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The Non-Confrontational Person’s Guide to Conflict

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When this infographic landed in my e-mail, I couldn’t help but smile. I am, quite possibly, the most non-confrontational person to ever walk on two legs. I can’t speak for three or four-legged people, but I’m all but certain I hold the title among the two legged.

People do, of course, have different temperaments and personalities – as well as different experiences and life stories. Each of these things go into making us the way we are, for better or worse.

Personally, I think something else contributes to this particular train and you don’t have to look any further than your mom and/or dad.

Many times, if we’re raised by at least one parent who has an outgoing… confrontational, when need be… personality, we tend to pull back. It could be simply because we grew up knowing they would take care of everything. They had our back, so to speak, so we didn’t even have to turn around, let alone add our two cents to the moment.

It can, of course, go even further. If, by way of our own personality and temperament, we were somewhat embarrassed by our parent’s gregarious approach to conflict, we pull back EVEN further.

Welcome to my world!

My mom was NOT a wallflower. She was the most amazing, predominant piece of furniture… and she didn’t sit against the wall… oh no! She’d be the amazing, predominant piece of furniture in the middle of the room. Smack in the middle with a lamp shining on her. That was my mother and I loved her greatly.

While I was more the comfy chair next to the window, I did, usually appreciate her placement in the spotlight. However, there were times when (as a calm and quiet chair) she would mortify me in public. If her steak wasn’t “just right,” the server and cook would know about it. If we had waited beyond an acceptable amount of time at the clinic, the entire room would soon be aware of just how many minutes we’d been there.

If a salesperson, nurse, doctor, or electrician was rude, they’d soon pay the piper.

My dad and I exchanged so many, “She’s about to blow…” glances over the years and nearly as many, “She blew…” glances.

Two different teachers flat-out wronged me in high-school and – by the time it was all over – I almost felt sorry for them. You see, nothing would elicit an eruption quite like thinking her only child had been wronged.

I wonder if either teacher has recovered yet?

At any rate, I am non-confrontational to the extreme. If you’re a similar “comfy chair” (And let me go ahead and say there’s nothing wrong with that! What’s a room without chairs, after all?!), you’ll enjoy this infographic as much as I did.

~ Joi (“Joy”)

The Non-Confrontational Person's Guide to Conflict (Infographic)

Credit: The Non-Confrontational Person’s Guide to Conflict

Three Most Accurate Personality Tests You Can Take Online

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Personality Quizzes

by Michael Stoddard

In 1920 first psychological tests were designed to select people to the armed forces. A personality examination is a special quiz created to reveal psychological features in children and adults.

Now questionnaires are taken by most of people to get to know more about their character or simply for fun. Social media offers hundreds of examinations to take every day when you read your Facebook or Reddit feed. But do you really know what the reasons to take a quick personality test are?

•      Defining Your Career

A psychological quiz can help you define your skills and aptitudes to a particular activity. If you haven’t yet made up your mind about a future profession, think of a short quiz. Some recruiters use this method when hunting people for their jobs. They can identify whether a person fits this job position or another.

•      Understanding Your Competencies and Strengths

Get to know what type of person you are – extrovert or introvert. It will come in handy when choosing work or attending an event. According to your psychological aspects, you will be able to prepare yourself for communicating with a big company or delivering a speech.

•      Identifying Hobbies and Interests

With a good questionnaire taken you will help your self-advancement. Reading a book or hanging out with your friends? What are your interests and preferences? Try to pass a test and use the results for planning your rest effectively. You will know yourself better and will be able to act adequately in any situation or company.

Most Accurate Personality Test: A List of Top Quizzes

The Internet is full of good and free online quizzes for identifying personalities types. Here is a list of the most accurate and trusted sources to learn about your individuality and charisma.

  1. The Myers-Briggs – a perfect and interesting character type indicator. It is based on the identification of 4 key features about a person:
  • inner and outer world;
  • perception of information;
  • the way of making decisions;
  • structuring the world.

Based on the information got in the research process, conducted by Edu Birdie, you can identify what type of individuality you are. A specially designed table consisting of 16 buttons with 4 initial letters of your core features will show the qualities you possess and will detect your psychotype.

The objective of this questionnaire is to make the psychological knowledge clear to people and results useful for everyday lives. The advantages of taking the Myers-Briggs are as follows:

  1. You will be able to work inside a big company efficiently.
  2. You can make the right choice for career opportunities.
  3. You will be able to help your children learn effectively at school or university.
  4. It is good for individual growth and close relations within a family.
  5. Minnesota Multiphasic Person Inventory is a 30-minute test that assesses a person’s mental condition and detects if a person has some mental health problems. It consists of a certain number of true or false questions. Unfortunately, it is not available online as it is recommended only by a professional psychologist. MMPI distinguishes 10 abnormal states and behavioral style inherent in humans psychology including the most popular conditions such as depression, paranoia, and schizophrenia.
  6. Revised NEO Person Inventory is the best personality test based on the 5-factor model. It is used by psychologists to assess mostly adults but is available from the age of 12 as well. You will need 40 minutes to pass a test in a web or written form. This methodology identifies 5 personal traits: consciousness, agreeability, neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience. NEO-PI fits good business environment or clinical observations.

How Can Test Reports Come In Handy?

Taking a complete character exam means that you want to know more about yourself. Short funny quizzes may strongly influence your life or career development. Moreover, a well-designed psychological test can be helpful in detecting mental health issues at early stages. Never underestimate the power of a personal test taken.

 

 

There is NO Age Limit on Learning!

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by Brooke Faulkner

It is abundantly clear that striving to learn new things betters your life in numerous ways. Ideally, your whole life should be spent striving to learn something new every single day. Learning and wanting to enhance your intellect is a great thing for every human to aspire toward, but not everyone has the time to attend lectures on a college campus.

Technological developments have raised the bar in ways we can obtain information and learn just about anything we set our minds to. Nearly anyone can access the internet for its endless supply of information — some educational, some not. The trick is how you to make the technology work for you. Below are creative ways anyone, regardless of age, can keep a hold of their lifelong quest for knowledge.

Listen to an Audiobook on the Go

Audiobooks are a lifesaver for busy people who struggle to find the time to read. It’s not only great for travelers, but also for people who don’t want the responsibility of holding a book or don’t have the attention span required for reading. You can listen to an audiobook on the bus, in the bathtub, or while doing chores. It is a convenient method to soak up some information or finally get around to that classic novel that you’ve been putting off.

Cognitively, there is little difference between reading and listening to a book. The comprehension of information is the same, although there may be preferential reasons as to why you might like the physical presence of a book as opposed to an audiobook. Audiobooks are appropriate for all ages, so next time you’re taking the little one to the library, check out one for them as well as yourself.

Use an App to Learn a Language

Learning a second language presents the opportunity to become more in tune with the world around you and, in a lot of instances, is becoming a necessary skill to possess in our ever-integrating world. Learning a new language as a child will set you leagues ahead of other students and, as an adult, will give you a leg up in the workforce. Luckily, you can start learning a new language on your phone as soon as you download the app.

There are numerous apps to help you learn a language for free and help coach you through almost any language of your choosing. Quizzes, flashcards, and even talking amongst fluid speaking assistants will help you in practicing until you’ve mastered a new language — making it exponentially easier to master the next language.

Use the Internet for an Online College Course

The development of online college courses has eased stress and anxiety for every college student. Including the non-traditional student — who, after years or decades of a sabbatical, has finally decided they want to go back to school and finish up those last credits needed for a Master’s in Education. Or they may just have a curiosity or passion about a particular subject. Online classes have transformed the convenience and attainability of a college education. Online classes are also available for high schoolers looking to better prepare themselves for the college workload.

Through video conferencing, lots of document transferring, and emailing, you can uphold your responsibilities by fulfilling the syllabus requirements if you manage your time right and properly study for a collegiate course. Just make sure you meet the technical requirements of taking an online course, as they can require fast internet speeds and plenty of storage capacity.

Anyone can, and should, continue their life’s education whenever and however they can. The ways described above are just a few in which you can utilize technology to work to your advantage. No one should put off their desire to stimulate their mental curiosity because they don’t have time, or don’t live near a college campus. Options are available for you to maintain a lifetime of learning.


How to “Find” More Time for Reading Each Day

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We often hear people say they wish they could find more time to read. The problem is we’ll never really find more time to do anything – we have to make the time. Unfortunately, this usually means giving up (or at least cutting into) the time we devote to other things. Whether it’s cutting out an extra hour of sleeping or television viewing, the time will appear, as if by magic,  if you make it appear.

The time may actually be…. oh I don’t know… an arm’s length away. As in right there in our hands!

One of my favorite ways to “sneak in” extra reading time is about as simple as it gets – I keep whatever book I’m currently reading within reach at all times. If I’m meeting my husband and/or daughters for lunch, I carry it in my purse. This way, if I beat them there, I can read a little while waiting.

During an especially fascinating Golden Age of Hollywood biography or Agatha Christie mystery, I’ll actually leave early to make sure I have 15-20 minutes of reading time in the parking lot. Hercule Poirot and I have solved many a crime in the Olive Garden parking lot.

Another simple way to find more time is to cut into the time you spend sleeping – whether that means setting the alarm for 30 minutes earlier or turning in 30 minutes earlier, that 30 extra minutes can be invested in a great book. If you were to do both, you’d suddenly have a whole hour each day to devote to reading.

Of course, you’d have to make sure you actually spent your new-found time IN a book and not ON your phone.  In fact, a shocking study by musicMagpie.co.uk has revealed the number of books people could read if they simply reduced their digital intake over a month.

In the 23 hours we spend on our phone social networking, we could of read one of the following 5 books:

  • The Handmaid’s Tale
  • To Kill a Mockingbird
  • Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
  • Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde
  • Jane Eyre

With today’s generation now being more digital than ever, is it time to take a short break a few hours a day? My answer is a resounding YES!
Again, just be sure to make sure you pick a book up when you put the iPhone down. It’s easier once you’re in the middle of a great book… when that happens, it’s harder to pick the phone up than it is to put it down.

The infographic below will blow your mind – it makes you realize just how much time we spend plugged into our phones.

Enjoy the infographic (click for the larger version) – I’m off to another adventure courtesy of Agatha Christie.  – Joi

Find More Time for Reading Infographic

Infographic Credit: musicMagpie.co.uk

7 Self Improvement Habits That Lead to Career Growth

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You career can move at whatever speed you set for it. If you want to climb the ladder fast you need to put in adequate efforts. Unless you are super genius in your field – and even then it is doubtful – you are not indispensable. The recession has taught this lesson the hard way to most “experts”. Here are a few not so well-known ways that will help you:

  • Learn To Smile – smile a lot. Smile when you greet your boss, your colleagues, your clients. Nobody likes to see a grumpy face. Everyone has problems; it is best that you leave yours at home. When you are at office, be as pleasant as you can be.

 

  • Acknowledge Your Mistakes – everyone commits mistakes sometime or other. Do not pass the blame on somebody else. First of all, you are not fooling anyone; secondly, you will be respected better if you acknowledge your mistake and do your best to repair the damage.

 

  • Under-Promise And Over-Deliver – do not be one that talks too much and does too less. Always promise less and deliver more. Your superior as well as your colleagues will gradually identify you with the highest quality work.

 

  • Say ‘Thank you’ and ‘Sorry’ As Often As Is Necessary – anyone does anything for you, be fast to appreciate it. Be equally fast to apologize if you have made a mistake or hurt anyone’s feelings.

 

  • Learn To Say ‘No’ And You Want To Say ‘No’ – many say ‘yes’ when they desperately want to say ‘no’ because they feel it would be impolite. Saying ‘no’ rudely is impolite; but you need not say it rudely. Practice saying ‘no’ politely and without giving too many excuses. Do not be hard on yourself; it takes lots of practice but once you get there, you will find that your life is much easier and contrary to common belief, your popularity will grow.

 

  • At Work Place You Work – while a few tiny coffee breaks are okay, do not make it a habit to indulge in personal work at office. Avoid taking personal calls, surfing the Net for personal stuff, answering personal emails, and so on during working hours. Give all you have during the working hours; and disconnect yourself from office after working hours.

 

  • Dress Appropriately – it is okay if sometimes on a Saturday or Friday evening you come in full casuals. However, for regular working days, dress your part. You are the face of the company hence, if you dress sloppily that is what others will think of you, your work and your company.

 

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