Personality Flavors. What's Yours?

Human beings are a strange breed of animal and they fascinate me to no end. I analyze people like it's my day job and just when I think I've come across the weirdest and most wonderful, I'll meet someone that better deserves the title. Humans are also the most intricately woven, complex creations and they astound me in the way they love, communicate, serve, inspire, create, pioneer, lead and envision. Ever found yourself sitting on the outskirts of a crowd, engaging in some casual 'people-watching' {yes, that is a verb}, and wishing you could just peer through a person, past their clothing or facade and look straight into their being? Ever wonder what's really inside a person? Ever wonder how they function, or what inspires them to their core or how they think and process the world around them? Call me deep, but this is where my mind wanders off to in it's spare time. 

The inspiration for this blog post actually comes from a lecture we had in class yesterday entitled "How do you affect your environment?" We have been delving into the mechanics of leadership as a school, and inevitably we ended up on the topic of personality styles; learning yours, understanding others and adapting in order to positively affect your environment. I eat practical personal growth tools for breakfast and absolutely love this branch of psychology; simply fascinating. 
If you've never taken a personality test, they are about as numerous as the spots on a Dalmatian's back, and most of them have great insight into unpacking the wonder that is YOU. However, my personal favorites are the DISC test and the Myers-Briggs, and it was the DISC that we unpacked this week in class. I've never loved the categorical confines that certain personality tests hammer us into, perhaps that's why I am biased to the above mentioned two as I've found them to do the opposite, liberate not constrain. 
This week we had a lot of fun recognizing ourselves in the various categories, whilst finding it scary how predictable the given human being is and the ease with which our personality traits can be identified. I have learnt so much about myself through these tests, and I believe that one of the keys to success in life is understanding yourself, growing in the understanding and appreciation of others, especially those who seem to see the world through a different looking glass, and then learning to adapt well to your environment. 

The DISC Test as mentioned above stands for Dominant, Influential, Steadfast and Contentious. These are headliner words for 4 different personality flavors. Most people have all four of these to some degree but you can generally identify a person as operating most strongly in one of these quadrants. 
On the Myers-Briggs test, I am an INFJ and on the DISC I am a C/D personality with C being my strongest quality and D following close behind. The Contentious one is a task-oriented individual that is highly information bound, analytical, organized and has a high value for justice and doing the "right thing." A "C" is obsessed with details and has an innate eye for these, they value time immensely and where they spend it is of vital importance to them. They are generally internal processors, that take in the world around them, process it in the laboratory that exists within them and then once conclusions have been formulated will speak and communicate. A "C" is motivated by truth and needs security at all times. They generally do not like change as they have well established routines that they constantly improve for maximal productivity and effectiveness. A "C" generally views life from the perspective of the past and draws their conclusions in life based on previous experiences. They are learners, thinkers and if you are in an argument with a C, expect to be wrong, they seldom share something without first knowing it to be true. 
Then we have the other half of my personality type which is D for Dominant. These are natural born leaders, the ones who make the history books as pioneers and risk-takers. A "D" needs to win at all costs, they don't play for fun, they play to win, and as highly competitive individuals will often race against themselves in order to push the boundaries of where they have been before. They are driven by the thirst for significance and are constantly asking the question "what is the purpose, and what is the point." These are task-oriented visionaries who live for tomorrow, and their motto in life is "get it done." A "D" may be akin to a whirlwind, as everything they do, they do fast. "Ready, fire, aim." D's view people as a resource that can be used to fulfill one of their many visions and have been known to step over people in the name of winning or getting something done. They are list people, and are driven by the sense of accomplishment that they get from completing tasks. 
Combine these two fascinating categories of human personality and you have me. I will not go into the I or the S, although they are my favorite types of people in this world, and actually, all of my best friends fall into these I/S categories making them the exact opposite of who I am. Opposites do compliment. 

If you would like to take the free DISC and Myers-Briggs test online, just click on the links here and here. What is your personality type? I'd love to hear.