a test; will I get my permit, or will I be taking the bus? Will my scores get me into

an Ivy league school or will I be heading to my safety school? Today, we're going

to tell you about a test that'll help you far more than good grades or great parallel

parking skills. It won't dictate your life, but it'll help you understand yourself,

and others, better.

Welcome to WellCast: Today we're taking a suggestion from our coworker Danny, and

our loyal viewer 8MissGreeny8. We'll be looking at the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator,

a personality test that actually started as a way to get women into the workforce. Now

it's taken by 2.5 million American men, women and children each year. We'll show

you how this test can help you become more aware of your personal traits, and then teach

you how to use this awareness to get more out of yourself at school. Ready?

The Myers-Briggs test was first developed in the 1940s by Isabel Myers and her daughter-in-law,

Katherine Cook Briggs, two amateur psychologists who were huge fans of a Swiss psychiatrist

named Carl Jung, and his theory on personality types.

When the U.S. entered World War II, many women entered the workforce for the first time.

Myers saw a very specific need in the market for a personality test—one that would help

women figure out what sort of jobs they'd be well-suited for. Thus, the Meyers-Briggs

test was born.

Today's exercise will give you an introduction to the different personality types, so you

can start to think about which categories you fall into.

Pause and print this WellCast worksheet. Next to each category, tick off the box that you

think applies most to you.

One: Are you an extrovert or an introvert? Are you a Fluttershy or a Rainbow Dash? This

category deals with what stimulates people—are you the kind of person who gets pumped up

in busy, social situations, or are you more fulfilled when reading a book? Extroverts

respond to external stimuli—being around a large group of people, for example—whereas

introverts are stimulated internally—by reflection, toying around with ideas and analyzing

an interesting train of thought.

Two: Do you sense or do you intuit? This category deals with how you gather information and

learn. Some people rely mainly on the information at hand—they look for facts, concrete details,

tangible data. They're mainly focused on minutiae and want to get to the bottom of

things quickly. Much like Joe Friday, they want "the facts, ma'am." Others prefer

to look for connections between ideas rather than nailing down facts, and are more interested

in the bigger picture than the nitty-gritty details. These fall under intuition category.

Three: Would you consider yourself more a thinker or a feeler?

This one is the classic Spock vs. Kirk dilemma. How do you make decisions? Do you analyze

all the data at hand exhaustively, write out pro and con lists, think logically through

a problem? Or do you go with your gut, let your emotions be your compass for a situation?

Four: Are you perceiving or judging? An easy way to look at this one is to ask yourself

how you respond to deadlines. If you plan your work out far in advance and manage to

get everything done on time, you're probably "judging." On the other hand, if you see

deadlines as more of a suggestion than that hard-and-fast rule, and are constantly changing

your work up until the last minute, you're a perceiver.

At the bottom of the worksheet, put it all together. What did you come up with? ESFP?

INTJ?

Annoyingly, taking the official test costs money—but there are several fairly good,

free knock-offs available on the Internet. (Click here, here and here.) Try taking one

of these tests now, and see how your answers stack up.

Let's recap: Today we went over the four main personality categories of the Myers-Briggs

personality test, an indicator developed in the 40s by amateur psychologists. Your personality

is a series of four letters: E (extrovert) or I (introvert), S (sensing) or N (intuitive),

F (feeling) or T (thinking), and P (perceiving) or J (judging). We also explained how knowing

your four letters can help you get more out of life.

Next week, we're going to show you eight great methods for improving your productivity

based on your personality type—how to accentuate your strengths and combat your weaknesses

when it comes to finishing a paper or getting through a difficult week at school.