MY TOP 5 TOOLS FOR GREATER SELF-DISCOVERY
EPISODE #15 | JOSEPHINE KIMBERLING
Do you struggle with trying to figure out what makes you unique? What your strengths are? What lights you up? The meaningful work you are put on this earth to do?
Host Josephine Kimberling shares 5 tools that have given her a different piece of information about herself, and have each helped her in her life journey. They have helped her navigate career moves, opportunities to grow, and help her find and follow her own north star.
In addition – after 1 year in to Highlight REAL, Josephine shares what’s next for the Highlight REAL podcast.
TODAY WE WILL LEARN HOW TO
Discover what type of Creative you are
Discover your strengths
Discover what your blind spots are
Discover what energizes you and what depletes you
Discover what lights you up
TOP 10 HIGHLIGHTS
I am learning that when we have passionate careers, we need to pace ourselves. It’s easy to push myself past the breaking point, and I need to be intentional about developing daily practices. That I need to be gentle with myself. That I need to have things in my life that I enjoy outside of work. That I need to be aware when I’m making decisions that sacrifice my health for my work and for others, and get myself back to my center.
That we are all on this life journey, figuring it out as we go. There are no answers. There’s just awareness of where we are on the journey, and being aware of who we are & how we are moving through our lives. Listening to our hearts, minds and bodies, and making adjustments as we go. None of us have it figured out. Life truly is a journey.
That relevancy really only matters to the people you are seeking to impact, and who are part of your tribe. That the desire to be relevant to THEM matters, not the whole world, but the people who are seeking you. Because those are your people. Those are the ones whose attention matters.
It’s OK to show up and do my best. To make decisions. To choose a path…and then decide to change my mind. To pivot. No matter who is watching me, or what they think because It’s MY life. At the end of the day, I’m the one who has to live with myself and my choices. I get to decide what the next, right, authentic move for myself is.
It’s OK that I don’t look like what my mind says is a “typical creative” because I’m not drawing every day. That I find enjoyment and fulfillment in different things than creating art 24/7. AND that I also have a NEED to create. And need to make the time and space for me to experiment and find out what type of art I want to create, now that I’m not making art for my living.
It’s OK to say “no”, and that “no” is a complete sentence.
In order to grow and move forward, I’ve got to make space for what’s new. I’ve got to let go and get rid of things to make room for what’s next.
I need friendships and people in my life. I thrive on conversations and deep connection, and I need to stop being afraid of rejection, take that first step, put myself out there, and treat new friends like dating.
I need to work through and push past my fears of creating. I need to look at those fears and challenge them. To embrace that feeling inside of me when it pops up and do it anyway.
I don’t have to choose a lane. We are multi-dimensional human beings, and when we bring our multiple interests into what we love to do, we have the opportunity to create something unique. I don’t want to put myself in a box. I want to break out of that box and be who I really am, with ALL of my passions.
MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
TOOL #5: My Creative Type from Adobe
ABOUT THE TEST: This test is free. It’s fun and light and helps you find out what type of creative you are. It’s beautifully designed and fun to share with your friends.
TOOL #4: The Sparketype Assessment from the Good Life Project
ABOUT THE TEST: The Sparketype test by Johnathan Fields of the Good Life Project is also free, and takes less than 10 minutes. Once you are done with the test, you can choose to pay $29 to gain deeper information about your sparketypes. I must say though, that I did pay for the test, and wish I would have gotten more information about each of my sparketypes and also information about what having this specific combination of types means. Most of the information is spent talking about the concept of Sparketype vs. specifically about you. BUT, the information was still helpful. I just don’t know if I would pay for this version unless there was more to it.
TOOL #3: CliftonStrengths
ABOUT THE TEST: CliftonStrengths used to be called Strengthsfinder and has been recently rebranded. This test costs $19.99 to find out your top 5 strengths. There are 34 strengths total, and if you want to know your ranking of all of these 34 strengths, that version of the test will cost $49.99. With these tests, you also get an action planning guide which helps you understand how to grow in your strengths.
What I love about this test is that it operates from the understanding that we all have unique strengths, and the way you will see the most growth in your life is if you know what your strengths are and grow within them. It’s much easier and much more effective when you focus on your strengths vs. your weaknesses.
TOOL #2: Myers Briggs or Keirsey Temperament Sorter
ABOUT THE TEST: Take the free test here! https://www.16personalities.com/ The site is beautifully designed and easy to share and look-up type information with your friends or significant others. You can also pay $29 for your premium profile, which I have done, and yes, I have found this one is worth it.
Then, once you’ve taken the test and know your 4 letters, there’s a couple more websites and a book I’ll put in the show notes for you to gain a deeper understanding.
Read more about your type here: https://www.personalitypage.com/
This site is horribly designed, but the information is VERY good! Click on the Freud head to find your type, then the other icons to read more about who you are in relationships, friendships, as a parent, and even things like career path.
You can also read more about your type here: https://keirsey.com/ and the book Please Understand Me 2 is amazing and goes into so much more depth than the websites. I highly recommend it!!
TOOL #1: The Enneagram
ABOUT THE TEST: This test is my absolute favorite and it’s really hot right now. You can take the test at Eclectic Energies for free. When you are done with the test you get a number 1-9. The deeper you go into this test, the more you will uncover – such that each number has a “wing” and an “instinctual variant” and a “center of intelligence”, which really opens up the different possibilities for a lot more types than just 9.
I would warn you that it can be difficult to get your correct type right out of the gate because it’s based on your internal motivations and deepest needs, not what that looks like on the outside.
When you take the test, they will tell you the top 3-5 numbers that you may be. I would encourage you to read all of them to see which you can eliminate and which may speak to you most. You’ll usually know you’ve discovered your type when it kind of kicks you in your gut. I’ll strike a chord.
The thing about the enneagram is that it shows you both your light and your dark. While Keirsey Temperament sorter is mostly warm and fuzzy, the enneagram will help you do some really deep work. It will literally change your life.
Another way that is helpful for people to discover their number, is to read about all of the types. I listened to the book “The Road Back to You” by Ian Morgan Cron and Suzanne Stabile, which is a good intro to all the types. You can both understand about the differences between all of the types AND you can figure out which is most like you as well.
Once you know your type, or if you are still trying to figure it out, I highly recommend you listen to the podcast “Typology” with Ian Morgan Cron where he talks to different Enneagram numbers. You can hear yourself in their stories.
Ian also has developed an Enneagram Assessment, which is either $60 or $120. I haven’t taken it yet, but am dying to!
FIND OUR GUEST HERE
GET REAL: PONDERINGS TO PROPEL YOU FORWARD
What is the next personality test you are going to take for deeper self-discovery?
And when are you going to take it?