thyself: some tests to know yourself
#NuttyNovember 9
We said we should go nuts - the right way.
One key thing for going nuts the right way is knowing yourself a bit. So today let’s go into a list of tests which I have taken over time and have helped me think about myself.
- Ideal Day
How should your ideal day look? Don’t go too much into the future and don’t constrain yourself by anything like your current job. But try to just chart it out from an optimistic and liberated imagination. How would you start a day? How much percentage of it would be with friends? How much time will you spend reading, writing, or watching something? Once you take the test, look back at the elements you have added up. It is a window that reveals each of your desires - or what you think are the right places to spend your energy on. Then reflect on the distance between your current days and that ideal day.
- What matters to you?
Simply write a laundry list. This also means you are recapping a lot of your life moments and picking up the right things. Just write: “___ matters to me.” And try to put it into actions and objects also. Earlier tests only had actions and activities maybe. Here you can add objects or people. For example,
Reading matters to me.
Being kind matters.
Going to the gym matters to me.
and the list goes on…
Odyssey Test
This is a test developed by the Stanford Design Thinking team. It is about answering three questions.- If you did the same job as you are doing today, where would you be after 3 years? Nothing changes? Same job, same energy, same you.
- If you pivoted, took risks, switched jobs, where would you be after three years? This is a different you. You have new energy and new courage.
- If you had all the money and time in the world, what would you do and where would you be after three years? Often the two big constraints in our decision-making are money and time. Keep those aside and look inside and pick what you want to do. This reveals your drive.
The pencilled YOU
Take a pencil or a pen and draw you. Don’t use any words. Just draw you as you think about you - and make the picture to define who you are. You can add elements. You can add shapes and lines. The picture should be the core definition of you. A similar exercise around your feelings can be found here
Know thyself idiots. The most foolish man to ever live screamed from the top of the roof.
Go Nuts!