my life compass

As I was searching for a new career assessment to take, I found this life assessment quiz!

We all struggle with juggling family, friends, work, exercise, fun and time for reflection. This quiz says it will help you identify which aspect of your life you need to focus on improving.

I took the quick 7 question quiz and these were my results:

Assessment Results: Spirituality

Your score indicates that the life area you struggle with most is Spirituality.

Whether you have a deep faith and wish to strengthen your relationship and find support in your journey, are looking for answers and guidance in your quest to connect with your spirit or simply feel that you are meant for more and seek coaching with a spiritual undertone, this is the path for you.

A woman’s spirit is her core, her foundation. For many women, it is impossible to separate their spiritual life from the rest of their life and that is why we have introduced Spirit into our offering.

This seems to be in alignment with the purpose of my little blog here. I struggle with understanding where I fit into the bigger picture, how I can use my gifts and strengths to have a positive impact on my world and carving my own path for happiness.

The obvious next questions is - what do I do about this? Learn to meditate? That has always been on my to-do list. Embrace religion? Yea, probably not. Continue on my methodical and dedicated search for my life's purpose as evidenced through my blog? Likely.

Click here to take the assessment.

wedding planner

Disclaimer: I am currently planning my own wedding, which could be influencing my thoughts about being a wedding planner. Although I am in the midst of a wedding planning hiatus and do need to kick it back into gear soon.

I am a planner by nature. I love planning parties and projects. I love writing up To-Do lists for my day and checking things off as I complete them. I think I would be a good wedding planner. My own wedding planning has gone relatively well so far if that is any indication of my skills.

Working weekends, holidays and nights might get old. That said, I would have a more flexible schedule, which is appealing. I would witness the grandest expression of love over and over again. On the other hand, I would also be a slave to bride after bride and it would only be a matter of time before a bridezilla crossed my path. But, I would be helping so many people realize their dreams of a beautiful wedding and I would meet people from all walks of life.

I stumbled upon this Should You Be a Wedding Planner? Quiz.

My Result was: It looks like you would be satisfied with a career as a wedding planner.

That's all this quiz gave me. It's super short but not sure its worth your time.

Anyway, I could start my own wedding planner business and that would satisfy my other urge of being my own boss and starting my own business. I can usually remain pretty calm in stressful situations and jump into action when necessary. I have solid negotiation skills and the ability to the make the "impossible" possible. I'm organized, detailed-oriented, budget-conscious and feel that I am a good listener and have a way of understanding and relating to people.

On the flip side, I don't have a great sense of fashion. And, I don't really know much about flowers, dress designers or wedding cake but I could learn. I can also see myself getting sick of brides after a while, is that bad?

If I am destined to enjoy many careers/jobs in my life, perhaps this will be one along my journey.

jung personality test

To be truly successful in any career, you must first understand yourself.

I took the Jung Personality test and it determined that my personality type is: ESTJ.

Extroverted (E) 65.85% Introverted (I) 34.15%
Sensing (S) 55.81% Intuitive (N) 44.19%
Thinking (T) 52.94% Feeling (F) 47.06%
Judging (J) 78.13% Perceiving (P) 21.88%
Much in touch with the external environment. Very responsible. Pillar of strength. 8.7% of total population.

According to this test, I am:
organized, group oriented, focused, conventional, leader, emotionally stable, anal, attention seeking, planner, realistic, fearless, responsible, finisher, decisive, norm following, respects authority, punctual, hard working, stiff, self confident, thinks rules and regulations are important, follows the rules, clean, outgoing, social, content, does not like being alone, normal, regular, does not like weird or strange people / things - intolerant of differences, strict, disciplined, aggressive, assertive, content, happy, proper, formal, strict with self, meticulous, strong sense of purpose

And, my favored careers include:
executive, CEO, supervisor, business consultant, manager, strategist, financial planner, business person, office manager, public relations manager, international business specialist, business analyst, management consultant, operations manager, loan officer, lawyer, marketing, sports management, government employee, investment banker

While my disfavored careers include:
poet, artist, songwriter, musician, novelist, art therapist, theatre teacher, art curator, film editor, video game designer, photo journalist, travel writer, actor, record store owner, camera operator, art historian, music teacher

I am most surprised by the careers on the disfavored list. I love to write and have always loved poetry and art. My father is an artist, my fiancee a budding video game designer and my brother a filmmaker. I suppose I have known that those careers weren't the best fit for me, but to be on my disfavored list?

Out of all the careers on my favored list, I was intrigued by sports management. I have often thought I could use my business skills to manage the talents of other people. In the past, I have always wanted to manage artists but maybe athletes is the way to go. I do enjoy exercise and appreciate athletic talent and strength and the more I think as I write this, the more I realize that this may be a viable career option to consider. I could be like Jerry Maguire?!

Take the test for yourself! And, once you take the test, visit this page to view your results.

the one question

This free self-reflective 14-question test claims that it helps you ask yourself the right questions so you can identify your true passion and purpose.

1. What are you naturally curious about?
I love reading mysteries and philosophy. I also enjoy reading about relationships and how different people connect with one another in a meaningful way. I enjoy watching films that explore unknown topics. I like reading advice columns and articles about nutrition, exercise and cooking. I enjoy learning about concepts and ways to enjoy life and increase happiness.

Comments: Your answer to this question gives you an indication what are the different topics where your passion may lie. You may find here clues about a suitable profession for you or a field you want to work on. Often what we naturally do we enjoy the most.

2. What would you like to change about the world?
I want to reform health care & education and contribute to building awareness of the importance of nutrition and exercise to lead a healthy & happy life.

Comments: What makes you angry the most shows you in a way what you care about the most, what is close to your heart. It is unlikely that you are emotionally strongly moved by something you are not even slightly passionate about.

3. What would you love to do or accomplish before you die?

• Travel to every continent
• Win a cooking contest
  
• Help others achieve healthy & happy lives
• Make a movie
• Write a novel
• Start a successful business
• Achieve personal balance & happiness
• Incorporate meditation into my daily life

Comments: The things you listed as answers not only give you an idea of your goals, but also your values - what is important to you and how you would like to live your life. See if you can spot any themes in your things to do list.

4. What would you do if you could not fail?

• I would start my own business.
• I would become a film producer.
• I would write novels.
• I would become an editor.
• I would become a celebrity chef on TV.
• I want to be a motivational speaker.
  

Comments: This question helped you to think without limitations. There is a good chance you wrote here things that you really want to do.

5. What would you do if you would not be limited by money?
I would cook, read, write, and discuss ideas of how to better the world with people I admire and respect. I would quit my job and start my own business.

Comments: Similar to the last one, the question removed barriers from your thinking and brought out your inner desires. Remember that you might be able to earn money following your passion too.

6. What would you like to hear at your funeral?
I would want people to say that I was caring, generous, honest, hard working, fun, smart, witty, interesting. I would want them to say that I was brave and courageous and led an exciting life. I would want them to say that they became better people because they knew me. I would want them to say that they loved me, respected me and admired me for living life well.

Comments: Your answer shows you what you value and how you would like to live your life, what is truly important to you.

7. What are the things you currently enjoy doing?

• Reading
• Writing
• Cooking
• Exercising
• Walking my doggie
• Debating

Comments: Very straightforward - your passion may lie in one of those activities.

8. What were the activities or tasks you were doing when you felt most empowered?

• Selling
• Making movies
• Being in charge
• Debating logic/philosophy

Comments: When you are passionate about some project or assignment, you feel energized, you don't get tired and you feel excited. Dormant forces, faculties and talents become alive and you discover yourself to be a greater person than you ever dreamed yourself to be. If you felt something like this when doing the tasks you listed, this might be it or at least you're close.

9. What would you most like to be acknowledged for so far in your life?

• Writing a feature film at the age of 14
• Moving to NYC at the age of 19
• Graduating college in 3.5 years
• Conquering my blood clot
• Getting a great job out of college and staying with it for 5 years to realize 3 promotions
• Finding the love of my life and paying for our own wedding
• Getting a dog and becoming a better person for it

Comments: You only take pride in things that matter to you. The question is if these things matter you the most?

10. If you had only one wish, what would it be?
To find the right balance in my life to be content.

Comments: Now that you gave it some thought, try to think of at least 5 more people for whom you could make a wish, include strangers. After you've done this for a little while, see what trends you see. This will be at least very close to your purpose.

11. Whose life do you want to be living?
Stanley Kubrick
Julia Child
Simone de Beauvoir

Comments: If you did pick anyone, why did you choose these people? There is something about their achievements, lifestyle or other aspects of life that you find desirable. That's a hint.

12. What ideas are you most inspired by?
Reforming health care & education
Healthy living
Achieving happiness & life balance

Comments: If there is an idea that really inspires you, that could very well be your purpose.

13. With whom would you like to surround myself?

• Healthy
• Happy
• Interesting
• Motivated
• Well educated
• Inspiring

Comments: You become who you drink coffee with. The kind of people you want to have around you tells you what kind of a person you want to be.

14. Do you take responsibility for what is happening to you?
Yes, I am responsible for where I am in my life right now. I can create my own future and will. I just want a little guidance....

Comments: Only you can change your future and create the life you want to live, no one else. If you blame others and shift the responsibility away from you, you are looking for answers in a wrong place. If you said yes, congratulations. Now that you have gone through this exercise, answered all the questions and read the answers once again - do you see patterns in your answers? Identify what are the common themes in your answers and you will find your passion and purpose in life.

Click here to take this Life Purpose test for yourself.

the holland code

I don't know about you but once in a while, I like to take one of those free career assessments online and see what it thinks I should be doing. There are a ton of free ones out there and once a week I am going to take a different one and report on the results. I mean, I am basically typing "free career assessments" into a Google search bar and clicking on random results on the first page.

This week I played the Career Interest Game from the University of Missouri Career Center. The instructions on the site are convoluted. Basically, go to the site, click on each piece of the color pie and identify the three of those pieces that most closely describe you. Then, order those by importance/similarity to your personality. You get a 3 letter Holland Code that maps to a set of careers that you would be suited for.

According to the site: "This exercise is based on Dr. John Holland's theory that people and work environments can be loosely classified into six different groups. Different peoples' personalities may find different environments more to their liking. While you may have some interests in and similarities to several of the six groups, you may be attracted primarily to two or three of the areas. These two or three letters are your Holland Code."
My Holland Code was: EIS (Enterprising, Investigative, Social)

Accordingly to this assessment, I should be a: Human Resources, Training, and Labor Relations Managers and Specialists.

It is actually an interesting result. I think I would be good as an HR person because I would treat the employees like they were my clients and I am very used to providing good client service. I guess this role could evolve into a cool recruiting position - matchmaking the unemployed with the perfect job?

I have to say, this assessment provided a fairly realistic result based on my personality traits. I would recommend trying it out. It is free and it takes like 3 minutes.

If you take the test, comment with your Holland Code.