Better Understand Your Qualities: Improve Your Overall Life?

One of my fellow writers Denise Grier is on a mission to improve her physical, mental, and spiritual health. During the couple of blog posts in which she discusses her need for change, she points to an interesting online test that scores test takers on discipline, passion, risk, optimism, and interpersonal skills.

The test, Live In The Two: Test For Success, is powered by Nightingale Conant. Nightingale’s chairman, Vic Conant, claims

Getting what you want out of life isn’t about IQ, education, or luck; it’s about mastering the skills and mindset that separate the top 2% of America from the rest. The good news is that these skills are learnable.

It’s a relatively quick test, and you may even want to use it in your personal recovery plan. As far as accuracy goes, well, I’ll go over my results with you.

Discipline

According to your responses, it’s probably safe to say that you couldn’t be more out of balance if you planned it – which we both know you never would. You try your best to keep things together, but if just never seems to be enough. If only there were a solution! Think about how much better life would be if you could learn the secret to this art called discipline.

True. I didn’t use to be this way. From the ages of 19 t0 22, I went to college full-time (and was on the Dean’s List), worked part-time (and was promoted a couple of times), kept an immaculate apartment (and never let my laundry overflow), cooked (on occasion!), and maintained a marriage. Everything worked like a well-oiled machine.

Passion

Although you are always enthusiastic about your goals, you also tend to be practical in your approach to accomplishing them. All passion can lead to disaster without the proper forethought.

True – except during those times when I’m struck with an idea I think is so brilliant I dive into it without making a practical plan. (However, as far as romantic relationships go, my “passion results” aren’t accurate.)

Risk

Regardless of the reason, you’re not likely to make changes in your life. And while familiar surroundings can be comfortable, they can often lead to stagnation. Consider what you’d like to change and just take a leap of faith.

I’m divided on this one. Lately (within the past couple of years), I have been hesitant to make change. However, there are times (professionally and personally) when it wouldn’t be me if I wasn’t taking a risk.

Optimism

You’ve got a pretty good attitude about life, and while others view you as positive and approachable, you require time away from people. You prefer to surround yourself with quality rather than quantity.

100% true. Period.

Interpersonal Skills

Face it, you’re just not an extrovert, and depending on your career track, that could be a problem. While you do enjoy a certain amount of interaction with people, you’re most comfortable in small groups or one-on-one.

I’m divided on this one, too. While the “you’re most comfortable in small groups or one-on-one” is true, I tend to be an extreme extrovert when it comes to situations with which I’m familiar, i.e. a group of friends, co-workers I’ve known for a while, family members, etc.

So, those are my results. Over all, I’m not too surprised, though Vic claims at the end that if I’m like most people, I’ve learned something about myself. Vic also claims that if I am indeed in the top 2%, I will use these results to improve my life.

At present, the only thing I’m interested in improving is my discipline. “Think about how much better life would be if you could learn the secret to this art called discipline” isn’t much of a helpful suggestion, so I’ll have to find my own path.

Take the test, and share your results. How accurate are they? What are you, and aren’t you, interested in “improving”?