How are those new year's resolutions going? If your situation is less than what you had hoped for back in December, here are two great tools that you can use to get to know yourself better.
TypeCoach Verifier is a free tool to help identify your Myers Briggs Type. The Myers Briggs questionnaire measures preferences in how people perceive the world and make decisions. The original developers of this personality inventory began creating the indicator during World War II to help women who were entering the industrial workforce for the first time to identify the sort of war-time jobs where they would be "most comfortable and effective". It's a useful tool now for anyone looking to understand themselve within a work and family context. I've found it helpful to understand my little quirks, like my need to plan vacations well in advance; turns out I'm just being a good ISFJ!
Another tool to use is the free RHETI sampler for the Enneagram. The Ennegram maps nine different personality types and identifies your Dominant, Stress and Security points, the types that influence a person during stressful or relaxed situations. Each of the nine Enneagram personality profiles has a distinct, well-developed coping strategy for relating to self, others and the environment. Here's an article by Tony Schwartz on how his company uses the Enneagram to help staff see through their blind spots.
Both of the above tools are free, and are worth the small investment of time to take them. Good luck and let me know how it goes.
