Think personality tests are useless? Try this instead.

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Do you think personality tests are useless – just a silly schtick?

You might see personality tests as fun but useless because you don’t actually APPLY what you’ve learned.

Stick with me.

Have you ever taken a Buzzfeed quiz? They’re pretty addictive. After all, you need to know which rom-com hero is your match and what flavor of coffee you are!

Back in the day, I was a personality quiz-taking addict. I wanted to know what flavor I was (mint), the kind of dog (blue healer), and the color of my aura (gold). While really fun, I didn’t take much away from it. (obviously, though, almost 2 decades later, those tests stuck, so… moving on.)

Some personality tests won’t resonate with you (hello different perspectives!), but others may get you thinking about why you do what you do and how you might want to pivot.

In this post, I’ll briefly discuss what personality is, what a personality test is, and how you can actually APPLY what you learn from a personality test.

When you learn more about how to leverage your unique personality, you can live more intentionally with passion and purpose as God’s beloved.

Who doesn’t want that?!

Let’s dig in!

How do you define personality?

According to dictionary.com:

Personality – the combination of characteristics or qualities that form an individual’s distinctive character.

Dictonary.com

Your personality can also be called your nature, disposition, temperament, persona, psyche or identity.

It’s a modge podge of different qualities that make up YOU.

You can’t fail a personality test.

One of the things that grind my gears most about personality discussions is the emphasis on using the word “test.”

It’s actually an assessment, which makes a BIG difference.

You can fail a test.

There are “right” or “wrong” answers to a test.

But personality isn’t a pass/fail kind of thing.

When you’re assessing your personality, you’re determining where you fall across the scale of temperament qualities.

Is a judging personality better than a perceiving personality?

Absolutely not…. and this applies to every other facet of personality.

Your personality assessment results don’t determine whether you’re a human, average or lousy human.

When you’re taking a personality assessment – remember that it’s just helping you assess where you tend to be across a scale of personality qualities.

How you CHOOSE to leverage your personality test results is up to you.

Note: Periodically I’ll refer to personality assessments as “tests” so all the wonderful folks trying to find information about personality tests can more easily find this post. I’m still pro-assessments here!

How to make a personality test not useless: Pick one you need

If you’re really interested in learning about your personality, it’s worth evaluating what do you want to learn about your personality? Are there certain aspects of your personality you want to dig into?

Check out Take these 6 Personality Tests to know yourself better! for a quick synopsis of a handful of personality tests to look into.

How to make a personality test not useless: Integrate ONE finding into your life

It’s all fun and games with personality assessments until you actually choose to do something with that information.

Otherwise, it’s literally like a fluffy Buzzfeed quiz.

Are you really going to go hang out with that Hollywood hotty anytime soon? I don’t think so.

So, my challenge for YOU is to integrate one finding from the assessment into your life.

Here are a few ideas to get you started.

Post a reminder of what you learned

Did you pick up a really amazing piece of information from your assessment?

Perhaps you’re a rockstar at connecting with others and quickly adapting to change. but struggle with taking direction from authority (like your boss). You might need a reminder that it’s good for you to check in with others before diving into your next big idea.

Or maybe you excel at organization and following through on plans. (Yay!) Since you’re so focused on facts and details, you may need reminders to relax and be present in the moment.

Pick whatever key finding it is and write it down. Take a picture. Post it in your bathroom, kitchen, office, car… wherever. Speak that truth into your house.

Pick a habit you want to create and track it

Sometimes the personality assessment provides insight into how you can improve. For instance, let’s say that you have a tendency to get stuck in your head and need to move your body to work out the cobwebs.

Not sure about this idea? Why You Need Healthy Happy Movement in Your Life!

You could create a simple healthy routine that challenges you to move your body, such as :

• Walking after lunch
• Stretching before bedtime
• Dancing while waiting for dinner to heat up
• 9 Fun Healthy Happy Movement Challenges to Try (with actionable ideas to get started!)

Tracking your habits increases the odds of your success.

A few ways you could track your habits include:

• Using a habit tracker (see article above)
• Bullet journaling
• Calendar tracking
• Sticker chart

Adjust your schedule or routine so it better serves you

Okay, this one looks pretty daunting, right? It doesn’t have to be.

Let’s say you learned that you tend to be more easily drained by spending a lot of time with other people. (More about introversion another time!) And… you’re regularly drained by constantly being with other people.

While you can’t necessarily just abandon your job right now (survival?) or just ditch your family for days on end, you could make a small modification to give yourself the precious alone time you need.

Just a few ideas to get you started:

• Get up 5-10 minutes earlier each day (work your way into this!) to have some quality time by yourself
• Take 5-10 minutes each day to just be with your thoughts, such as after breakfast, before going into your home at the end of the day, etc. If others are intruding upon your time, gently and firmly communicate that you need this time.
• Communicate your need for solo time to those invested in you. You can troubleshoot how to create this whitespace!
• Set a 5 minute timer and brain dump what does energize you. (Rereading that personality assessment results might help!) Here’s a handy resource to get you going: 8 Self-Reflection Journal Prompts for Daily Soul Care.

Prioritize your cup-fillers

Another win you might get from thoughtfully taking a personality assessment is learning what fills your cup. Personality assessments tend to dig a bit deeper into what makes you YOU.

Sometimes they dig into WHY you do what you do.

So, after reading your personality assessment results, note what’s one thing that fills your cup. What’s something that energizes you? What makes you feel like a rockstar?

Then, build in time to prioritize that cup-filling activity. Perhaps you learn that you love digging into research about a topic that interests you. Give yourself a research block each week to indulge in this activity – even 15 minutes is a win!

Here’s an article to help you get going: Why filling your cup is so important (and how to actually do it!)

Articles related to Think Personality Tests Are Useless? Try This Instead.

• How your personality influences every moment of your life
• Take these 6 Personality Tests to know yourself better!
• How you can live with passion and purpose by understanding your personality
• What does God say about personality? (Especially Yours??)

Wrapping up: Think Personality Tests Are Useless? Try This Instead.

While it can be really fun to take a personality assessment, one of the most important parts of it is to DO something with it.

Integrate it into your life. Use your increased self-awareness to make your life awesome.

A few ways you can do that are:

• Post a reminder of what you learned
• Pick a habit you want to create and track it
• Adjust your schedule or routine so it better serves you
• Prioritize your cup-fillers

Just pick one finding from your personality assessment results and try incorporating it into your life.

When you learn how to leverage your personality, you can live more intentionally with purpose and passion as God’s beloved.

Talk about exciting!!

It’s your turn. What’s one way you’ll incorporate personality assessment results into your life? Let’s talk in the comments!

P.S. Want some crazy simple steps to start living intentionally? Grab the Embrace Your Potential Playbook. It’ll help you zoom in on your God-gifted personality and give you practical tips to be more intentional, passionate, and purposeful as God’s beloved so you can become the best version of yourself.