March 18, 2013

Quick Personality Test!


So being the world's most half-assed Twitter participant, I rarely catch cool stuff as it scrolls on by.  Which is too bad because there are all kinds of great Tweeple Twittering away all kinds of Tweemendous links.

And yep, every time someone writes one of those "what not to do on Twitter!" lists, I hit pretty much every bullet point.  Swear words and offensive tweets? Check! Failure to RT or engage in conversations? Check! Just tweeting if and when I feel like it instead of on a sensible schedule? Check!

But here's a cool thing: I stumbled upon on a fun blogger/health writer on Twitter last week.
And so, intrigued, I ventured over to her blog and stole this post! Which, I'm thinking, is, um, just being friendly, right? I also discovered she has an awesome ebook you guys will like, which I will tell you more about at the end.

So this is courtesy of Helen Foster (@healthehelen) over at Health-e-Helen. Check her out!

But first here's the personality test. It takes less than five seconds. And try it FIRST before you skim down to see what it means.


Instructions: Draw the letter E on your forehead.

(Hint:  you may want to use your finger instead of  a writing implement. But whatever!  Go ahead and use indelible ink and start a new trend.)

And just so you don't cheat, here are a couple distraction images from the archives to keep you from glancing down too quickly.





Okay... hello?  Hello? Remember you were reading Cranky Fitness and there was something about a big E?

Ah good. Welcome back!

(And brief apologies to hetero dudes and nonhetero gals but for images of scantily clad female models: check out the whole freaking world wide web).

So, back to our test:

Did you draw your E so that YOU could read it if you looked straight through your head?  Or did you draw it so that someone ELSE looking at the imaginary E on your forehead could read it?

Apparently,  you are more empathic if you draw the E so that it can be read by an onlooker.

(An onlooker who just happens to be using your forehead as an eye test because they're too cheap to pay an optometrist? Seriously? How would this come up in real life? Yet empathic folks will bend over backward to make sure not to inconvenience imaginary onlookers viewing their imaginary forehead drawings by orienting them the wrong way. God we humans are WEIRD.)

Full disclosure: I came out empathic the first time but then just happened to retest on the fly later in the day, and the second time it was totally natural to be a self-absorbed asshole who didn't care at all about random strangers who might want to look at my forehead to see if they had astigmatism.

Sounds about right.

Buy Helen's Ebook!


Gymspiration, the ebook I think you should buy, is less than four bucks. If you liked mine, or even just pretended you did, you'll love hers as it's similar in tone, though I will say it lacks the cursing so you may have to supply your own. It's got 52 great ideas for mixing up your workout when you get that point where if you had to choose between the treadmill and having a colonoscopy...you'd choose the colonoscopy.

The book is quick and fun, very funny, down to earth, and manages to be encouraging without being too rainbows-and-sunshine.  Most of the ideas I hadn't tried, and even those I'd stumbled on myself were great reminders and presented in a way that made me think, "why the hell aren't I doing that any more?"

You can buy it off the Gymspiration page on her site, which lets you figure out what format you want and whether you're UK or US whatever you're from.

Or you can see if this Gymspiration on Amazon link works and get it that way.

Oh, and unlike some slacky bloggers we could mention, Helen has published a whole bunch of actual books with physical pages you can turn, crease, and spill coffee and muffin crumbs on.  If ebooks ain't your thing, Helen's Amazon Author page has lots of intriguing titles.
 
Do you mix up your exercise routine?  What do you think of the "E" personality test, bogus or brilliant?  Do you believe in personality tests at all?

Photos:
Personality: Thomas Hawk
Cupcake and Italian Soccer Team: I forget.

41 comments:

  1. I drew mine so that other could read (she says smugly) but once you asked that question, I had to go to a mirror and do it again to be sure (she says like the blonde she is).

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    1. Too funny Shelley! Though I have to confess that at one point I forgot which way an E is actually supposed to go!

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    2. You must have blonde roots, Crabby. ;)

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  2. I get such a kick out of personality tests. Results totally depend on my mood. Meanwhile, I was just about to finger draw a lower case e that I could read when I changed course and wrote E for others instead.
    So, I put me first, but then force myself to think of others?

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    1. Or maybe Leah you are the next incarnation of e.e. cummings and the poet in you grabbed the imaginary pen before the Empathic part could draw it's big ol' E for everyone else.

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  3. I drew it so others could read it! Honestly, I thought about that exact thing as to what the test was about and as the psychopath I just met, fooled y'all...:-)

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    1. I am not shocked at all Dr. J that you would draw it so others could read it! You don't fool us at all. :)

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  4. See that's how I should have written that post - I blame the having to get the bus thing!!! Thanks again. H

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    1. Hey thank YOU Helen for writing my post today as well as giving me some great workout ideas. Now I just gotta get my ass to the gym to test some out!

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  5. I drew it so that I could read it because I'm not coordinated enough to do it the other way. I guess it makes sense - I'm not always as empathetic as I should be. (maybe my next goal!!!)
    And, you know I love to mix up my exercise routines!!! I will have to check out Helen's book for sure!

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    1. Really Kim? I'm guessing it's a flaw in the test, because your empathy leaks out everywhere in your blog and in your comments!

      And cool, some of the challenges in Helen's book might be right up your alley, and I bet you could rack up some numbers that would blow the rest of us away. It's mostly competing against oneself, thank goodness.

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    2. I need to do more checking. At the site it just says the ebook is on Kindle - I have a Nook! I will go to the B&N site and hopefully be able to get it!

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    3. Oh shoot Kim! If no B&N, looks like you can buy as a PDF which would probably work on your computer. That's how I read it.

      Good luck and thanks for trying!

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  6. What about us weirdos who just draw the three horizontal lines, as they do on some signs where only parts of the letters are suggested so you fill in the rest, so that it can be read either way? Of course, i have to be difficult, it's what i do best!;)

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    1. What a flexible approach Messymimi, i'm sure that says something great about your personality!

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  7. Well my personality test was accurate. I didn't draw an E on my head because I don't trust and it smacked of effort with no reward. Yep! I am feeling a little bit 'Oscar the Grouch' today! It is blazing hot in my office can you blame me?

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  8. So, I was eating a banana while I read, which led to drawing the E with my non-dominant hand so that others could read it. Then I thought "Wait, that's not right," switched the banana to the other hand, and drew it so I could read it from inside. Does that mean I'm more empathic than not, or just that I'm confused???

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

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    1. Oooh, great question about dominant hands.

      I know I took some test or other and discovered one of my hands is gay and the other is straight, so someone needs to do some research on those of us who have asymmetrical personalities!

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  9. So do you lose points if you have to look in the mirror to actually verify which direction your e is? I did the empathy version, although I liked Mary Anne's important observation of dominant hand and whether your hands are occupied or not.

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    1. No points lost! Though my imaginary E doesn't seem to show up in a mirror... maybe I need an imaginary mirror?

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  10. Death Ride GrandmaMarch 18, 2013 at 2:00 PM

    Well, I pictured myself looking in a mirror, then wrote it so someone facing me could read it. Never could figure that mirror stuff out. Mary Anne, I'm confused too.

    I'm definitely going to check out that book. Thanks!

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    1. Sounds like a sensible approach DRG, and the fact that you consciously TRIED to make it readable by others puts you way ahead of me!

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  11. My kids just looked at me like I'm nuts. I blamed you. Which probably explains the direction of my "E" :)

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    1. Ha! Too funny Joyce. I think anyone who is a parent is officially exempt from having to test their empathy!

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  12. I wrote the E so that others could read it. And then, just because I'm an idiot and over think things, I drew the lower case e (also for others to see) in case the evaluation was based on which one I drew.. not how I drew it.

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    1. Ah, a "conscientious" personality as well as an empathic one Hilary!

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  13. For some of us, this is actually a stress test in disguise, right?

    First, one must recall which direction those E-s NORMALLY are written; then, one must mentally coordinate the actual drawing. The part about "which way it reads" now is coming in secondary to everything else (which of course is not wrong)! Oh - and did I forget to mention that REALLY FIRST, one (aka - I) had to decide whether this would be upper case or lower case?

    To make matters worse, I used to play with this thingamabob when I was a wee one where you looked in a mirror in order to manipulate objects on the other side of a little wall using various tools. Hard. Frustrating. Caused beads of sweat to form on the brow of an 8 year old. How mean is that?!

    Anyhow - I sort of had actual practice with this in my early years and STILL almost flunked this time!! I ended up holding up a sign :)

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    1. Wow Anon, so sorry to resurrect traumatic childhood memories of mirror-torture-toys!

      I love that the Cranketeers are comprised of so many amusing over-thinkers. My kinda crowd!

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  14. Does it matter if you are left or right handed though? Lefties write upside down. I started writing it for the onlooker but it felt backwards to me so I did it so I could see it through my head. The Hubster was empathic, I was not.

    Anyway, yes I seem to be one who changes up her exercise routine. In fact, since I am having issues connecting with the weight trainer, I am going to go try to win a free membership for a martial arts school tomorrow night. I remind you all I am 58 and used to make it from bed to sofa to fridge to sofa to bed a few years back. hehehe, the vision of Miss Piggy doing a "HI-YA!!!" danced in my head. I don't see that as a BAD thing. :D

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    1. Ooh, good point about right/left handedness Sherri!

      Good luck on the free martial arts training and I suspect you will KICK ASS if you win it!

      And love the Miss Piggy image. :)

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  15. lol i chuckled to myself once i knew the silly mistake i made. WHY did i draw the E for an onlooker when it is invisible ha ha?

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  16. I am more empathic! I knew I was! I always think of others, that's how cool I am. Ha ha ... thanks for this, I will make my friends give it a try and let themn think about what it means.

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  17. I drew the "E" for a onlooker, but I'm not sure if that's empathy or just pragmatism ... given that I don't have eyes behind my forehead, the "E" can only be viewed by an onlooker, so of course it makes sense that it should be the right way round for them!

    ...and I'm another one who needed several seconds thought to figure out which way round I'd drawn it. #8-/

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    1. Ooh, interesting analysis Shadowduck, hadn't thought of it that way. Wonder if some of us are mentally stepping out of our heads and coming around to face ourselves to account for our lack of xray vision without realizing it?

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  18. I am always late here!!! I leave for adequate reading time but this was a bit more easy to read & less thinking! :)

    I am empathetic! ;)

    Mix it up in the gym - hell YES!!!

    I am a total mess up with Twitter! ;)

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  19. OOH
    must stalk helen and read her e-book.

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  20. This is the weirdest personality test I've ever done aside from counting the frequency of brushing every day. However, I was totally fascinated by the logic behind this test! :-D I believe that being empathic depends on our moral upbringing and other factors happened in our life. Anyway, this test surely justified how we can measure our level of empathy.

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