Aiming to understand the self

We all experience doubt and a lack of self confidence every once in a while. The secret to lifting out of the dip is to know and understand that it's just a phase and that you have everything you need to feel 'better' again within yourself already. You just need to ask, trust and have faith... And then usually the answer will come to you.

We all have different ways of dealing with life's challenges, even if one of those challenges is a lack of challenges within your daily activities. And so each of us have different personalities, skills and careers. I stumbled upon a useful resource today that could give you guidance towards the right career for you, your life purpose or even just towards finding the ideal hobby for yourself, or understanding yourself better.

The Holland Code is a type of simplified personality classification used to help people decide what type of career they should follow. Basically it implies that each person is a unique combination of the following characteristics:

• Realistic - People who loves working with their hands, tools and machines. Usually practical, conservative and "normal", sometimes lacking interpersonal things since they prefer working alone on projects requiring manual skills
• Investigative - Explorative people who love shaping an understanding of things, focused on the development of knowledge. Analytical, intelligent and skeptical.
• Artistic - People with a literary, musical or artistic interest or passion, who have a need to give creative expression to ideas or emotions. Open to experience, innovation and usually opposes routines and conformity to established rules.
• Social - Helpful teachers, healers and people who live to serve others through personal interaction. Empathic, patient and nurturing, with good interpersonal skills.
• Enterprising - Persuasive people who are able to direct and lead others, but usually value social status and material accomplishment highly. Energetic and assertive, with sales and manipulation skills.
• Conventional - People with an inherent need for order, routine and an application of set standards. Careful and conforming, with technical skills in business or production, with the ability to work systematically and precise.

I think it is also valuable to realize and accept that while we all have different personalities, we all have different things that we value and find important. Being tolerant and accepting of other people are one of the greatest gifts that you can give to your family and friends, our society and yourself.

My Holland Code is ARI, ARS and ARE in equal amounts (My artistic rating high, then realistic being my second highest score, and my ratings for Investigative, Social and Enterprising being the same).What is yours? Have a look at Rogue Community College's quiz to calculate your Holland Code(s). Or do you think that this classification method is too simplified, restrictive or lacking in depth? There is of course also the Myers  Briggs personality test, which classifies sixteen personality types according to combinations of these four traits or temperaments:

• Extraverted or Introverted
• Sensing or Intuition
• Thinking or Feeling
• Judging or Perceiving

HumanMetrics Jung Typology Test

Is there inspiration for an artwork in this? And should I pursue it even though it's so far removed from my usual themes?