feel | Usman Sheikh

5 steps to find out who you are

“You are now at a crossroads. This is your opportunity to make the most important decision you will ever make. Forget your past. Who are you now? Who have you decided you really are now? Don’t think about who you have been. Who are you now? Who have you decided to become? Make this decision consciously. Make it carefully. Make it powerfully.” Anthony Robbins

“Who are you?” was the question which was tackled this week. By no means is this an easy question to answer and in most cases not too many ask themselves this question till it is too late. For you to be able to succeed at anything in life you need to realize what it is that you are good at and, not good at. Simply plugging along and hoping for the best isn’t an optimal strategy. Being an entrepreneur, identifying your strengths and weaknesses and those of your team mates are essential in creating winning teams.

1. How do you energize yourself?: Some people draw their energy from the outside world with constant interaction with friends, co-workers or teammates. This constant interaction energizes them to be more productive and efficient. Some people draw their energy from the inner world. They need time-out to gather their thoughts and feelings to energize themselves. How do you energize yourself? To read more please click here.

2. How do you process information?: Do you work best with facts and figures or do you rely a lot on your gut feelings? Some individuals find it a lot easier to process information when they can use their 5 senses to verify information. They prefer information to be provided in a step by step manner. Others look a lot deeper than the senses, they are able to perceive and infer a lot of things which may not be clearly apparent. They are constantly moving from one thought to the next. How do you process information? To read more click here.

3. How do you make decisions?: Are you the type who requires all the facts and then likes to make logical decisions, or do you take into account the implication of your decision on those it may affect and then make a decision? People who prefer to go with the facts and reach practical decisions may appear to be cold, however their reasoning has sound fundamentals and may be the correct decisions. Others who take into account the implication of their decision before taking it may appear to be weak, however their reasoning is based on maintaining harmony in the group or team. How do you usually decide? To read more click here.

4. How do you structure your life?: Is your routine strict and regimented or do you have more of a carefree attitude and prefer to keep your options open? People who prefer structure in their daily routines tend to follow a day to day task list to help them prioritize. Making decisions as soon as possible to remove ambiguity is something they prefer. On the other hand people who prefer a more autonomous structure in life like to keep their options open all the time. They work best in situations where there are no strict deadlines to meet. How do you prefer to structure your life? To read more click here.

5. Put it all together: Once you have decided on all your preferences you you should click here and follow the instructions. You will arrive at a 4 character personality type which will highlight some common characteristics of that type. See if it sounds like you and how you prefer to operate.

What type are you?

I hope this process will help you see your preferences with greater clarity. This is by no means a definitive guide to identifying your personality. It is just an indicator of your stated preferences. It helps you to understand yourself better and also how your team mates prefer to operate. If this is done as a team exercise it boosts internal communication and increases productivity as team members now realize how a certain person processes information and ultimately reaches a decision. For an indepth analysis please email enquire@innovogs.com to schedule a JTi test.

I can hardly believe 4 weeks have already gone by. Thank you again for your support and continued readership. Major changes to the blog are underway so if there is anything that you want to see on this blog and don’t see yet please email me or leave a comment and I will do my best to incorporate it into the blog.

How do you decide?

“Every decision you make—every decision—is not a decision about what to do. It’s a decision about Who You Are. When you see this, when you understand it, everything changes. You begin to see life in a new way. All events, occurrences, and situations turn into opportunities to do what you came here to do.” Neale Donald Walsch

We now know how we energize ourselves and how we process information. Today we will focus on how you come to your conclusions. What are the circumstances that you find easier to make a decision in as compared to others? Here is a an example to get you thinking….

You are 2 years into your startup venture. Things have been bumpy along the way but the 4 original partners have pulled through. Three of the partners in the firm get along really well with each other. The fourth member lets call him Tom, has not been pulling his weight for the last 6-8 months and is actually pulling the team down. Here is the interesting part, Tom and you have been friends since you were kids. Tom is also going through a very tough time with his mother being terminally ill. This has made it very difficult for you or any of the other team members to say anything. Your companies first hire, Peter, has been picking up all of Tom’s work and has been doing an incredible job. He draws a much lower salary than Tom. Now here is the deal, things are a bit tight at the company and you need to let someone go. You are the final decision maker and the choice is between Tom or Peter. Who do you let go?

(Think of a similar situation you may have been. Did you make the same choice at that time as well?)

If you chose Tom you fall in the “thinker” category if you chose Peter you are in the “Feeler” category. It sounds incredibly simple but helps us reach a very important conclusion about ourselves. On one hand of the scale you have the thinker. They like to take information and use it in a very logical manner. They tend to make practical decisions which may lead people to perceive them to be cold or heartless. However using the above example it makes sense if you want to take your company further it would definitely seem to be the logical choice. This impersonal analysis of the situation is something the thinkers do very well.

The feelers on the other end of the scale have a totally different perception. When making a decision they first see all the likely repercussions. It is inherent of a feeler to not ruffle too many feather and to maintain a sense of harmony in a given situation. To a thinker this sort of an approach may seem to be weak or illogical given the evidence. They make decisions based heavily on their value systems. Going against that is not very simple to do.

Like both the other scales we have talked about this one also doesn’t need you to be in an either/or situation. Use the example above and go with the choice which is the most natural to you and one you are comfortable in making. In doing so you will reach another very important conclusion about yourself as an entrepreneur, where decision making is critical in your rise to the top. Knowing which situations you can reach conclusions easily and decisively in will boost your overall productivity. You must always keep a balance in your team of thinkers and feelers. Both are necessary to reach an objective resolution.