I will admit – I’m a bit of an assessment geek. Perhaps you can relate?

Throw an assessment my way and chances are I will dive in with both feet – I’ve even been known to take a BuzzFeed quiz from time to time. 😉

Here’s the top 3 assessments that have had the biggest influence on me and what I’ve learned from them:

1) Human Design

Human Design is a mix of a few different modalities (Astrology, I Ching, Chakras and more), and is based on your birth date, time and place. It might seem a bit ‘woo woo’ to some, but it is by far the most powerful – and accurate! – assessment I’ve ever done.

I first had my Human Design session in December of 2012 and learned A LOT about myself, but my biggest lightbulb moment was learning about my decision making authority. I am a generator with sacral (gut) decision making authority.

Not all of us are wired the same way when it comes to making decisions – some of us are emotional decision makers, some are gut decision makers, some are intuitive and more… but the world tries to teach us that we should all make decisions a certain way. For example, ‘listen to your heart’ or ‘what do you feel’ doesn’t work for me as a gut decision maker. Nor do I need to sleep on it to figure it out. Be it a big or small decision – and that my gut will always have a yes or no for me NOW, in the moment. When I learned this about myself I could immediately see where ALL of my past decisions had served me (when I listened to my gut) or not (when I let my head get in the way.)

This has been invaluable for me as a business owner, as I’m able to determine whether to say yes or no to something in the moment. I have learned (and continue to learn) how to honor my gut – there are times when my gut is saying no when my head says yes. Or when someone is trying to talk me into something. When I honor my gut it doesn’t always seem logical, but it is always the right decision for me.

There is SO much more to Human Design beyond this – I’ve been learning about it for over 5 years now and still learn something new everytime I dive in.

2) Kolbe

The Kolbe A Index measures the natural way you take action – your instinctive strengths. The philosophy of Kolbe is that we do our best work when we are aligned with these strengths, and when we aren’t aligned we struggle. Kolbe gives you results in 4 areas – Fact Finder, Follow Thru, Quick Start and Implementor.

I used to think that I was a detail person, but as a 3782 I realized that I’m actually a big picture person instead! Being a low Fact Finder (3) means that I like to simplify and not dig deep into the details. I spent MANY years working in various detail roles and although I did good work, it was stressful to have to spend all my time in detail work. When I learned that I’m naturally meant to simplify it felt like a weight lifted off my shoulders!

And having an 8 in Quick Start means I have a high tolerance for risk and like to move quickly. I’m totally fine to improvise and ‘make it up as I go’. This was something I thought I shouldn’t do for so many years but the truth is, it’s how I’m meant to roll.

3) Strengths Finder

I discovered this assessment through the book Strengths Finder 2.0. This assessment is similar to Kolbe but with a different flavor, measuring your Top 5 strengths out of a list of 34. My #1 strength is Strategy – which is something I love to do and have always been good at, but that I undervalued for years thinking that everyone thought the same way I did. Accepting this as my top strength has shaped the way I work with clients and what I offer, and has allowed me to do work that I enjoy!

Both Kolbe & Strengths Finder are AMAZING tools to use with your team – to ensure that everyone is working to their strengths and to lead them based on who they are.

What are your favorite assessments? Hit comment

and let me know.