If it often or always describes you, give yourself 2 points.

If it sometimes describes you, give yourself 1 point.

If it rarely or never describes you, give yourself 0 points.

1. Do I have difficulty completing a project because my own high standards haven’t been met?

2. Do I get preoccupied with details that others don’t seem to care too much about?

3. Do I tend to think in terms of black and white, ignoring the gray area in between?

4. Do I think a lot about what I’d like to do but rarely get projects off the ground?

5. Do I long to be able to go from A to Z without having to deal with the stuff in between?

6. Do I say “I’ll try to…” rather than making a definite commitment to get a task done?

7. Do I hesitate to leave my comfort zone, avoiding situations that might make me anxious?

8. Do I paralyze myself by worrying about “what if” might happen?

9. Do I have a tendency to say “I can’t…” while thinking about what I need to do?

10. Do I ignore deadlines, then at the last minute work frantically to get things done?

11. Do I enjoy living on the edge and taking risks?

12. Do I put off doing work that’s slow or tedious but work well on action-oriented projects?

13. Do I become irritable or argumentative when asked to do a task I think is a waste of time?

14. Do I blow off chores by claiming that I’ve forgotten them or that they’re unimportant?

15. Do I tend to criticize or ridicule those who are in authority?

16. Do I have difficulty saying “no” to others, yet feel resentful later on?

17. Do I have a strong need for approval from others?

18. Do I do a lot of things yet at the end of the day feel I haven’t accomplished much?

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Add up your score for

Questions 1, 2, 3        Questions 4, 5, 6          Questions 7, 8, 9

Questions 10, 11, 12   Questions 13, 14, 15    Questions 16, 17, 18

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Questions 1-3 describe the Perfectionist Style

Questions 4-6 describe the Dreamer Style

Questions 7-9 describe the Worrier Style

Questions 10-12 describe the Crisis-Maker Style

Questions 13-15 describe the Defier Style

Questions 16-18 describe the Pleaser Style

Now rank order your styles. #1 will be your highest total score, #2 the next highest and so on.

Any surprises in your scores? Maybe yes, maybe no! It could be that the quiz simply reinforced what you already knew. Or you may be surprised, unaware of some aspects of your personality.

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To further your understanding of your personality, here’s a brief description of each style along with their hallmark “BUT” excuse.

1. The Perfectionist: “. . . BUT it’s not perfect!” You find it difficult to begin or complete a task because you don’t want to do anything less than a perfect job. You   worry about satisfying your own high standards or failing the high expectations that others have of you. Once you’ve started a task, you often spend far more time and energy on it than is necessary. Though you work hard, you don’t necessarily work smart.

 2. The Dreamer: “… BUT I want to go from A to Z without dealing with all those annoying details in between!” You wait for opportunities to drop into your lap instead of taking an active, “go get ’em” approach. You reflexively shy away from tough challenges. You often say you’ll “try to” do a task but don’t make an actual commitment to do it. Creative thinking without ground level doing leaves you feeling frustrated with yourself.

 3. The Worrier: “… BUT I’m afraid to make a change!” You proceed through life with caution, worrying about the unknown and about “what might happen if.” You tend to maximize your problems while minimizing your ability to cope with them. It’s tough for you to leave your comfort zone, hence you tend to avoid doing whatever makes you feel anxious. Change tends to make you feel uncomfortable; you’d much prefer for things to stay the way they are.

4.  The Crisis-Maker: “… BUT I can’t get motivated till the last minute!” Addicted to the rush of high emotion and imminent danger, you wait till the last minute to do whatever you need to do. A last minute crisis serves as an adventure and a pathway to proving yourself a hero. Yet despite pulling all-nighters, your achievements are not as good as you know they could be. You like living on the edge, even though it creates problems for you.  

5. The Defier: “. . . BUT why should I have to do it?” You may be openly rebellious, passive-aggressive or a combination of the two. When you’re openly rebellious, you defy authority by doing tasks on your own idiosyncratic time schedule. When you’re passive-aggressive, you agree to do tasks but never seem to get around to it. Whatever you don’t enjoy doing you think of as a major imposition on your time.

6. The Pleaser: “… BUT I have so much to do!” You’ve yet to master the art of creating priorities or setting limits. Because of your desire to please people, you have difficulty saying “no” to them. You then feel frazzled by the lack of time and frenzied by the countless commitments you have said “yes” to. You are in danger of becoming a prime candidate for early burnout.