Kylie Jenner may have declared 2016 the year of “realizing stuff,” but I think 2018 is the perfect time to step into self-awareness.
The better we know ourselves, the better we can support ourselves and help others around us support us.
I’m a huge advocate for self-awareness, as it can lead to a happier, healthier, more fulfilling life. When you know your own needs, you can communicate them to others, find ways to address those needs that work for you, and let others know how they can support you in those needs.
The best way to learn about yourself is to live really mindfully and be honest with yourself, seeing where your strengths and weaknesses lie, where you utilize certain coping mechanisms, etc. The more objectively you can monitor your behavior, the more you can truthfully learn about yourself. If you have the attitude that your way is the best way, that you are always right, etc., then you won’t succeed. You have to be open to learning about both your light and dark sides, your yin and your yang.
How you react in certain situations can tell you a whole lot about yourself.
For example, I have essentially “shut down” twice in my life. Once was before and after my total thyroidectomy, and the other was after I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome. Both times I had such a heavy mind and heart that I basically dropped out of society (wasn’t going to school or working and rarely left the house) and spent much of my time in a zombie-like state.
Now I have to say, for a long time I was really ashamed that this was how I reacted. I wanted to be able to say I had been strong and fearless. That I had carried on without letting these medical obstacles get in my way. But that’s simply not the truth. When faced with a daunting, frightening, life-changing event, I shut down. But now, instead of being ashamed of those periods of my life, I choose to learn from them. They taught me how I react to immense stress, and I can use that information to help me next time I face a stressful event.
My shameful reaction is exactly why monitoring their own behavior proves very difficult for a lot of people. As humans, we like to think that we are the best, we are always right, and nothing is out fault. In order to accurately discern any information about yourself, you have to be as objective as possible, and be able to tap into viewpoints other than your own.
Since learning about yourself by objectively observing your own behavior is so difficult, I want to provide you with some quizzes that can help get you started with your self-awareness.
There is oh-so much to learn about oneself, but the quizzes below are all ones that I have taken (often multiple times) and have found beneficial. Unlike those infamous Buzzfeed quizzes (I shouldn’t knock them considering how many I’ve taken in my life, but I digress), these quizzes actually hold value and can teach you about who you are and what you need.
1. Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator
The Myers-Briggs test was first introduced to me in a college psychology class (so it’s gotta be pretty legit). It contains a series of questions that determines if you are: extraverted or introverted, use sensing or intuition, use thinking or feeling, and use judgment or perception. Based on your answers to the questions, you will be put into either one category or the other for each of the four characteristics. This means that according to the Myers-Briggs, there are sixteen total personality types.
Here’s a quick breakdown of each of the eight possible characteristics (once you take the test, you can research your individual characteristics more and find a wealth of information on them!):
- Extraversion
- Focus on outer world
- Energy is directed toward people & things
- Introversion
- Focus on inner world
- Energy is directed toward ideas & information
- Sensing
- Focus on information you’re given
- Process things with facts & the known
- Intuition
- Interpret & add meaning to information you’re given
- Process things with ideas & the unknown
- Thinking
- Look at logic and consistency
- Make decisions using reason & objectivity
- Feeling
- Look at people and special circumstances
- Make decisions using values & beliefs
- Judgement
- Like to have things decided
- Lifestyle is planned & structured
- Perception
- Like to stay open to new options
- Lifestyle is flexible & “go with the flow”
The official online Myers-Briggs test costs $50, but there are many online quizzes that you can take for free to get the same information. I’ve taken the one from 16Personalities that is just called “Free Personality Test,” and it gives you your four letter personality types, as well as which percentages of each of the eight characteristics you showed, and tells you all about what this means.
My results:
I’ve taken this test many times and I almost always receive the answer of INFJ, although I have gotten ISFJ (my sensing vs. intuition vacillates and always falls just slightly on wither side of 50%). For the purposes of this post, I’ll go through the INFJ personality type and how I see it relating to me! (BTW, INFJ is considered the rarest personality type, so basically I’m a unicorn).
- I – introverted. I wrote about my introversion once before here, because realizing what introversion really is has made a huge impact on my understanding of myself! Introverts aren’t necessarily shy; they just derive their energy from within, rather than from external stimulation. I’d rather spend time alone reading a book than going to a party.
- N – intuition. This is the characteristic that vacillates for me, but using intuition means I look at the meanings and patterns in the information I get and try to “read between the lines.” I rely on impressions and interpretations rather than facts and experiences. I tend to trust my gut instincts, even if the facts tell me a different story.
- F – feeling. Well, I’m mostly definitely a feeler! I tend to feel everything, and feel it hard. This characteristic makes me sensitive, compassionate, and very emotional (ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!).
- J – judgement. This characteristic means that I like to have things decided, rather than staying open to new possibilities. I am a planner through and through. I thrive with a routine, rely on my planner and to-do lists, and love a good schedule. As much as I wish could say I am, I am so not a go-with-the-flow type of person.
2. Zodiac Sign
This one’s not really a quiz, but you may have to look up your sign if you don’t already know it. While this is probably a little less scientific than a psychology-based personality quiz, I still believe it can shed some light on one’s personality. Your zodiac sign is determined by your birthday. You can figure out yours below:
Each zodiac sign is associated with an element and a symbol.
Signs in the same element have some common characteristics:
- Water signs: Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces – very emotional & sensitive
- Fire signs: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius – passionate & temperamental
- Earth signs: Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn – grounded & down to earth
- Air signs: Gemini, Libra, Aquarius – social & communicative
Individually, each sign’s symbol can give you more insight into that particular sign:
- Aquarius: water-bearer – generous with time and resources, like a man carrying a pitcher of water
- Pisces: fish – mysterious and dreamy, like the fish who lives in a secretive place
- Aries: ram – full of life and vitality, high energy, curious
- Taurus: bull – methodical, deliberate
- Gemini: twins – communicative and love sharing
- Cancer: crab – homebodies, like the crab who carries it’s home (shell) on its back; grasp onto things and hold on tightly (like crab’s pinchers)
- Leo: lion – proud, natural leaders
- Virgo: maiden – cool & calm on the outside, but inside mind is always turning
- Libra: scales – crave balance and may be considered wishy-washy as they weigh decisions heavily
- Scorpio: scorpion – great self-control, but aggressive when provoked
- Sagittarius: centaur – craves freedom & discovery through traveling, meeting new people, learning, etc. (a centaur is a half man, half horse who shoots with a bow and arrow and follows the arrow wherever it goes).
- Capricorn: mountain goat – goal oriented & driven, like the mountain goat who climbs higher and higher
My results:
My birthday is July 11, making me a cancer. I’ve always really identified with the crab symbolism, as I’m a HUGE homebody (many introverts are) and I have a really hard time with change. Like the crab’s pinchers, I tend to hold on pretty tightly. Cancers are said to be emotional, sentimental, loyal, creative, and moody (check, check, check, check & check). Since this sign is ruled by the moon, cancer’s experience mood swings like the changing tides.
Learn more about your specific zodiac sign and its meaning here.
All of the above is talking about your sun sign (another name for zodiac sign). But you also have a moon sign, which contains lots of information about your emotions and moods. So even while you may have the same sun sign as someone else, you may have a totally different moon sign, and therefore be a totally different type of person.
If you want to dive even deeper into your astrological information, you can get your natal chart, which takes into account not only the day you were born, but also the specific time and place. A natal chart shows the locations of different planets at the exact time you were born. These locations can allegedly tell you more about your personality,
I have little to no experience interpreting natal charts, but I once had mine looked over by an acquaintance who made some astute and eerily accurate statements about me from the information it provided (such as having a super close relationship with my mother). You can find yours here if you’re interested!
3. Ayurvedic Dosha
Ayurveda is the sister science to yoga and a form of holistic medicine. There is a heavy emphasis on utilizing healing herbs and eating a plant-based diet, but sleep and exercise are also considered important. Many trendy wellness practices (such as oil pulling, tongue scraping, and dry brushing) are traditional ayurvedic practices.
In ayurvedic medicine, there are believed to be three different types of energy that we have within us. These energies, or doshas, are pitta, kapha, and vata. We all have all of them, but in different amounts. Everyone has a primary dosha and secondary dosha, which can tell a lot about their personalities.
Here is an overview of each dosha:
Every called someone fiery or a spitfire? Probably primarily pitta.
Every said that someone’s head is in space? Probably primarily vata.
Every said that someone is down to earth? Probably primarily kapha.
Dosha quizzes determine what your primary energies are by asking questions about your body type and bodily habits, as well as your lifestyle habits. Different types of foods, movements, and practices are ideal for each dosha, so you can learn which ones may be beneficial for you, as well as which ones may hinder you.
Here are some good online dosha quizzes you can take: The Chopra Center, The Ayurveda Experience, and Banyan Botanicals. They do all require you to put in an e-mail address, but you can easily unsubscribe from their mailing lists. With many of these tests, I like to take a few different versions, and if I get the same results in each one, I know that’s my true results, or else I take the average of all of them.
My Results:
Honestly, I get different results on all the different quizzes. I got Vata-Kapha twice, Kapha-Pitta once, and Pitta-Vata on an additional quiz I took. I seem to have so many aspects of each dosha! Perhaps I just answered some of the questions inaccurately, or being chronically ill has changed my disposition in so many ways, that in some aspects I am speaking as the old me and some as the chronically ill me.
But if I were to “self-diagnose” I would say I am a kapha-pitta or pitta-kapha. I identify with the pitta body – medium build, inclination for acne, diarrhea, sunburns, but the kapha tendency to be cold. On the one had, I have the pitta drive, determination, concentration, and focus, and impatience, etc. But I also very much have the kapha compassion, comfort in routine, and inability to let go. Interestingly, although 2 quizzes put vata as my primary dosha, I really don’t identify with it, other than the tendency to become anxious.
4. The 5 Love Languages Quiz
This test is based off of the book The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman.
The quiz gives you a series of questions and asks which option is more meaningful to you. Based on your answers, it determines how much you value the following:
- Physical touch – you appreciate meaningful touches, like hugs, kisses, high-fives, handshakes, back rubs, etc.
- Words of affirmation – you appreciate hearing words like “I love you” or “I’m proud of you.”
- Quality time – you appreciate having someone’s undivided attention.
- Receiving gifts – you enjoy receiving thoughtful tokens of someone’s love for you.
- Acts of service – you appreciate when someone helps you out with something that is burdening you.
My Results:
The most recent time I took this quiz, these were my results:
These answers seem pretty accurate to me! Let’s break down my top three:
- Acts of service – when I get really stressed, am having an autoimmune flare, or am otherwise down and out, I REALLY appreciate my loved ones helping me out with certain tasks. For example, when my mom folds my laundry or my dad helps me with my taxes.
- Quality time – spending time physically in the presence of my loved ones means a lot to me. Whether we’re just watching t.v. together at the end of a long work day or going on a trip together, it means a lot just to be around them.
- Words of affirmation – when someone says that they’re proud of me, or that they liked something I created, my heart SOARS.
It’s important for you to know your own love languages so you can explain to your significant other, family, or friends why certain things matter to you. It’s also important to think about what others’ love languages are, and whether or not they are different from yours. You may be dying for your partner to say “I love you,” while they give you flowers once a week and to them that’s saying the same thing. It’s all about AWARENESS people!
You can take the 5 Love Languages quiz here!
5. Learning Style Quiz
There are many of these out there (most people take them at least once in middle or high school), but here are two that you can do online: this one asks detailed questions and gives you your percentages for each learning style, and this one (which actually offers three formats) asks generic questions and tells you your most prominent learning style.
Knowing your learning style can be very beneficial when it comes to learning something new. Whether you’re studying for a test, learning to play an instrument, or figuring out how to use a new blender – you can cut out a lot of frustration by utilizing strategies that work best with your particular learning style.
You can either be a visual, auditory, or tactile learner. Of course, we all utilize all three sometimes, but most people identify best with one particular style. Here are brief description of each:
- Visual – visual learners learn best by seeing things written or drawn out. They like to read and write out what they learn and gain insight from pictures.
- Auditory – auditory learners need to hear things said out loud. They can remember oral instructions well and like to recite information out loud.
- Tactile – tactile learners learn by touching and doing. The have to do things for themselves, and learn best from experience.
My results:
I am a visual learner. I like to write things down, make lists, charts, etc. I organize my notes into study guides (sometimes even color coded) and re-read them and make flashcards to study. This has been true for me throughout my entire academic career!
BONUS QUIZZES
As of April 2020, I am adding 2 more personality quizzes that have become popular in recent years.
6. Four Tendencies
The Four Tendencies are based of of Gretchen Rubin’s book by that same name. The tendencies basically describe our behavior, especially when it comes to how we respond to inner and outer expectations of us.
The four options are: questioner, upholder, obliger, and rebel.
My results:
I’m an upholder! Some aspects of this type that particularly resonated with me are:
- Don’t like to let others or myself down
- Always hit deadlines and often finish early
- Want to understand rules
- Struggle when expectations aren’t clear
- Find habits gratifying
This was one of those quiz results that just had me nodding my head as I read them. It really fit me!
Take the quiz here.
7. Enneagram
The enneagram personality test breaks the human psyche into 9 interrelated personality types.
The enneagram types are:
- 1 – the perfectionist
- 2 – the giver
- 3 – the achiever
- 4 – the individualist
- 5 – the investigator
- 6 – the skeptic
- 7 – the enthusiast
- 8 – the challenger
- 9 – the peacemaker
I took this quiz from Truity – there are lots of enneagram quizzes out there! Every quiz calls each type something slightly different.
My results:
I am a 1w2, meaning a 1 with a 2 wing. I am almost equally type 1 and 2! I identify a lot with both type 1 (“the perfectionist”) and type 2 (“the giver”) – together they form “the activist.” Some aspects of this enneagram type that resonate for me personally: principled, empathetic, ethical, desire for justice & equality.
Final Thoughts
These quizzes are just one small step toward self-awareness. Once you know your results, you should try and see where they fit into your life and how you can use them to improve your life. For example, if you learned that you are a tactile learner, but have been attempting to learn through reading, you should change your study strategies accordingly.
If you’re comfortable, share your results for any (or all) of the quizzes in the comments! Were they accurate for you? Let me know!
