How well do you know yourself? How well do your friends and other people know you? At times, we may think that we completely know our true selves but we may not realize that there are certain things about us that we are not aware of.
Did you ever experience being described by others as such when you think it is not you? We have a component of our personality called the unconscious that transcends our conscious self. So beyond our known personal identities, we manifest certain traits and characteristics that we barely recognize from within ourselves.
It is important to know your personality and get in touch with your real identity because your personality defines your character. Also, it is one of the reasons that people are easily able to achieve their goals in life and attain success. Understanding your true personality makes you a more satisfied and content individual in terms of appreciating life, your career, and relationships with people. In what ways can you determine your personality?
Take Personality Quizzes and Tests
One of the common ways to find out your personality is to take personality tests and quizzes. These tests are designed to determine the individual’s personality type and traits, values, skills, and interests. You can find a lot of these quizzes online or from reference materials in psychology.
One of the top-rated personality quizzes is called the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator which helps assess a person’s character as well as in the aspect of an individual’s career life. There is also a simple Color Quiz in which quiz takers will learn their personality type by the colors they choose.
You need not be a psychology major or consult a psychology expert to learn your true personality, although professional consultation with experts is a lot more helpful. If you want to learn more about your emotional, mental, or general well-being, simply have fun answering personality or psychological tests.
These tests are commonly used by companies as part of the exam for job applicants. EQ and IQ tests are the commonly conducted exams during the hiring process because companies want to make sure that they not only take in the skilled ones but also those who have suitable work attitude.
Listen to Constructive Criticism about You
In your interaction with different types of individuals, you can solicit some remarks on what they think about you as a person. They are helpful in identifying your weaknesses or limitations and turn these flaws into an advantage. Sometimes we tend to overlook our personal flaws that we fail to realize we have already offended other people with the kind of personality we have. You need to have an open mind to criticisms and comments.
Expect that not all remarks are pleasing and positive. If they notice something which they think is not good, you can reflect on that and do something to change it to for the better. For example, you commonly hear remarks about your being grumpy and moody. If you hear such comments from several people already, maybe it is high time you need to minimize being irritated and glum most of the time. Work on being more optimistic and keep on thinking happy thoughts, and soon you will come out as a more positive person.
Take Professional Counseling from Experts
If you seem to have a hard time understanding your real self or you simply prefer taking advice from professional counselors who you think can be more trusted than the self-help quizzes and people’s remarks, you can set appointments with your counselor or a psychologist. More often than not, we are supposed to know ourselves better than other people do. However, it is not true for everyone since some of us still go through a dilemma of who we really are and what our purpose in life is. Especially during moments of depression or down times, such situations will test your true character.
When you simply rely on what you hear from other people about you, it may possibly cause more confusion since you elicit various comments and then it would be hard to decide on what to believe and which is true or not. With counseling experts, they can facilitate your mental and emotional state. They can guide you to finding your true self because they understand these things and they know very well how to identify the type of personality you have.