YOUR PURPOSE TEST RESULT
“Potential”
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#Intentional Immersion
#Committed Direction
#Valued Needs
What Your Result Means
DEPENDING ON WHERE YOU ARE ON THE PURPOSE TEST
Rejoice! Trumpets! Happy dance!
You are currently at the interface of “you love it”, “the world needs it” and “you are paid for it”, which is a very beautiful, meaningful and valued place to be in. And, as with all accomplishments in life, from learning to ride a bike to finally knowing how to poach an egg, it’s easy to focus on what’s missing. In my case that would be the Hollandaise sauce and in your case that would be “being great at it”.
Before you think I’m calling you incompetent, please know that this test is just a snapshot of your perceived right now and does not attempt to establish any kind of typology or make conclusions about your personality.
Your results suggest that you do not perceive yourself to be in a place of mastery or excellence. This could mean that you have really high aspirations and tend to forget to look back at the ¾ of Mount Everest you’ve already climbed. It could also signify that you are a beginner at whatever you are doing or that you haven’t quite found the structural alignment between your skills and your position.
Either way, keep reading to get a loving and cheerful look at what has held other people back at this stage. You’re also getting some practical advice that I invite you to take with a pinch of salt (and perhaps a visualisation of you accepting an esteemed award for your brilliance).
What’s Holding You Back
MEET YOUR BULLSHIT MONSTERS®
No matter which stage you’re at, we all have a little voice in our heads that tries to keep us safe by keeping us un-extraordinary. I lovingly call this self-deprecating chatter “bullshit” and it’s best dealt with by visualising it as coming from a little monster, a bullshit monster!
Either Org
People who find themselves in Potential often meet Either Ogre, which is just as ugly as the name sounds. It likes to transmit either-or feelings to you. In this case, it’s likely to pull the winner vs loser card: “There are winners and losers. Losers have to lose so that winners can win. If you want to be a winner, someone is going to have to lose for you...and that’ll be your fault. If you don’t want to hurt others, then you know what you are. A loser”. This monster basically wants you to not even attempt to become great at your thing because spreading your wings could hit others in the face.
Gibberfuzz
Another monster you may meet is Gibberfuzz, a fuzzy likeable wit and word obstructor. , Gibberfuzz is a sweet and unassuming monster who loves the expression of brilliance by people who are excitedly nervous and about to say something witty. It shows up in important situations, like speeches or important networking events, sharing your elation by giving you a nice and tight hug around your neck. “How excitiiiiiing!!!”
This causes an uncomfortable lump in your throat, leaving you speechless or at least devoid of intelligent things to say for a minute or two. You may think you’re a useless lame duck when all that really happened was over-excited monster affection.
WHAT EXACTLY IS THAT FEAR POINTING TOWARDS? RECEIVING A LOT OF ATTENTION AND HAVING NOTHING TO HIDE BEHIND?
ATTRACTING ENVIOUS HATERS?
LOSING APPROVAL FROM THE PEOPLE YOU ADMIRE?
HAVING NO MORE EXCUSES?
What to do?
Let’s talk about the mastery your test results say you haven’t quite reached yet. People in Potential are often either scared of success and its consequences… or they’re entirely too harsh on themselves. Here are a few questions for you to reflect upon before considering what to do.
If fear of success resonates with you, feel free to ask yourself these questions: What exactly is that fear pointing towards? Receiving a lot of attention and having nothing to hide behind? Attracting envious haters? Losing approval from the people you admire? Having no more excuses?
And if you think you may just be being harsh with yourself, ask yourself these: Who do you compare yourself to? Do you perhaps tend to compare your backstage mess to other people’s highlight reel? Could you also compare yourself to someone from the normal population, rather than a superhero? Also, are you nice enough to yourself? When did you last just praise yourself for work well done?
If you’re in more of a fear-of-success place, you might just have to jump in the deep end and fill the shoes you know you’re meant to fill. If you’re in more of a harshness-with-yourself place, you’d probably benefit from a good dose of self-compassion (not to be confused with self-pity) and a laptop-and-duty-free vacation.
If, on the other hand, after musing about all of those questions, you still consider yourself to lack skills, then you may just want to head into an intense doing period to become better. Offer a flash sale of your services for a reduced price in exchange for feedback!
And now what?
Go and be your brilliant purpose-driven self. You are on your path even when it doesn’t feel like it!
Plus, I’ve got your back. I’ll be in your email inbox in the next few days to help you contextualise your results and put them into action.
All you have to do is give me permission to land in your inbox by confirming your subscription. If you can’t find the email, check your junk folder and whitelist me.
With ease and confidence,
Anaïs
Here’s a sneak peek of what you’ll be getting
Why asking yourself “what’s my purpose?” is one of the most useless ways of going about working with purpose (even if you really want to know)
What to do instead
How to deal with Bullshit Monsters® when you meet them out in the wild (procrastination, fear of ridicule, perfectionism - I’ve got you covered!)