Know Your Archetype

In human stories we recognise character types known as archetypes. Much of Hollywood is built upon telling the same stories just with different players. A hero who is also a lover rescues the unjustly accused and does battle with a malevolent magician. (Star Wars, Shrek?).

Archetypes describe universal unconscious patterns that drive our behaviours.

We all see them in each other, we all have them.

Are you a "hero", "visionary", "magician", "intellect" or "rebel"?

Most of us have a blend. It turns out that I'm about 50% "caregiver", 35% "explorer" and about 15% "leader".

I only found this out recently and it has helped me better understand how I behave.

Knowing your archetypes is a short cut to understanding your strengths. Knowing your strengths is a short cut to understanding your weaknesses.

For example, a high bias to "caregiver" means that I'm generally a very helpful person. This is useful and explains my career path through customer service and operations. However it also explains why I take things personally and demand a lot of myself and why I should probably say no to more meetings and committments. By helping everyone else, I take the stress and it's me that can sometimes suffer as a result.

If you're interested in finding out your own archetypes, you can do so at this site; archetypes.com. A simple quiz leads you to your personal blend.

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