Find out what ANIMAL emerges for you under stress!As you go through think of how you would answer when you are at your MOST STRESSED!Select the answer MOST like you.
When you first heard about COVID and the entire nation was unsure of the outcome and was in lockdown, what was your immediate response?
A.
Did nothing, figured it would go away or someone else would take care of what needed to be done. You simply didn’t know what to do.
B.
Thought, how is this going to affect me and what do I need to do for me.
C.
Shouted at the first person who told me to wear a mask. Or, berated every person that was not taking the pandemic seriously and not wearing a mask.
D.
Felt confused and unsure what to do or where to even start. It was overwhelming.
E.
Felt very reactive and anxious. I felt hyper sensitive and like the world was going to end. I looked for signs of the worst case scenario coming true.
2.
Your boss or a co-worker is frustrated with you about how you handled a situation and confronts you when you are already at your limit of what you can handle, you…
A.
Lose your temper and storm out of the room. What gives them the right to judge you or speak to you like that?
B.
Shut down mentally during the meeting and possibly for the rest of the day. You figure you can't make them happy anyway so why bother.
C.
Tell them what you know they want to hear in order to fix the situation and your image, so you could seem like a team player.
D.
You immediately react and defend yourself. As you walk away you get caught up in their words and they keep spiraling in your head. You begin to think about what you will do if you get fired and begin to make a plan for the worst cast scenario. After all, you don’t want to be caught off guard again.
E.
You avoid the confrontation, it really bothers you when people talk to you like that. You don’t do anything and then you focus on what great things you do and decide they are wrong. You disassociate with what just happened.
3.
You are at a social gathering and are completely uncomfortable, don’t know anyone, nor do you have anything in common with anyone there, you…
A.
You assess the situation and people to find the one person who you think you can charm and connect with.
B.
You head to the kitchen to see if hostess has something you can help with. You spend the majority of the party busying yourself with collecting plates and helping in the back, avoiding conversations with people.
C.
Pretend you are not feeling well and leave or get on your cell phone and pretend to look busy.
D.
You think about all the possible bad outcomes or things that could go wrong, as you feel your blood pressure rise.
E.
You get passive aggressive are agitated with whoever made you come or who you are having to have a conversation with.
4.
You are exhausted and haven’t had much to eat and your partner/family member confronts you and wants to know why you still have not done that todo item they asked for your help with, you…
A.
You make an excuse why you couldn't do it and hope they don't ask you to do it because you don't want to do it, but you can't say no.
B.
You irritatedly point out what you asked them to do that they still have yet to do as well.
C.
You start into a frantic episode, overreacting because you feel pressured. Plus, you already feel like they have been judging you for not doing the thing yesterday you were supposed to do.
D.
You apologetically nod and let them know it is on your todo list and then walk away and start going over all the things still on your todo list from last week that you have yet to do.
E.
You breakdown emotionally (either with tears or by turning it around on them) to show them how bad your day was so they will feel bad and do the todo item themselves.
5.
You are out at a sports event and a neighboring fan is yelling profanities, being disrespectful to the people around him and infringing on your families/friends/your personal space, you…
A.
You begin to panic because this is going to effect what your family or friends personally think about you. You think they are judging you for not handling the situation properly and you are actually afraid this person might start a fight…and he probably carries a knife with him too.
B.
You stand up and confront him toe to toe. Let him know if he does not stop you will personally help him do so.
C.
You try making him feel bad by having a quick heart to heart to show the struggle he is creating and the effect he is having on those that are with you.
D.
You sit there and block him out, act like it really isn’t bothering you. You hate conflict and want to avoid any confrontation. It’s not your thing.
E.
You can’t even focus on the game, all you can worry about is what the person is doing, think about what you should do, then you sit there and look around to see if anyone else is having trouble concentrating on the game.
6.
When businesses and restaurants were unable to be open during the COVID lockdown and you were isolated in your home did you…
A.
Spend all day watching the news because you needed to know every update, bought a case of toilet paper and/or got incredibly stressed because your own business was shut down/losing money and you were sure it was going to fail.
B.
Avoid realty. It was too much to process so you simply did things to take your mind off of it and chose not to think about what could happen or what you would do if it got really bad.
C.
You worried about your kid's school and/or if your company would stay open but figured there was little you could do to help so you got lost in a Netflix marathon instead.
D.
You just felt angry. You found yourself yelling or losing your temper more often and may have felt the government or China was to blame for everything that was happening.
E.
You used social media and posted more things about yourself so you could attract attention or interaction.
7.
Your judgmental in-laws (or another judgmental relative/friend) come to visit and stay in your home you…
A.
You tell everyone you know how much you hate when they visit. You make your partner or friend feel like sh*t reminding them how much they “owe you” for this. When the in-laws show, you drop snide comments and act constantly “flustered” or put out.
B.
You know it is going to be horrible and you run around expressing to your partner all the things that are going to go wrong and happen during their stay.
C.
You welcome them with a big hello or do something nice for them that you typically wouldn’t do. Smoozing them a bit so they think you are always this nice. Trying to create a diversion so they won’t know what you are really thinking.
D.
Keep your distance and hope they don't interact with you. You act like everything is fine, avoid any confrontation, and simply leave it all as is. After all, there is nothing you can do about it.
E.
You are a bit overwhelmed because you also have a big project going on at work, so it is hard to focus. You keep getting distracted at work by all of the things you need to do to prepare for your company that is coming. You add to your todo list all day. Let’s be honest, you don’t get a lot done on your project because you are a bit distracted.
8.
You are required to be at an event with peers and CEO’s. The speaker begins to call out people individually to share on the microphone about their opinion on a controversial topic. She is about to call on you, you…
A.
You start spinning in your head about all the things you could say and then run through the scenarios in your head as to who will think what about you. Your thoughts are more emotionally based, not fact based at all. You just hate this feeling of things being out of your control.
B.
You stand up, after all you like people recognizing the value you bring. You either stick in the middle with your comments if it would not be to your benefit to be on one side or the other. Or, you eagerly share your opinion if it will set you up as the authority in the room.
C.
Get up quickly and leave the room pretending you need to take a call or have to go to the bathroom.
D.
You open your remarks by saying you think it's silly anyone should have to speak on such a ridiculous topic. Then launch into your opinion on the subject, not considering who it might offend.
E.
Take out your phone to distract yourself from all that's going on, maybe check your Facebook feed (and hopefully she won’t call on you if you don’t gain eye contact). You see if there is something you can do to assist the event staff to relieve the stress of the situation and still be helpful.
9.
You are frustrated that you haven’t had any downtime lately, gotten your workout in, in days or had space to do something you really enjoy for a month, you…
A.
You stress out and announce, you are never going to get to have time to yourself again and begin to think about that time you gained 10 lbs and know that is what is going to happen again.
B.
You over do it and to make up for lost time. You try to book a spin class at the last minute but can't get the time you want so you post a snotty comment on their FB page - complaining “it must be nice to be so busy you can't accommodate the "regulars..." ‘(Note: You take a spin class maybe once a month...)
C.
You choose to deny that you are that busy. Things will take care of themselves and you go do something that takes your mind off of your reality.
D.
You purposefully talk about how stressed and busy you are in front of your peers so they understand you have a lot on your plate and then they won’t ask to hangout or take time away from you.
E.
Feel overwhelmed with all that needs to be done. Create a todo list of all that needs to be accomplished before you can schedule something for yourself.
10.
You are in a grocery store line and you overhear someone loudly talking to their friend about a subject that you are passionate about, but they have the opposite beliefs than you. It is starting to irritate you because they are completely incorrect in what they are saying, you…
A.
You ask them an open ended question that you already know the answer to, in order to lead them down the path to realizing they are incorrect. This will allow you to share the truth.
B.
In your mind think of what you'd like to say to them and then debate with yourself if it's worth it or not to confront them. Ultimately you let it go without confrontation but wish you would have given them a piece of your mind.
C.
Tell your partner/spouse - speaking louder than the other person - that you find the opposite opinion to be so uneducated and wrong. When they try to shush you, you turn on them and raise your voice even more saying they are the problem and they don't believe in anything and won't defend you.
D.
You think, if this is what information people are believing we are all in trouble. This is why my business is going to fail, why our nation is in upheaval, why I can’t sleep at night.
E.
You completely ignore them, try and shove the feelings back down that are rising up for you and simply want to get out of the store as quickly as possible so you don’t have to think about it.
Lead with: Denial, AvoidanceFeel: Fear the unknownPossible Characteristics:InactionAvoid confrontationSkewed realitySensitive to criticism or negative evaluationDisassociate with realityRisk adverseTake things personallyDon’t like changeAfraid of being let down
Lead with: Reactivity, OverreactFeel: Things are out of their controlPossible Characteristics:Believe or create a worst case scenarioConstant panicOverreact emotionally with actions & decisionsMore emotionally based versus fact basedCaught up in their own drama which becomes their filterFranticPush away from others that don’t see things as they doNay-sayer
Lead with: Anger, AggressionFeel: Rejection, DisrespectedPossible Characteristics:Lash out at others or situationsTransfer anger to othersBlame othersYellResort to violencePassive-aggressiveSabotage othersLack control of thoughts or actions once angryForce their outcomeDefensiveSay things in the moment they may regret laterConfrontational
Lead with: Procrastination, BusynessFeel: OverwhelmedPossible Characteristics:Busy self with menial/insignificant tasksLove to do listsGet caught up with other people’s requests/needsUnfocusedStruggle with making a decisionMay change their mind once they make a decisionConsume too much information decreasing their clarityMotivated by stress or time pressurePerfectionist
Lead with: Adaptation, ManipulationFeel: Need for control, Lack of worthinessPossible Characteristics:Sway others to their line of thinkingMorph in situations to adapt to what is neededSeek a desired outcomeTake advantage of other’s weaknessesBlame othersDriven by insecurityUse gaslighting tacticsHides insecurities with egoImposter syndrome
