Resources for Self-Exploration

A listing of various tools that I’ve found useful over time, particularly those that help in understanding people and the world in which we live.

• Project Worldview - A useful website, despite its archaic web design, for determining one’s core view of reality – the glasses through which one unconsciously sees and interprets the world.
• The Ladder of Inference – visual tool of the 6 step process by which we create the mental models by which we interpret the world
• Think Mental Models - “This website, inspired by the work of Charles Munger, provides over 100 models that can be brought consciously to mind to aid the thinking process. Each model is described by at least one distinguished user. Examples include Warren Buffett, Richard Feynman, Robert Rubin and Peter Drucker, among others.”
• Passages: Predictable Crises of Adult Life - Updated version of Gail Sheehy’s classic overview of adult life transition points and how to understand, cope, and leverage them towards fulfilling your potential. Other useful guides are at her website here.
• Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) - Understand how and why you think and interpret the world as you do. From their website – “The 120-question Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument® (HBDI®) assessment defines and describes someone’s thinking preferences across the Whole Brain® Model. After completing the assessment, the person receives a comprehensive HBDI® Profile report that includes in-depth interpretation of the results, reference material about the Whole Brain® Model, comparison data, and activities for further exploration and development.” (Full disclosure – I found this useful enough that I became a certified HBDI practitioner.)
• The 7 Advantages of Fascination - An interesting complement to the HBDI thinking style assessment and the various personality type assessments. Per the website – “Plenty of personality assessments tell you how you see the world. Only one reveals how the world sees you. What’s the BEST of how the world sees you? What makes you most fascinating, and most valuable to the people around you? Over the past two decades of research on communication, Sally Hogshead has found that there are seven different ways to communicate and add value to your listener.”
• For those that want to try a couple of personality profiles –
  • The Big Five Personality Test – some background info here
  • IPIP NEO - The IPIP-NEO (International Personality Item Pool Representation of the NEO PI-R™)
  • The  HEXACO Personality Inventory-Revised
• What Color is your Parachute? – The job hunt and career change classic, many variants, updated annually
• The Heart-Brain Connection: The Neuroscience of Social, Emotional, and Academic Learning - nicely done academic YouTube presentation by neuroscientist Richard Davidson presenting his research on how social and emotional learning can affect the brain. You can read more about the topic on the Edutopia website.