Know Thyself Project

By WEquil.School Leadership Team

The mission of WEquil is to reach equilibrium, the point where your natural strengths and interests are aligned with the wants and needs of the world. We recommend this project as a first step toward getting to your equilibrium. To reach equilibrium you need to learn about yourself. A great way to start is to write about who you are, and discovering hints as to how you are uniquely positioned to add value to the world. In this article I will be talking about how to start learning about yourself, create a project, and how to personalize your personality project in a way that is unique to you.

Many people use personality tests to learn about themselves, but what is the best way to use tools such as personality tests? We recommend taking some tests, but that's not the purpose of this project. As Antigone Stark, points out in another personality project...there are good reasons to be skeptical of personality types and tests like the Myers-Briggs. The best way to use these tools isn’t just to take the test, get your results, and then decide that you are that personality type. Most of the value that comes from personality tests is reading the questions and thinking deeply about them.

My First Personality Test... Steps:

Personality Tests
Friends and Family Interviews
Self-Reflection
Socialize and Improve
Demonstrate

1. Personality Tests

There are many personality tests you can take ... and we would recommend you try several. Many students find the Myers Briggs and the PrinciplesYou test useful for helping them think more deeply about themselves. Once you get your results from these tests, read the description and think critically about them. When you find something useful, start taking notes about it in a Google Doc. These notes are a starting place for your project.

2. Friends and Family Interviews

Next you want to interview friends and family. Ask them, "What are some qualities about me that you think make me unique?" Some of our students also find it helpful to share their test results...but only if they felt that these results were pretty accurate. If you do...ask, "Do you agree with these results, and if not what is it missing or getting wrong?" Take note so you can build out the unique aspects of your personality project.

3. Self-Reflection

No test or person can tell you who you are. Only you can do that. But it takes a lot of honest reflection over your whole life. Tests tend to focus on measurable qualities that are easier to compare across people. Friends and family tend to focus on aspects of yourself that you allow them to see. Self-Reflection allows you to dig deeper into those things that are hard or impossible to measure ... like what you find most meaningful in life and what you look for in friends. Honest Self-Reflection also helps you to re-imagine who you want to be. That may not be who you are now, but how you wish to be remembered most certainly can be.

4. Socialize and Improve

This project should be highly personalized since it is about you. Think about the strengths and weaknesses of your personality and talk about how it may hold you back in some ways and how you can leverage your strengths. Use our Synthesized Learning Process to help you publish your first project! We recommend using a five paragraph framework for new writers. Whatever you do...don’t just summarize the description about the personality type, this article should be about you and since you are unique, the your personality description should be creative. Also...don't make it perfect. The goal is to communicate, not get an "A". Next socialize your article to get some feedback. You may choose to start with a few close friends and family. Use their input to make improvements. Then share with the link in the "LifeSchool" channel on our Slack group.

5. Demonstrate

Next you share your project with WEquil.School on Demo Day. You can do this any Saturday at our private sessions or public demonstration if we have a personality or psychology related theme. This is all part of the Synthesized Learning Process which helps people retain information by giving members opportunities to teach. Only you can teach the world about you. You are the expert...and we want to learn.

Learning about yourself is the first step to reaching equilibrium. That's why we recommend this first project to create your first draft of your unique personality type. Members are encouraged to revisit their "My Personality Project" over and over again...applying the process of iterative improvement. Know thyself ... not only helps you learn who you can become but also helps you build relationships in our community and the world. The more you learn about yourself and build relationships at WEquil.School the easier it will be for you to learn, create projects, add value to other people, find your path to specific knowledge and become irreplaceable in our digital global economy.

Additional Resources

Here are some projects we have written to help members develop a better sense of who they are ...

How to Listen Better - https://www.wequil.com/post/how-to-listen-better
Deep Relationships - https://www.wequil.com/post/deep-relationships-with-jordan-peterson
Winning Friends - https://www.wequil.com/post/winning-friends-with-dale-carnegie
How to motivate Kids - https://www.wequil.school/post/how-to-motivate-kids-struggling-with-remote-schooling
Make yourself powerful - https://www.wequil.school/post/make-yourself-powerful
Be a force for good - https://www.wequil.school/post/be-a-force-for-good
Build better relationships - https://www.wequil.school/post/build-better-relationships
Regrets of the Dying - https://www.wequil.com/post/regrets-of-the-dying
The Hamburger Model - https://www.wequil.com/post/the-hamburger-model
Power Pose - https://www.wequil.com/post/power-pose

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