exchange of energy, and often one form of energy is money. Knowing your worth and what your value is a fundamental part of what I teach my students.
Just yesterday, one of my students asked me if she should give a client a free treatment. I asked what for. She said I had to cancel on him twice as I had a migraine. I said absolutely not, he has rebooked, he understands, and if he does not, fire him.
The funny thing, when I explain to people, I am a director thinker, they have no idea what it means. They think I am talking bout being a director of my company. When I meet people who are clearly socializers, they believe they are the same as me. But this is statically impossible. The statement I am like you, is a complement as the unconscious mind needs to make this the same in order to accept or understand our brain continually needs to make sense of everything. A director thinker makes up less than 2% of the world, and very few women are in that group. It surprises people that I am not more open and socializing.
The Yung test explained why I hated playing games as a child. It caused me so much stress and still does today. I have tried so many times to engage in games with others, but I always went to back to solitaire and cribbage.
I had an ‘aha’ moment taking this test. I always thought something was wrong with me, or it was abuse or some reason why I didn’t like to socialize. Through the Carl Yung test, I discovered that I was a director and a thinker. I only become social under stress, in a ‘save the world’ type scenario.
I only become social under stress, meaning let’s work together to find a solution. I remember in my NLP Train the Trainer program in Hawaii years ago, we were separated into small group to create a project and a solution to the project. The group was about 10 people. There were many opinions and ideas rapidly being shared. I watched this entire process creating chaos, no one was agreeing, they all had the best idea, but none of it would work. When the instructors said we had to pick a leader and a topic, and present in under 2 minutes, that is when I kicked into high gear. I had enough of the ramblings and chaos. I took charge and created a plan. I then had to be the one to deliver it, which was not my ideal plan. I prefer to be the brains in the background.
After this task was complete, the instructors shared that this was a test to see who the natural leaders were. Apparently, they always present when the others have exhausted every effort to lead. Who rises to the challenge?
3 things you need to understand about yourself for success
- Your ‘why’. Why do you get up every day and get out of bed?
- Do you value your work?
- Are you in the career that generates the rewards you deserve?
Taking personality tests can be revealing and fun in the least and at the most, life changing to your relationship and your business. What you do with that information can help you build our empire, your family and your communication skills.