Anna Friesen Cole, ALC (Awesome Life Coach) had me take a personality profile. Just a few questions, but that seemed to be all it took reveal me as a Free Spirit/People type.
Included with the determination were descriptions of what each "type" was like. Which was when I realized, much to my surprise, I wasn't at all a "People" type, at least not according to its description! Turned out that I was far more "Task," which would have been a shock to my teachers & a hoot to my family.
Me? A TASK personality? The person who told a career coach, in all seriousness, that I don't set any goals "because that would be a guarantee I never complete it"??
Been thinking this past weekend a lot about which of the two I am closest to - PEOPLE or TASK. Seems to me that whichever it is, it's been pretty well messed up over my lifetime. Feels darn tootin' amazing to seek, at 60, opportunities to set both back on the course from which they've strayed for so long.
If I am a PEOPLE type, then it's weird I lack an intimate circle of friends. John & Karen. Two people. Doesn't seem quite right, does it? Am good friends with a lot of people, but intimate? Just those two. My husband & a remarkable woman who came into my life less than 10 years ago. And, of course, Dave & Candy - but they live way out in Sioux Falls & are kept on their toes by a wondrous family that defines inclusive.
Mind you, I was raised to believe myself the ULTIMATE people person. None too bright, perhaps, but a social marvel. At least, that was the self image I had dinned into me. The first 50 years of my life focused on people and on developing & maintaining relationships. Primarily FAMILY relationships & if not family, then fairly one-sided. Being "none too bright" (at least compared to older sibs), it was essential to me that I make the most of what I did really & truly did best - providing loving support to those who mattered most to me, even if it was unrequited (not in their natures & even less in their nurtures).
By nurture - yes. By nature - no. So it seems, at heart I'm NOT a "People" type, after all.
Which leads me to being a "TASK" person. When I first read the description, it felt like an electric shock went right through me. Have always thought in terms of tasks, of setting out goals in logical steps that can easily measure success or need to focus more intently, apply myself more successfully. Drove my teachers batty, being able to see what needed to be done, able to detail the steps, but then not doing it. Labeled LAZY. Wasn't. Just lacked any sort of infrastructure to turn the task into reality. Setting tasks - fun. Doing tasks - dull & prosaic. Completing tasks - not a core concept in family discussions. Mostly beginnings, rarely next steps, never end product.
By nature - yes. By nurture - no. At heart, I am a "Task" type all the way, but woefully unequipped to make the most of what should be one of my greatest assets ~ seeing the best-next-step task before me. Even today - June 4 2012 - can see the best-next-step, but respond by dodging it or numbing myself out of effective action.
How easy it would be to get further messed up with "woe is me" and "if only I'd realized earlier" and "too late now" thinking... BALDERDASH! I am a TASK person - and darn proud of it!
It's not an easy effort, making the time and investing the psychic & emotional & realtime energies necessary to turn things around, but any decent Task type worth her salt would see it as right up her unobstructed alley. Simple - no. Essential - yes.
And what's the key to making all of this HAPPEN, to developing my Task side while nuturing my inner People Person? It is... Nah - been writing enough this a.m. Off to clean up the kitchen. More about the key later!!
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