Is a Personal Inventory Really Necessary?
Renee Descartes said “Cogito ergo sum” which is Latin for “I think, therefore I am.” The Greeks said: “know thyself.”
If you're thinking, and this makes you conscious, then that means you must devote your consciousness to understanding yourself at some point—otherwise, you can't even come to the conclusion that you do think.
Understanding is very important in understanding self—in fact, you might say it's central to doing a GUDEJob. Consider the difference between an entity that operates with understanding, and one who operates without it.
Animals don't take personal inventory, after all. Who's ever seen a cat sit down, make a chart, and list their flaws or talents? “Am I good at frightening the dog? Am bad at controlling urges to spasm past gravity because of any sound louder than point oh seven decibels?” wrote no cat ever. Mostly because cats don't write, but even if they could, they wouldn't be inventorying their good or bad qualities. They'd be concocting treatises about how to nap more.
You're not a cat, I'm not an animal, we're human beings and that indicates self-awareness. To be aware of self and refrain from taking inventory is to deny yourself a level of consciousness. Taking a personal inventory helps you understand who and what you are.
There are many reasons people purposely refuse taking such an inventory, however. Sometimes we're afraid of ourselves, and justly so. I am definitely afraid of myself at a buffet. Sometimes we loathe ourselves, which is also in some cases justified. I can't stand how condescending I am sometimes.
Our past failures shame us. I'm always reminded of a girl that played me like a slack-stringed fiddle. We live lives full of regret and disgust based on our past indiscretions, or things we did when we didn't know any better. But let's parse through those shenanigans, shall we?
You can't go back in time and change the past, so dwelling on it won't make it any better, won't make you forget, and won't turn you into a better person. To let such a thing scare you away from a proper self-assessment can be selfish. What this means is you have to determine yourself to transcend the past, and facing it through a personal inventory is a great way to do that. It's also the third tenet of a GUDEJob.
Consider that to love others as yourself means to love yourself. Now, do I love the extra twenty pounds that jiggles in the mirror whenever I brush my teeth in the morning?
No. No, I definitely do not. Am I going to stand there cursing myself whenever I encounter a mirror and spend the majority of my days sulking about how disgusting I am? If I do, aren't I doing a disservice to everyone around me? I should be grateful for what I've got, not critical of what I don't. If I can be so grateful, I'll have a greater enthusiasm for life in general.
A good way to be enthusiastically grateful and finish out the GUDEJob tenets is to take personal inventory.
When I take personal inventory, I remember I'm good at music, I can evince any accent I please, and as a comedian I make enough money I've got to calculate taxes every year. It's still not a lot, but all of that is much better than the subcutaneous fat cells insulating my midsection. At least, that's one way to look at it.
My dad would slap his gut and say, “Be a poor farmer who didn't build a shed over his tools,” then hit the salad bar. The point is, sometimes you can take it a little too far! Don’t live in the extreme. Take things one day at a time and live your best life.
Balance is always key, and taking a personality test is a great way to start defining your personal inventory. If you want to do a job that's GUDE—showing Gratitude, Understanding, Determination and Enthusiasm—you'll be much better suited to it when you know what you've got to work with.
Be grateful for what you have, understand what you don't have, determine yourself to be successful about it anyway, and be enthusiastic whatever the case may be: attitude is everything.
Check out these three websites to help you begin taking a personal inventory of yourself:
- com uses a Jungian typology test to determine personality, and it's free.
- This is a direct link to a personality test from Fullerton.edu, also free.
- Here's a less-formal free personality test from 16personalities.com.
I've Taken Personal Inventory, Now What Do I Do?
You'll discover things you've forgotten about yourself, and maybe even some new things you never knew. The next question is what to do with all that information? Here are three tips to make your personal inventory useful.
- Don't jump the gun—sometimes we learn things about ourselves that are shocking. Haste makes waste! Be careful to ease yourself into your new life of illumination.
- Another thing to be careful of is going the other direction and forgetting. Don't procrastinate, either! Gain: find proper balance. You've got to act based on the new information, but you don't have to act immediately. Give yourself processing time and start changing that which needs change gradually. If you come away from your inventory thinking nothing needs to be fixed, you either need to do it again or find aspects that don't need fixing, but need improvement.
- Be patient once you've started trying to make a change. Rome wasn't built in a day—you may need time to adjust to new knowledge of self. Patience builds reputation and recognition. It in itself may be something you discover about your personality! (If you're impatient, make a note to work on that, too.)
Let You Discover You
Don't be afraid to examine yourself, even if you have to face your dark side. You'll often find that hiding in your greatest weakness is your greatest strength. This is the habit of effective leaders.
You will not find out how great you can be unless you take a personal inventory of who you are and why you are here. Yes, a personal inventory is necessary for a fulfilling life. It will be amazing what you will discover about yourself.
The you that you will discover can give you the strength to change your world for the good. So, yes, do it. You have nothing to lose but the you that you know little about.
Wishing you the best.
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