A Test In Your Favor.
Have you ever thought of how the world would see you?
Since childhood, I was always fascinated with personality tests, and I kid you not, I took almost all of them. Am I the only one, or do you also feel “fascinated” when you get the chance to take the test of your character? Personality tests have always intrigued me; I grasped all of the MBTI types knowledge and whatnot. If you checked 18-year-old Tanvi’s google history- you would have seen all types of personality tests with a lot of music and choreography videos, but we would leave it there.
I am revealing a lot more than I should.
While answering the first few questions, it got me thinking: do I actually do this, or is it just an impulse. On many occasions of my “teen” years and even now (keep it to yourself), I still take personality tests, and I go, “oh, what all can you tell me that I already don’t know? Keep talking.” I would instead read more about myself than do my homework.
Sally Hogeshead is a New York Times bestselling author, chief executive officer of How to Fascinate (Fascinate, Inc), and a former advertising executive. In 2010, Hogeshead developed a scoring system that measures how a person evaluates these seven “triggers.” Placed against the background of other assessments that measure worldview, these tests show how others perceive a person.
The Catalyst- my archetype.
An individual with passion and innovation as primary and secondary triggers, respectively. Catalysts naturally have colorful personalities and make friends easily. Even in a rather formal interview setting, you’ll find that you quickly warm to them. They communicate with zeal, which encourages co-workers and customers to get involved in their projects- well, it just described me accurately. Adding energy to conversations by vividly sharing my ideas and perspectives has been a strength — finally, a thirst to come up with unexpected ideas is something I relish.
An archetype like this tends to build relationships and spread the message quickly. Sense of comfort in untested water- something becomes too mundane or familiar; it likes to challenge or reinvent it, and interestingly, they will enjoy trying out new social media platforms.
My three hours of daily screen time had more to do than just personality tests. Come on!
“A creative spirit who often dislikes repetitive, linear tasks. If forced to adhere to a rigid set of rules, they can become bored and distracted.” This one hit home.
In a college interview, the lady questioned me to describe myself. To my knowledge, my answer stated that I’m not too fond of monotonous routines, and funnily I said I don’t even eat the same breakfast every day.
You know what? Surprisingly, Sally Hogshead is a catalyst. Bingo!
Primary and Secondary Triggers
Someone so intrigued with psychology and human connection, it was not a surprise to witness my result in this test. I am 100% in agreement with emotional connection. Even as a brand, you can’t build a relationship if your target doesn’t feel any relation with you.
Firstly, my primary trigger: passion- creates strong and immediate emotional connections. My highest self is when I genuinely connect with someone. As a result, I develop solid and quick emotional relationships and communicate expressively.
My tendency to uplift people has always been a part of my journey. An acquaintance of realization occurred when my passion for dance led me to a vice president of the college’s dance society. Then, when I was graduating — my team posted a farewell letter, and to my surprise, I realized I made people comfortable around me.
Secondly, my secondary trigger: innovation- embracing opportunities for change and exploration couldn’t be more accurate.
A career like marketing values creativity and cutting-edge thinking, and tests like this can ensure you’re on the right track. Moving to a whole new continent and changing careers during the pandemic has not been easy. I was afraid to come to New York, but I moved on because I was adventurous and creative. Perhaps that’s why NYC didn’t scare me for a long time.
Marketers’ cognizance of their strengths is the first step to success.
When a brand establishes itself, it needs to have a clear objective on its portrayal! A test like fascinate would help them use their triggers wisely and work consciously to navigate their brand in the right direction.
What is unique about them? USP (unique selling point). It will move them forward- conveying a unique personality and clear value to potential employers or clients.
Anyone with access to the internet and social media can build audiences, establish themselves as professionals, and attract customers for their business. It’s good for many people to show entrepreneurship, but self-employed freelancers and entrepreneurs will soon face more competition than today. The key to standing out from the competition is building your brand.
Personal branding can act in massive ways when individuals know who they are and why they are in the market. Still, it would require them to work towards their strong points consciously.
“Having a personal brand is important for an entrepreneur because now more than ever, it’s important for CEOs and founders of companies/brands to come out to the forefront and connect with their audiences. People connect with people.” — Kevin Stimpson.
Take this blog as an example; the consistency of posting it every week has made me believe in my capabilities of articulating my thoughts well and setting up deadlines to follow up with my ideas.
Let’s put the test into perspective.
Pursuing a career in marketing requires skills that would first need my acceptance for who I am to move forward; a test that gave me all my strengths and weaknesses would help me shape my career efficiently. Being mindful of the weakness is as important as being alert regarding strengths. With the test navigation to personality, I believe as a catalyst- I need to turn my passion into results and follow up on my deadlines when I focus on building my brand.
Every one of us questions and doubts ourselves- are we worth doing this?
Here we see people fighting or looking for themselves, searching for an individual, but what if it turns out they are just 28 questions away from finding themselves?
Until next time,
TR
