Assessments for Self-Discovery

I suppose I have always been a self-assessment enthusiast. Long before I decided to make the career switch to counseling, I was on a constant quest to figure out who I was supposed to be. While I enjoyed taking the Enneagram, Myers-Briggs, and Buzzfeed quizzes called "Which cereal matches your personality?" I never knew what to do with the results. These tests provided lists of my supposed strengths and weaknesses, expressed as fixed characteristics of my Type-7-ENFP-Lucky-Charms personality type. While these self-assessments were fun and engaging, oversimplifying my personality traits did little to help me feel less "stuck."

My curiosity fueled further research into the the validity, reliability, and internal consistency of various self-assessments. I quickly learned that not all self-assessments are created equal. However, if used correctly, self-assessments can be powerful tools for self-discovery.

I developed the Strengths and Priorities Assessment (SaPA) as a therapeutic tool for self-discovery. This assessment is intended to be taken prior to counseling or coaching sessions to guide deeper conversations about a client’s strengths and priorities. The purpose is to boost overall well-being by leveraging existing personal strengths.

Why Focus on Well-being?

By focusing on well-being, we acknowledge the holistic nature of our inner experience and consider mental health factors such as resilience, physical health, social supports, expression, purpose, safety, access to resources, and sense of connection. Coaches can help clients navigate challenges more effectively by paying attention to these variables.

Think about the last time you felt “in flow.” Perhaps you took on a project at work that tapped into your distinctive talents, or maybe you were providing expert advice to a friend. Your “flow” might be related to feeling active and confident in your body or designing a comfortable space that fits your unique tastes. Wellbeing takes on different forms throughout our lives and can be nurtured through our existing gifts.

Unearth Potential from Our Priorities and Strengths

In a world that often emphasizes our shortcomings, shifting the focus towards leveraging our strengths and priorities can feel revolutionary. By highlighting one's current strengths across various life domains, individuals can feel less “stuck” and more empowered to take actions that align with their capabilities and values. Focusing on what we’re already good at can create a ripple effect of positive change.

SaPA encourages individuals to use their inherent talents and priorities as a foundation for growth. Incorporating this assessment into your personal development or counseling practice provides valuable insights, fostering a more empowering and positive outlook on life's obstacles. So, why focus solely on fixing weaknesses when we can soar by leveraging strengths?

Assessment Design

SaPA consists of 56 paired comparison questions, each presenting a choice between two positive personal statements. Each statement corresponds to one of the Eight Dimensions of Wellness. Statements are matched twice against those from the seven other domains to determine their relative positions. Results are then listed by dimension, expressed as percentages of the maximum possible statements per category. Due to this scoring style, it would be impossible for an examinee to score 100% (or 0%) in more than one domain.

SaPA’s key feature is the forced ranking of distinct concepts, loosely inspired by the Personal Values Card Sort. While Likert and semantic differential scales often suffer from central tendency error and social desirability bias, SaPA’s paired comparison items encourage deeper critical thinking and self-discovery.

Assessment Formation

The formation of this test involved an understanding of the Eight Dimensions of Wellness, which encompasses emotional, environmental, financial, intellectual, vocational, physical, spiritual, and social wellness:

Emotional: Appropriately experience and express a full range of emotions. Develop assertiveness skills and self-confidence. Healthily manage and cope with stressful situations. Demonstrate awareness and acceptance of your feelings. Attune to the feelings of others. Maintain healthy levels of optimism. Demonstrate resilience and gratitude.

Environmental: Understand how your external environment impacts you. Contribute to the betterment of your local, national, and worldwide ecology. Choose and adapt environments to support wellbeing and meet your needs. Feel safe and comfortable in your home and community. Spend time in orderly, calming spaces that reflect your style and tastes.

Financial: Understand how to manage budgets, checking accounts, savings, investments, credit cards, and retirement plans. Handle financial matters without much stress. Have sufficient money to meet your needs. Feel confident in your financial future. Make progress towards short-term and long-term financial goals.

Curiosity: Demonstrate an openness to new experiences, ideas, and perspectives. Engage in creative and intellectually stimulating projects, conversations, or activities. Foster the skills to create, investigate, develop, focus, problem solve, explore, predict, and understand. Establish a love of learning. Feel competent in your ability to learn something new.

Occupational: Understand the wide variety of career opportunities available to you. Engage in work that aligns with your talents, skills, and personality. Establish and display job-related skills, such as feedback, time management, and self-motivation. Feel appreciated and proud of the work you do. Take control of your current occupational/vocational path.

Physical: Feel good in your body. Understand how your body functions. Make informed decisions about your body. Engage in physical activity and healthy sleep habits. Understand how food, beverages, alcohol, drugs, chemicals, caffeine, and additives impact your body. Seek medical care when sick or injured and for preventative care. Maintain a healthy diet.

Purpose: Explore, understand, and clarify your values. Develop an ability to question and examine your personal values. Understand how values evolve and shift throughout life. Develop an awareness and acceptance of others’ value differences. Search for purpose and meaning in life. Behave in ways that are consistent with your purpose and values.

Social: Create and maintain close, supportive friendships. Choose intimate and romantic partners who respect your feelings and needs. Develop a strong support network. Maintain healthy relationships with family, neighbors, and friends. Comfortably interact with diverse individuals and groups. Engage in social activities.

Want to learn more about your strengths and priorities? Book an appointment with MindMAPT today!

you can’t spell joy without “why”

Our values and motivations are at the heart of every decision we make. These are the silent forces that shape our actions, guide our relationships, and ultimately, define our lives. The MindMAP Values & Motivations Wheel provides a framework to help us chart these intrinsic drivers. This model isn't just theoretical; It has also been translated into a MindMAPT assessment tool, exploring how (and why) we use our most limited resources: time, energy, and money.

The Framework:

The Values & Motivations Wheel is a compass for understanding our motives. This model combines aspects of Schwartz Theory of Basic Values and Reiss 16 Basic Desires Theory. It is based on two fundamental axes: the 'Protect vs. Express' axis and the 'Connection vs. Self-Interest' axis. By evaluating our tendencies across these dimensions, we can better identify our core values.

The "Pure" Values:

• Conformity (Pure Protect): These values focus on the preservation of order and standards. They are driven by a desire to protect the status quo and adhere to established norms.

• Self-Direction (Pure Express): Self-Directive values are motivated by autonomy and freedom from external control. These values encompass personal expression and individual choices.

• Benevolence (Pure Connection): Benevolence is characterized by a focus on the welfare of others. These values are rooted in altruism and the pursuit of greater good.

• Power (Pure Self-Interest): Power represents the pursuit of achievement for personal gain. This value is driven by self-interest and the desire to influence or control.

The Intersecting Values:

• Universalism (Protect Connection): Universalism combines protective characteristics with a focus on collective well-being. It is about upholding and advocating for collective values, such as hope, wisdom, equality, and honesty.

• Stimulation (Express Connection): Stimulation is at the intersection of expression and connection, with values such as activity, passion, and variety. Stimulation occurs when we engage in something outside of ourselves.

• Security (Protect Self-Interest): Security refers to the desire to protect ourselves and inner circle, which can manifest as a desire for safety, protection, stability, and health.

• Hedonism (Express Self-Interest): Hedonism is the expression of self-interest, which might include taking pleasure in food, leisure, sex, or relaxation.

Personal Currencies Assessment

Personal Currencies (PCA) is an assessment which applies the Values & Motivations Wheel into a value-sorting tool. This assessment has two main goals and several potential applications. First, the assessment is intended to help identify and organize the “why” behind our actions. Next, the assessment urges us to consider whether our values align with our day-to-day decisions.

Assessment Development and Design

The Personal Values Card Sort was incredibly influential in the development of this assessment. For years, I have urged friends and colleagues to join me in this lengthy activity. Fortunately, many obliged. This often involved laying out 100 value cards on my kitchen table and debating their relative importance. I was so fascinated by people’s answers and reasoning for prioritizing one word over another. I also realized how a word can be emotionally charged for one person, but not others.

Taking inspiration from this exercise, I listed 48 values and categorized them into one of the eight dimensions listed on the Values & Motivations Wheel. By including six different terms for each dimension, I attempted to avoid the distortion of results based on one potentially triggering word.

For each dimension, there are three questions:

1. In the past two weeks, how have you spent most of your time?

2. In the past two weeks, how have you spent most of your mental energy?

3. In the past two weeks, how have you spent most of your money?

On their own, these questions would likely produce answers like “working,” “studying,” “paying rent,” etc. However, when the options are value-based and not activity-based, it begs the question…why? Why do you work? Perhaps you work for stability, wealth, impact, achievement, or sense of purpose. By discovering our “why,” we can be more intentional about our actions.

Once the test-taker chooses the values that best represent how they spend most of their time, money, and energy, they are then asked to prioritize these choices between opposing dimensions. Each dimension has a maximum score of 3 points, making it simple to visualize along the wheel.

If you would like to discover how to leverage your values to achieve more fulfillment and joy, book a Values & Motivations Assessment Session.