The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Not Fulfilled? Depressed? Maybe You Need An Alignment

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
If you have been following and taking the tests above ( multiple times ), you should have a good sense of who you are.

Maybe you are saying, "I kinda already knew this". Well, so did I on many parts of these tests. That doesn't make them less valuable.

I mean let's face it, before I took the tests myself I had already been in many of the EXACT careers these tests say would fit me. By default that means I was living out my personality at some level and "knowing who I am". Except, I didn't actually know it.

What's scary is, some of you might not have been as lucky as me.

You might have got stuck in a dead end job for XYZ reason, or a career choice your parents pushed on you. Maybe you lived what you consider an unhappy life for 30 years and need a desperate change nearing retirement. You didn't fall into your right career like I did.

Or maybe you are in the right career/path and think you have this miserable life and need a total change. Well, maybe you just actually need some small tweaks and you find those out doing these tests.

Here is what is REALLY scary though -> we all have limited time on this earth.

Above I told you I was lucky and fell into the right careers that fit me. That I was living my personality somewhat while not knowing it. That I got "lucky".

Here's the truth I haven't told you. Ready for it?

It took me years "to get lucky" and "have those careers fall into my lap".

I'm 39 right now.

15 year ago I sat down one night and wrote down every job I ever had and with whom. Many of them were 2nd or 3rd jobs while I worked my main job(s) I had at that time.

At 24, I already had over 60 different jobs. At the time it was so funny to me that I actually stopped counting and walked away from the table.

15 years later, I know I can count on that number being in the 80's. Remember, I stopped counting past 60 15 years ago.. I very well could be near 100 total.

In a way, I kinda "split-tested" my way into the career I am in now

Like a brute force attack into jobs/careers, I found by sweat, tears, heartache, and pain what fit me.

Do you really think you have the time and ability to try out 100 jobs? Do you even want to? Trust me, the answer is NO.

And this isn't about just jobs/careers even though this example talks about it. This is about the choices you make and what makes you tick and be happy.

I might die tomorrow and have only had a few years living out a career and choices that really fit me. Being self employed online is what fit me, but it took me forever to find it. It took MANY years and lots of breaking down and hard work with suffering.

Yes, I've been doing "stuff online" for nearly 20 years, but those "online" things were side gigs in my early years. I didn't go full time hog wild in it until the last decade. And a decade ago when I first went full time into it, I was still working for others which means I wasn't fully living my personality out because I was trapped in employment and slave wagery. I've only recently lived out what fits me being self employed online.

If I had known about these tests ( and trusted them ) when I was 16, could you imagine the difference it would have made in my life?

Sure, maybe I wouldn't have been super successful and rolling in money because of it, but I wouldn't have been miserable with 100 jobs either.

I could have changed how I made choices too instead of "reacting" because I could have had some idea of who I was, instead of trying to just be anybody to survive.

.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

MattR82

Gold Contributor
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
178%
Oct 4, 2015
1,394
2,480
41
Brisbane
Interesting. Thanks for putting so much time into this.

I've been thinking of taking a week or two off everything except the bare essentials and doing Jordan Peterson's self authoring suite and some of what you have above. Or at least getting a good start on it.

I wouldn't say I have depression now, but have in the past,( pretty badly) and still have my moments, but find it interesting when I stumble onto some kind of work or project that absolutely annihilates it from my mind without even realising it till a few weeks later.
 

rollerskates

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
269%
Jan 10, 2017
391
1,053
Texas
Because of this, we spend most our time fighting our own nature.

We take massive action and what we get is more problems.
We wind up doing unfocused work that drains our energy levels.
All because we didn't take the time to figure out who we really are.

Yes. This is very well said. I spent a lot of years sucking at life because I didn't understand myself. Getting there!

Worth repeating:

"We spend most of our time fighting our own nature"
 

jlwilliams

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
199%
Dec 14, 2014
270
538
52
This is going more difficult than I expected, and I wasn't expecting a walk in the proverbial park.

The test I'm taking are coming up with vastly different results. Case in point, let's start with the first "letter" of the MBPT. Am I "I" for introvert or "E" for extrovert? Seems straight forward enough. But it's not. One test (first I took) said I. Ok, I can kind of see that. The next says "E" which kind of makes sense in other ways. Another,that graded rack letter by a percentage by which I favor that designation rated me as 1% more E than I.

What the......

Ok, I do and always have spent a good deal of time in my own head and I enjoy solitude. I also don't get called shy much. I meet and interact easily with strangers. I do exhibit traits associated with extroverts and introverts. This just goes on and on down the line. I have a hard time with a lot of the questions on the tests because I read the question and think "it depends..."

This is going to take some time, but I suspect it will be worth it.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
This is going more difficult than I expected, and I wasn't expecting a walk in the proverbial park.

The test I'm taking are coming up with vastly different results. Case in point, let's start with the first "letter" of the MBPT. Am I "I" for introvert or "E" for extrovert? Seems straight forward enough. But it's not. One test (first I took) said I. Ok, I can kind of see that. The next says "E" which kind of makes sense in other ways. Another,that graded rack letter by a percentage by which I favor that designation rated me as 1% more E than I.

What the......

Ok, I do and always have spent a good deal of time in my own head and I enjoy solitude. I also don't get called shy much. I meet and interact easily with strangers. I do exhibit traits associated with extroverts and introverts. This just goes on and on down the line. I have a hard time with a lot of the questions on the tests because I read the question and think "it depends..."

This is going to take some time, but I suspect it will be worth it.

Not sure how fast you took the tests, but this is one reason I stress taking the test multiple times AND doing it spread out over time.

Not saying you did them too fast or back to back, I have no clue.

But the results you are getting are similar to what I had before and others too.

It took me weeks to do mine, but that's because I purposely spread the tests out and tracked what I got each time until I figured out I was getting INTJ most of the time ( 95% of the time ). Even taking it every day might be too soon. Again I am not sure how often you are doing it.

I'd recommend people take it every other day as the baseline if they are getting conflicting results, over a period of 10-20 days. That's a total of 5-10 times. If for some reason you get a 50-50 skew still, I'd take the Enneagram and see what numbers you get and work backwards to see which MBTI matches with your Enneagram. But I'd only do this if you have lots of issues.

A lot of work? Yes it is. But so is peeling an onion, and that's basically what we are as humans. Hard to get at the core.

.
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,563
68,692
Ireland
An upsell to Perry Marshall's excellent book "80/20 Sales & Marketing" was a Productivity Course.

His premise was that you'd never be fully productive until you did what came naturally.
Once you do what comes naturally to you then it's like hitting a jet stream - you shoot forward faster than you've ever gone before, and with no extra effort.
You suddenly fit like a hand in a glove.

As part of the exercise I asked 10-15 people to tell me what my superpower is.
I also took Perry's Marketing DNA Test.

Dayum, but I'd spent 15 years of my life in IT support as a Database Administrator, doing all the things that are NOT my superpowers.
I just happened to be pretty good at being anal, process driven, and solving theoretical problems whilst working in a cubicle.
Apparently people who are good academically can end up in those kind of engineering jobs when it's not what suits them.

The tests say I thrive in environments that are the complete opposite of what I'd spent most of my career in to date.
I prefer unstructured, live, and seat-of-your-pants stuff.
I apparently often don't know what I'm about to say until I start talking.
I prefer moving fast, without a plan.
In fact, I just like moving.

I was probably about 43 when I took that first test.
A lot of things suddenly made sense.
I've taken a few since, and I'm still learning how best to use my own superpowers.

I may end up doing this as detailed as @eliquid has.
Even just being mindful that matching my goals and activities to my personality and values has had a massive impact on my life in the last few years.

Great thread @eliquid. Thanks for all your time writing this up for us.
 

MidwestLandlord

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
759%
Dec 6, 2016
1,479
11,226
The test I'm taking are coming up with vastly different results. Case in point, let's start with the first "letter" of the MBPT. Am I "I" for introvert or "E" for extrovert? Seems straight forward enough. But it's not. One test (first I took) said I. Ok, I can kind of see that. The next says "E" which kind of makes sense in other ways. Another,that graded rack letter by a percentage by which I favor that designation rated me as 1% more E than I.

What the......

This is why I like the enneagram tests.

Enneagram shows me as a type 8, which is an extroverted type.

But,

An unhealthy type 8 moves towards type 5, which is a more introverted type.

If I take the Myer-Briggs while I am in a healthy state, it starts with an "E", but if I take it from an unhealthy state, it starts with "I"

So one of the things I watch in myself is "withdrawing" from people. If I see myself being more introverted I know something is bothering me that I need to fix.

Let's flip this around:

My wife is a type 5, which is a more introverted type.

In a healthy state, she moves towards type 8, an extroverted type.

Both of us change our levels of introvert or extrovert depending on where we are at mentally.

So the enneagram takes into account that our personalities are dynamic or fluid in a fashion that is more intuitive for me than Myer-Briggs testing.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

rollerskates

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
269%
Jan 10, 2017
391
1,053
Texas
Still working on this stuff --I didn't abandon it. I took the Enneagram and the Myers-Briggs, but am going to take them again.
 

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
This is why I like the enneagram tests.

Enneagram shows me as a type 8, which is an extroverted type.

But,

An unhealthy type 8 moves towards type 5, which is a more introverted type.

If I take the Myer-Briggs while I am in a healthy state, it starts with an "E", but if I take it from an unhealthy state, it starts with "I"

So one of the things I watch in myself is "withdrawing" from people. If I see myself being more introverted I know something is bothering me that I need to fix.

Let's flip this around:

My wife is a type 5, which is a more introverted type.

In a healthy state, she moves towards type 8, an extroverted type.

Both of us change our levels of introvert or extrovert depending on where we are at mentally.

So the enneagram takes into account that our personalities are dynamic or fluid in a fashion that is more intuitive for me than Myer-Briggs testing.

+ rep

And this fits right into why I stress taking the MBTI multiple times, spread out over time.

Because doing it once is misleading ( see @MidwestLandlord post above )

Doing it 3-4 times in a short time span is misleading ( see @MidwestLandlord post above )

Doing it multiple times, over periods of time, gets me to an "average" of the real me.

When you know all the factors in play ( see @MidwestLandlord post above ), you start to see why sometimes you just can't trust anything done once or done quickly multiple times. And Im not just speaking about MBTI or Enneagram, I'm talking about other things in your life too.

.
 

ALC

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
99%
Jul 19, 2017
506
502
27
France
Those test are very accurate, i can see myself in those paragraphs, 8W7 ENTj, Natural leader and enthusiast but can't stick with his ideas, because he think something else is greener somewhere near.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
Now we are here, a place where you and I both know ourselves a bit better.

I can only tell the story from my viewpoint, how I see and experienced this long winding road to end up where I am today.

I've told you about my 80-100 jobs before working for others, so we can skip that.

Now I lead you into working for myself and how everything I have went over already help me pick the business that is right for me.

Again, this info is heavily influenced by me and my values, traits, and personality type.

*********************************
So in order to really understand how I got into the right career fit for me, you have to understand my personality and Enneagram type.

I'm an INTJ-T which means that in a lot of ways, I'm a lot like Spock from Star Trek.. except I have some turbulent emotions at times.

Only 2-3% of the world is INTJ with a list that includes:
  1. Jay-Z
  2. Mark Zuckerburg
  3. JFK
  4. Stephen Hawking
  5. Nikola Tesla
  6. Elon Musk
  7. Many more....
My Enneagram type is either a 5w4 sx or 5w6 sx. I'm up and down on the test, but after reading a lot and researching, I settled in on 5w4.

That might not mean anything to you, but once I dived into it I realized that based on those metrics, I'm:
  • I'm a loner
  • I'm very analytical
  • I not only have a plan B, but a plan C,D,E,F, and G
  • In the time it takes you to figure out something, I've probably figured out 10 more different ways around it ( this is not to brag, you have to understand how our mind work to know what I'm talking about )
  • I see a problem from 10 different angles, while most only see it from 1
  • My brain never sleeps. It makes unseen connections to things happening around me I don't even comprehend 100x a minute
  • Even though I might be a data nerd, I have a rare side to me that is very very creative. This is where the 5w4 comes in
  • In a nutshell, I can solve complex problems with ease.. but in a way that expresses and allows use of my creative flare that ends up a solution no one has probably ever thought of and very few even comprehend.
  • I can not stand authority. It isn't about being a rebel, it's about I don't agree with how you got your title. That is unless you can prove to me your competence in this domain.
  • I know my way is right, and your way is wrong
  • I will never quit. Like Thomas Edison, I can go 10k tries to get the lightbulb to work
That's a brief intro, but when I started to go off the road of being an employee to being a business owner/consultant, I had a hard time finding what was right for me.

These tests say these are the right careers for me:
  • Computer science, systems analyst, informatics, programmer
  • Software design
  • Engineering (all types)
  • Urban planning
  • Chemist, mathematician, astronomer, physicist
  • Applied science, technology, technician
  • Environmental science, geography, geology
  • Architect
  • Non-fiction writer
  • Management, manager (upper level/executive)
  • Consultant (any type, including political)
  • Graphic/website designer
  • Journalist, editor, blogger
  • Film producer/director
  • a lot more, but this enough for our story

So I looked around and realized I had done several of these jobs already or had a very very strong interest in them.

As a college dropout, I knew I wasn't going back. So I looked at what I could realistically do, without some specialized degree ( bye bye lawyer, architect, geologist and more ).

Out of what was left, I asked myself what made CENTS? Granted, I didn't know what CENTS was back then. I didn't even know about the Fastlane.

However, I knew I wanted something that that I could jump into, be able to scale it, and not have a salary cap. I also wanted to be my own boss.. that only left a few possibilities for me career wise out of the possible list above

This thinking was my early CENTS thought process, even though CENTS is a lot better and defined compared to my newbie approach before I found the Fastlane.

So I took a beta version of CENTS and applied it to my career choices. I knew I couldn't scale being an editor. I didn't have control as a systems analyst.

At the time, I didn't even know if I was doing this right.

After going over everything that included a weighted Pros and Cons list ( How to Create an Effective Weighted Pro-Con List ), and asking myself, "what does this choice look like in 6 weeks, 6 months, 6 years from now"... I mixed 2 of the career choices from above.

I settled in on being a consultant in the digital space - primarily web design/programming/online marketing.

It fit my personality and Enneagram type and it fit a beta version of CENTS ( for me ), so I thought I had hit a milestone now in my life.

Flash forward a decade and I'm still unhappy.

Don't get me wrong, I was happier than when I was employed. I was making more money and doing what I wanted as far as my time daily was concerned.

But I was totally unhappy and I still had these feelings that something was off.

I had to take another look at myself and figure out why.

Being a consultant, meant pretty much I was still an employee.

Largely, my income was tied to billable hours or a client.

The client was always in lead

I wasn't doing anything innovative while doing client work.

This is SO against being an INTJ. I realized the consulting work was not aligned with me, which brought me to looking into core values and a mission statement and priorities.

The MBTI got me pretty far. So did Enneagram. But I really needed to hone in a bit more and get specific some. What was really missing and what is it that I really want out of life?

While I thought I had found the perfect career, I realized I was only a few steps away from it and needed to pivot.

This is when I really got into what value are. What a mission statement is. What my real priorities were.

How can I mash my MBTI and Enneagram results up with my values? Doing this lead me to a mission statement. Going over all of this lead me to real priorities.

Really digging into my core values, building a mission statement, looking over priorities, taking MBTI & Enneagrem again, finding MJ and the forum and refining my idea of CENTS, taking the Strengths Finder test, etc... all lead me to realize that yes, being my own boss fits me.... but I need to change the business away from clients ( and dealing with people in general, shutter ) and building my own products and businesses that relied heavily on just me alone.

So what fits this new pivot? Remember, I loved what I was doing.. I just didn't love working with people ( clients ).
  • Affiliate marketing
  • Blogging
  • Podcasting
  • Writing
  • Creating Software and selling it
  • SaaS

This lead me to getting out of affiliate marketing ( I got into this while doing consulting ) and largely consulting with clients ( something that fit my personality somewhat and values, but misaligned with CENTS ), to focusing on SaaS as a business.

SaaS seemed like a good fit based on prior tests/results and also fit CENTS well. It also scored well on my Pros and Cons lists and also seemed to be a good fit based on my Strengths Finder scores. When I answered the, "what does this choice look like in 6 weeks, 6 months, 6 years from now".. it was also a good fit.

I already had a few SaaS projects under my belt, but I didn't take them seriously. They were more side projects that made good income, but I didn't look at them as my main business model.

But SaaS fit everything for me personally. It made CENTS, took advantage of my personality type and values, fit into my mission statement and goals for life.

The only question left was, what SaaS would I build?

That's where I let my domain knowledge lead the way because I knew what was broken in the market already. I would have never known this, if I would have never started as a "consultant" in the digital space all those years ago, which matched my MBTI.

As I grow, I look at other opportunities and if they fit me. I am realizing that publishing non-fiction is a great fit for me as well. Maybe not so much with CENTS, but it depends on how I actually implement it.

I hope you're connecting the dots here.

Without my core values, mission statement, priorities, MBIT and Enneagram, CENTS and a few other models.. I might be still working 100% consulting on web site designs and programming. I still might be monkeying around on SQL for an ecommerce business or CMO of some soft goods empire on Amazon.

I could have been an unhappy architect ( which I went to college for ) working for some other firm.

But no, I found what makes me happy and what I really want to do for right now.

That might change again in 5 years, but at least I will know when it happens how to figure out what I need to do on the next journey I go down.

.
 
Last edited:

RayAndré

Win From Within
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
200%
Oct 7, 2017
282
563
32
Tampa, FL
Excellent thread so far @eliquid and I'm not even all the way through it yet. Thank you.

As you did, I'm going through a list of 600+ values to discover and refine my own list of 5.
But how do you define a value? Here are the first thoughts that came to my mind:
  • Something I want to embrace
  • Something I want to live by
  • Something I want to be a part of my life
  • Something I want to be
  • Something I want others to know me for
  • Something I should prioritize if I want to really be happy
  • Something my endeavors should align with
  • Something that attracts me to others if they have it or make me feel it
 
Last edited:

RayAndré

Win From Within
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
200%
Oct 7, 2017
282
563
32
Tampa, FL
Thinking about it, maybe its better to change the "Something I want to..."s above ^^ to "Something I already..."


Hmm...should your values be something you see your best self as? Or something you are now, but might want to change?
Something you would like to be/embrace? Or something you already are/embrace?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
Thinking about it, maybe its better to change the "Something I want to..."s above ^^ to "Something I already..."


Hmm...should your values be something you see your best self as? Or something you are now, but might want to change?
Something you would like to be/embrace? Or something you already are/embrace?

I'm about to reply to the other post you made which may help answer more for you.

But for this specific question, a value already exists inside you. It's already a part of you, therefor you really can not "change" to it.

You might not have a deep connection to the value currently because you haven't used it/lived it for many years and therefor you might not notice it or feel it deeply.

For example, looking back to when I was a child.. I could see now how I lived out my core values. As a child, the world hadn't influenced me yet.

As I got older into my teens and 20's, I let the world tell me what to do and how I should be. Fake values got instilled. As I lived that life, I lost touch of the real me. I had forgot my core values even though they were still deep inside, apart of me.

Now into my late 30's, it took a lot of "onion peeling" to get back to my deep core values.

It's kinda like archeology ( for me at least ). Cities were built on top of cities over the years just like values got covered up with other "fake" values over the years. The original city is still there, but you are not in touch with it and maybe don't even really remember it. You gotta dig down to find the original sometimes.

Some of you might still be living out your core values from years ago. Some of you might not.

.
 

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
Excellent thread so far @eliquid and I'm not even all the way through it yet. Thank you.

As you did, I'm going through a list of 600+ values to discover and refine my own list of 5.
But how do you define a value? Here are the first thoughts that came to my mind:
  • Something I want to embrace
  • Something I want to live by
  • Something I want to be a part of my life
  • Something I want to be
  • Something I want others to know me for
  • Something I should prioritize if I want to really be happy
  • Something my endeavors should align with
  • Something that attracts me to others if they have it or make me feel it

For me, that's hard to define.

As an INTJ, I want the real answer and not the one that just makes me emotionally feel "good". I haven't been able to really define it yet.

That's why for now, I let others define it and I used multiple sources to create my "values list". While not a perfect answer, I felt that if at least I could get every core value that other's have listed, that would be a start at least. I made sure to use multiple sources for best experience and then combined into 1 list.

At that point, I told myself I had a good sampling of the data.

I went through every value listed. If I felt nothing on the first pass, I crossed it out immediately and moved on.

If I felt anything at all, even the smallest twinge.. I put a star next to it.

The ones with stars is where I started asking the "Why" questions to. This would lead me to values that seemed like duplicates and I would ask "Why" there too. This would lead me to values that seemed similar, but were stronger than the original value I was looking at. Again I asked "Why".

At some point I was able to remove what seemed like duplicates and weaker versions of other values in the list.

What was left was a trimmed down version of 30-ish values total.

I had to ask "Why" on that group over and over and really get to the core of what each meant to me. Some words I had to look up even if I already knew them just to get other's input on the word and its origin/meaning in case I was wrong. Most times I wasn't though.

For example, I had Freedom down as a value for a while. I had to ask myself why many times and really think about how I wanted to live my future and how I had lived my past. What is freedom really? What would I miss if it went away? Doing several exercises like that got to me realize it wasn't freedom, but autonomy I really wanted.

That's where clarity comes into play and you have your "ahHa" moment with yourself.

So while I really didn't answer your question, I think that's because for now I took enough sample data from others to conclude their list works for me now until I can define what a core value is to me and thus introduce new ones later when I have that felt out better.

.
 

MidwestLandlord

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
759%
Dec 6, 2016
1,479
11,226
As I got older into my teens and 20's, I let the world tell me what to do and how I should be. Fake values got instilled. As I lived that life, I lost touch of the real me. I had forgot my core values even though they were still deep inside, apart of me.

So basically....

Finding out who you are without all the scripted BS from society, and then choosing to live congruently to that?

Not an easy task.

It takes a lot of soul searching and self-discovery to find out who you are, your true values, your "why" so to speak, apart from the influences of society.

Also, it takes a lot of courage to then go out and manufacture a life that is congruent to what you discover. Often times living congruently to your values is opposite (or at least in disagreement with) what society expects of you.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
So basically....

Finding out who you are without all the scripted BS from society, and then choosing to live congruently to that?

Not an easy task.

Correct, I think that's a better way of saying what I meant.

There was the real me as a child, then scripted me from BS within society as I tried to live in the world and survive, and now I'm trying to go back to the "real" me by my own choice and live that life out instead on purpose. But I like how you wrote it out perfectly...

Finding out who you are without all the scripted BS from society, and then choosing to live congruently to that?


It takes a lot of soul searching and self-discovery to find out who you are, your true values, your "why" so to speak, apart from the influences of society.

Yes, very very time consuming and hard. And sometimes you don't get it right first time at bat. I had to ask myself at each value if I ( myself ) really wanted this, or was this something an outside influence was making me think was me. I had to have these internal dialogs with myself to question if this value was just because of outside influences, or if this was something genuinely me.

This is where going back and looking at your MBTI and Enneagram can help ( some ). Again, this isn't perfect.. but some of the ones I had a really hard time on, I dug deep into MBTI and Enneagram research and found some of the ones I had a hard time with really did match up perfectly with the personality and it helped me decide that the value was genuinely me.

There were only a few I had this trouble with, but I was able to overcome it eventually.

Also, it takes a lot of courage to then go out and manufacture a life that is congruent to what you discover. Often times living congruently to your values is opposite (or at least in disagreement with) what society expects of you.

Very true. Being an introvert I am lucky as I have less and less interaction with the outside world compared to say my children and wife. I chose to not watch TV or listen to the radio. I chose to not talk to people in the checkout line or at a function. I chose what "battles" I get into online like this forum and others.

But it's still hard because I know others are living differently than me ( value wise ) and it creates conflict sometimes.

At the end of the day, I just want to be me though. And being the REAL me has made all the difference in happiness and business so far.

.
 
Last edited:

RayAndré

Win From Within
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
200%
Oct 7, 2017
282
563
32
Tampa, FL
Finding out who you are without all the scripted BS from society, and then choosing to live congruently to that?
^ This is good. Its got me thinking.
To add to this I would say yes, finding out who and how you really are. Not who and how you want to be, or have tried to be.
And then not only choosing to live congruently to that, but building your life using those as building blocks. Build these into your current work. Or if you're looking for a change, look for something where these can be a part of it.

For example, a software engineer can work in virtually any field. Medicine, energy, music, technology, shoes, money, physics, etc. Your skills as a software engineer are who you are and how you work in the field you choose.
With these values, you can apply them to virtually any lifestyle, job, or business. For example lets take adventure and simplicity. They can be applied to software engineering, marketing, real estate, etc. It might take some experimenting to see in what ways they can best be applied, but I bet it can be done.

Historically well-known successful people became that way for being true to who they are. They didn't try to be someone else. They don't let society change them. (I think of MLKJ, Steve Jobs, etc)

We could be next, even at a smaller scale, if we find who we really are and live up to it.
 

Dan_Fastlane

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
170%
Jan 3, 2017
412
701
World Citizen
@eliquid what you think about the wealth dynamics test?? it could maybe give someone the best direction on the path to entrepeneurship?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
@eliquid what you think about the wealth dynamics test?? it could maybe give someone the best direction on the path to entrepeneurship?

I've never heard of this, but just looked it up.

Will have to report back later once I take it a "few" times.
 

Dan_Fastlane

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
170%
Jan 3, 2017
412
701
World Citizen
I've never heard of this, but just looked it up.

Will have to report back later once I take it a "few" times.

my result was: The Mechanic (short version)

Strengths: Completing things, finding ways to improve systems, making things simpler, perfecting projects, paying attention to details.

Weaknesses: Often takes a long time to complete tasks. Gets caught up in details, forgets about the team around them, often inflexible and unwilling to change.

Successes: Mechanics are at their best when they are looking for ways to improve things. They love to tinker and take things apart, and then put them together in new and better ways. They are best when completing things.

Failures: Mechanics are not so good at starting things from scratch, as they are perfectionists who are worried of getting it wrong from the beginning. They aren’t comfortable in chaotic or political situations and aren’t so sensitive to feelings.


So because i know this now i go with more confidence into eCommerce(improving products, improving processes etc..) , if you know such stuff you can take a look at CENTS and see what best suits you!!! i think your thread can provide a lot of value if people really figure this out and THEN find there Fastlane vehicle!!!
 

Andy Black

Help people. Get paid. Help more people.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
370%
May 20, 2014
18,563
68,692
Ireland
@eliquid what you think about the wealth dynamics test?? it could maybe give someone the best direction on the path to entrepeneurship?
I think I took this one years ago.

And Perry Marshall's Marketing DNA Test (which I found very insightful ... I've posted my results somewhere in my AndyTalks Progress thread).

I also took the Belbin a couple of times years and years ago. I came up as a Teamworker both times.

Isn't there a thread somewhere in the forum where loads of people take that test that shows up as INTJ and suchlike. I can't remember what I ended up, and can't even find the thread.


EDIT: Here's the output of my Perry Marshall Marketing DNA test:
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.
Last edited:

Gwenqou

Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
293%
Aug 10, 2016
15
44
Appreciate the information! Often time, people like to jump into things and do it, without thinking the purpose and meaning behind it (i.e. follow what the society tells you: go to college, or else everyone will get ahead of you)

Sometimes we need to slow down, look around us and see where we are.
But most importantly, understand who we are.

Without understanding who we are, what our values are, what makes us truly happy, we could end up wandering in this world without a purpose, living our lives soullessly

I remember I took the test 4 years ago, took them again recently. The result is still the same: ESTJ. The descriptions fit like a glove. Started to look into this personality type more in depth. Will take it again over the course of next few weeks. Thanks again
 

AnAverageJoe

remember that you will die
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
292%
Feb 4, 2017
159
465
NMBSC
Thank you @eliquid, this is exactly what I needed. I'm going to do the tests and write down my values and priorities and take my time on it.

It's be proven that depression can come from doing work that doesn't align with your core values, whether you know your core values or not. If you are stuck doing things daily that really do not fit you, wouldn't you be depressed too?

This is me 100%. I've been sidewalk/slowlane my entire life. I didn't know any better until I found MFL about a year ago. Since then I have been slowly trying to turn my life around. I'm broke af, I've been broke af my entire life, and now I am married with two kids. Leaving the sidewalk/slowlane won't be easy, but now I now it's possible. I have to provide value.

I said all that to say this, I'm in the situation I'm in now because I have no idea who I really am. I've always just done what society has told me to do, or what I thought was expected. Go to college, get a job, get married and have kids, blah blah blah, then die. I work in an industry that I absolutely hate and I've done it for the last decade. What should be a mindless and simple job wears me out mentally to the point that when I come home to work on my "biz" I end up staring blankly into my laptop without accomplishing anything. I work my job because it's quick easy money, not because I enjoy it or it aligns with who I am as a person.

Sorry, I'm not trying to hijack your thread, this is just exactly what I needed right now. Thanks again @eliquid, I can't wait to finally find out who I am as a person at 31 years old.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

RayAndré

Win From Within
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
200%
Oct 7, 2017
282
563
32
Tampa, FL
Myers Briggs picks me as an ESFJ. A lot of what the description on 16personalities says is true. Some of it not so much. But as I read it I can tell...I don't want to be the stereotype personality it describes.
Now I have some direction.
Another really good test I good was the DISC assessment. It was introduced to me through Tony Robbins' website and man that thing is detailed!

Also, I went through the 600+ value list and narrowed it down to the following five.

Adventure
Elevate
Different
Variety
Efficiency

(If you're looking for a good way how to narrow down the list let me know, it was pretty daunting but I found what I think to be a good approach.)
Writing a mission statement will be next. I'm also planning to do a similar narrow-down approach to my list of strengths from all these tests to have a clear understanding of what I'm naturally good at.
This has been really interesting and a great self-learning experience so far.

Thanks @eliquid
 

rollerskates

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
269%
Jan 10, 2017
391
1,053
Texas
So, I did this! I did the core value words, the enneagram test and the MBTI test several times over several weeks. The MBTI results gave me a 4 way split personality. :rofl: I am split between being an extravert and being an introvert in a lot of ways and so I said could go either way. But, more often than not when I took it, it had me as an introvert. Basically I am an INFP, which explains my uniqueness because it is a very small percentage of the population. I really liked the in depth analysis of the 16personalities.com test, and I definitely recommend taking that one along with several others.

On the enneagram test, I hover between a 4 (the Individualist) and a 2 (the Helper), and could also be a 6 (The Loyalist). This also explains me, and here too, I was a split personality. I think most often, I got 4w2, though.

I also did my core value words, which I think I am going to keep to myself, but I will use them as a barometer for things I am considering doing.

@eliquid --I can't thank you enough for posting this, as it's really narrowed down what I should do, and what fits with me.
So THANK YOU! :clap:: Major rep + coming your way.

Seriously, anyone who is considering doing these exercises--DO THEM! You won't be disappointed, well, you might be a bit. I was a little nonplussed to find that my personality is HELPER. I don't want to be a helper o_O, I want to focus on me for a bit.
 

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
So, I did this! I did the core value words, the enneagram test and the MBTI test several times over several weeks. The MBTI results gave me a 4 way split personality. :rofl: I am split between being an extravert and being an introvert in a lot of ways and so I said could go either way. But, more often than not when I took it, it had me as an introvert. Basically I am an INFP, which explains my uniqueness because it is a very small percentage of the population. I really liked the in depth analysis of the 16personalities.com test, and I definitely recommend taking that one along with several others.

On the enneagram test, I hover between a 4 (the Individualist) and a 2 (the Helper), and could also be a 6 (The Loyalist). This also explains me, and here too, I was a split personality. I think most often, I got 4w2, though.

I also did my core value words, which I think I am going to keep to myself, but I will use them as a barometer for things I am considering doing.

@eliquid --I can't thank you enough for posting this, as it's really narrowed down what I should do, and what fits with me.
So THANK YOU! :clap:: Major rep + coming your way.

Seriously, anyone who is considering doing these exercises--DO THEM! You won't be disappointed, well, you might be a bit. I was a little nonplussed to find that my personality is HELPER. I don't want to be a helper o_O, I want to focus on me for a bit.

You very well could be split 4 ways.

I kinda cringe at that. Nothing you did wrong though.. but I cringe thinking I (myself) couldn't get it down to 1 or 2. BUT that is me and how I am. You might be fine with that which is good for your type.

Not sure if you did this, or want to......

But I found that after figuring out my MBTI ( INTJ ), that it heavily aligned with my Enneagram ( type 5 ), and heavily aligned with my core values ( which I did before ever taking MBTI or Enneagram ). That kinda helped me know I really was an INTJ.

If you want, I would suggest looking at your core values and Enneagram results and working backwards to possibly find which of the 4 MBTI you really are.

We are complex things as humans.. I see some traits of me in other types ( very very few though ) and also my mood that day/week/month influences that ( see @MidwestLandlord post above in this thread ).. but when I noticed my Enneagram and values matched up to the MBTI, I knew I had a winner.

You may or may not be able to do that. Again, only do it if you want.

But I could ( if you hadn't ) start looking at what type 4/2/6's generally are when it comes to MBTI. There is research out there, trust me, that will generally say things like, "type 5's tend to be INTJs and INxJs" and there are things out there that will say "INTJ's tend to have these values"....

That's how I was able to confirm mine. You may want to do that later on if you want to narrow down.

Not trying to get you down to 1 "box", but just trying to help if you decide later you really want to narrow it down.

.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

eliquid

( Jason Brown )
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
519%
May 29, 2013
1,876
9,731
So, I did this! I did the core value words, the enneagram test and the MBTI test several times over several weeks. The MBTI results gave me a 4 way split personality. :rofl: I am split between being an extravert and being an introvert in a lot of ways and so I said could go either way. But, more often than not when I took it, it had me as an introvert. Basically I am an INFP, which explains my uniqueness because it is a very small percentage of the population. I really liked the in depth analysis of the 16personalities.com test, and I definitely recommend taking that one along with several others.

On the enneagram test, I hover between a 4 (the Individualist) and a 2 (the Helper), and could also be a 6 (The Loyalist). This also explains me, and here too, I was a split personality. I think most often, I got 4w2, though.

I also did my core value words, which I think I am going to keep to myself, but I will use them as a barometer for things I am considering doing.

@eliquid --I can't thank you enough for posting this, as it's really narrowed down what I should do, and what fits with me.
So THANK YOU! :clap:: Major rep + coming your way.

Seriously, anyone who is considering doing these exercises--DO THEM! You won't be disappointed, well, you might be a bit. I was a little nonplussed to find that my personality is HELPER. I don't want to be a helper o_O, I want to focus on me for a bit.

So to dig into a bit more about my post above.. the basic exercise would be...

Does INFP ( which it sounds like you might align with most ) align up to 4w2 ( which you said came up most often )?

If they do, this is probably you. If not, you might want to work backwards along with comparing your values list to get to a more refined core. You could be a mix of both but for me I would hate that ( because Im an INTJ and thats how we are about things ).

Hope that clarifies anything.

.
 

rollerskates

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
269%
Jan 10, 2017
391
1,053
Texas
If you want, I would suggest looking at your core values and Enneagram results and working backwards to possibly find which of the 4 MBTI you really are.

Ah! Interesting. Will have to do this.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top