Have you ever wondered what makes your brain unique? Why you excel in certain areas but struggle in others? The human brain is a fascinating and complex organ, and researchers are discovering more about what makes every individual tick. That’s why I developed a brain assessment, drawing from multiple well-established theories and models in cognitive science, psychology, and neuroscience to help you discover and understand your unique brain type.
This quiz is a framework to help give you another set of tools to unlock your full potential for learning and personal growth. And, it breaks your results down into an easy to remember C.O.D.E. I invite you to take this test and discover your unique brain type: are you a Cheetah, Owl, Dolphin, or Elephant?
THE AGILE CHEETAH
The Agile Cheetah is the instinctive doer. You have powerful instincts and aren’t afraid to use them, relying on your quick thinking and adaptability to get you through any situation. While you value thoughtful, strategic planning, you are very comfortable with sudden changes in all areas of life and business. You like making fast decisions and excel in high-pressure situations. Your dynamic nature makes it easy to adapt to new challenges and you like a change of pace in terms of new environments, projects, and tasks. Because you thrive in conditions that are constantly changing, things like rigid rules, regulations, and institutions are not your favorite. Instead, you like fast-paced atmospheres that value flexibility and gut-instinct.
UTILIZE YOUR CHEETAH STRENGTHS
As someone who follows your gut and is always ready for a change, your best productivity strategy is to set short-term goals. When you break tasks down into smaller, achievable tasks, you’re able to maintain momentum and stay motivated. This helps you feel like you’re making progress and can help you stay on track when it comes to goals with long timelines.
You also learn best through hands-on experience. Whatever you can do to make your goals, lessons, and work sessions interactive will do wonders for your focus and concentration. Look for opportunities to visit facilities, assist in a lab, participate in a workshop, or volunteer for an event to solidify new lessons and skills.
Even though you thrive in high-energy situations, you still need time to recharge and re-energize. Your tendency might be to take working lunches and ignore breaks, but these can actually lead to burnout and overload. Break your day down into manageable pieces where you take the time to relax and recover. It might feel like you’re going against your energetic norm, but you’ll find that you have even more energy and higher productivity when you allow yourself to rest.
Some time-management techniques you’ll want to master will involve time blocking. This is when you chunk down your day into time blocks dedicated to specific tasks. For example, you set aside twenty minutes to do email, ten minutes to write your daily to-do list, thirty minutes for your morning reading. Using the Pomodoro Technique can help you stay focused on the tasks without worrying about the time and remind you to take breaks when the timer goes off. These small chunks of time help you shift tasks quickly and easily while allowing you to maintain focus and efficiency throughout your day.
IMPROVE YOUR CHEETAH WEAKNESSES
Every animal type has challenges you can work on to improve your performance. By focusing on personal growth, you can become self-aware enough to overcome these obstacles and become your best self.
One of the biggest challenges you face as a Cheetah is cultivating patience. You want to move forward, favoring action over caution. And while that means you make progress on your tasks and are busy throughout your day, some of that might be work you didn’t need to do. When you don’t take the time to analyze situations thoroughly, you can make mistakes, causing you to redo certain steps before you can complete whatever you’re working on. A little of preparation can feel slow at the beginning, but translate to being faster in the end.
You can work on this by practicing your planning skills. Creating detailed plans that break your goals down into small, actionable goals will help you develop a stronger vision of your tasks and projects. You’ll see each step clearly, which means you can execute them more efficiently. And you’ll spend less time recovering from mistakes or unforeseen obstacles.
Another area to work on is your active listening skills. In your haste to get things done, you might not take the time to fully absorb or understand various perspectives when making a decision or moving forward on a project. Other people have valuable insight that you can use in your planning and execution. Even though you prefer to learn hands-on by doing, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take the time to learn from someone else’s experience first.
By focusing on these areas of improvement, you’ll start to plan and collaborate on a whole new level. This will give you a more balanced and effective approach to work, learning, and personal growth.
Learn more about the Agile Cheetah:
THE AGILE CHEETAH: DECIPHER YOUR BRAIN TYPE
THE WISE OWL
The Wise Owl represents the logical thinker. You have strong analytical skills and a finite attention to detail, allowing you to assess data with clarity and precision. And you have yet to meet a puzzle you weren’t excited to solve. There’s nothing you love more than unraveling complex concepts and breaking problems down into manageable parts. Your curiosity is insatiable, driving you to ask questions and explore new topics. When it comes to making decisions, you need time to take a deep dive into the problem, consider multiple outcomes, weigh the pros and cons, and think several steps out before reaching any conclusions. Whether it’s taking everyone’s interests into account when planning a family vacation, or providing a comprehensive report on your company’s productivity, you handle intricate details with ease. But creating quality analysis takes time, and that means you’re not comfortable making snap decisions under pressure.
UTILIZE YOUR OWL STRENGTHS
You excel at breaking down complex tasks into manageable steps. Use this ability to create a clear plan for whatever project you set out to accomplish. Make sure you set appropriate milestones and prioritize tasks to increase productivity. Your ability to analyze information will help this process happen in an efficient and organized manner. And it ensures that you stay on track no matter what obstacles pop up along the way.
A structured routine is part of this process, and if you don’t have one, establishing a daily routine will help you focus. Make sure this includes finding the right resources and tools to help with this routine. A calendar, journal, and a system of reminders will ease your cognitive load so you can create an environment conducive to logical thinking. You want to be sure to include specific times for work, breaks, and don’t forget the importance of scheduling personal time.
Logic puzzles and brain teasers are fantastic tools to enhance your natural logical thinking skills. You learn best through activities that engage your curiosity and deductive reasoning. Lessons that allow you to ask why and dig deep into the data are going to enrich your learning experience and help cement new skills into your long-term memory. And activities like Sudoku, crosswords, word games, riddles, and other problem-solving puzzles are likely to keep your brain activate and engaged.
You’ll want to sharpen your communication skills by actively listening to others. Since you are well versed in research, it might feel like you can find the information you need on your own. But to avoid the tendency to create natural bias, asking for feedback and opinions on a regular basis can help keep you on track. This can also help you avoid missteps and miscalculations, as the extra input gives you another data point you wouldn’t have gotten on your own.
IMPROVE YOUR OWL WEAKNESSES
Every animal type has challenges you can work on to improve your performance. By focusing on personal growth, you can become self-aware enough to overcome these obstacles and become your best self.
As someone who values logic and order, your emotional intelligence can be something you neglect. After all, emotions don’t always make sense, and you embody rational thinking. Learning how to recognize and manage your own emotions can help you learn to empathize with others. Logic isn’t always the ideal way to approach decision-making and problem-solving. Often, there is a very human element involved, and taking that into consideration will make you more well-rounded in all areas of your work and life.
On that same note, this extends to communication. You might not want to reach out to others for feedback or to come up with new ideas. Especially because both can seem very illogical initially. There is very little you can’t research, but sometimes the solution is in a place you might never think to look. Innovation is often unexpected, and you can’t rely on what you know to find it. Even if you do come up with a fantastic idea, launching new products or procedures requires buy-in and collaboration. Learning how to communicate regularly with your teams, classmates, family, and friends can ensure you get the support and help you need, no matter what task you’re facing.
As much as you might prefer that life fell into manageable pieces, the truth is, it’s often unpredictable. When you work on becoming more flexible and adaptable in the face of change, you save yourself time and stress when unavoidable changes happen. Your strength is in planning, and you can prepare for a quite a lot. But you can’t plan for every contingency. Use your insights from research to practice responding to unexpected situations. In the end, your preparation can help you respond more efficiently when you’re hit with the unforeseen.
By focusing on these areas of improvement, you’ll learn how to communicate and prepare for any situation. This will give you a more balanced and effective approach to work, learning, and personal growth.
Read more about the Wise Owl:
THE WISE OWL: DECIPHER YOUR BRAIN TYPE
THE CREATIVE DOLPHIN
The Creative Dolphin is the visionary. You generate original ideas and find unique solutions to complex problems through out-of-the-box thinking and strong intuition. Imagination is your playground. You approach challenges with a fresh perspective, looking from all angles, even ones no one has considered. Impossible isn’t in your vocabulary. That doesn’t mean you’re trying to constantly reinvent the wheel. Instead, you enjoy building on what already exists, and either expanding their potential or taking a different approach. You thrive when you’re encouraged to offer new viewpoints and love brainstorming new ideas. At home, you breathe new life into Taco Tuesday and can craft a brand-new marketing campaign for a lagging product at work. You’re guaranteed to come up with an idea no one else has thought of. You shine in environments that embrace your creative spirit and can feel stifled in places that require you to conform to strict convention.
UTILIZE YOUR DOLPHIN STRENGTHS
As a creative, you have the ability to engage in creative endeavors to enhance innovative thinking. You can use your imagination to unlock new ideas and explore unique approaches to any problems you encounter. It may not seem like it, but activities like painting, writing, or brainstorming can be used to sharpen your problem-solving abilities as you learn to see things from a different perspective.
One way you can enhance your creative side is by creating a stimulating environment. Design your workspace in a way that promotes creativity by incorporating elements that inspire you. Things like mood boards, plants, pieces of art, photographs, or anything else that speaks to your creative side. And don’t forget the power of natural light.
Part of planning your day should incorporate time to recharge your creative well. Mindfulness exercises, such as journaling and meditation, help you tap into your intuition and gain insight into your thought process. Creativity can easily become blocked with too much pressure or stress, so you want to be sure to make time to decompress and relax.
You also excel at collaboration, though it’s easy to get lost inside your dreamscapes. Make sure you find time to regularly seek out others for feedback and brainstorming sessions. You may be reluctant to leave your world and interact with other people, but you’ll find that you end up feeling not just inspired, but energized from the collective ideas generated.
IMPROVE YOUR DOLPHIN WEAKNESSES
Every animal type has challenges you can work on to improve your performance. By focusing on personal growth, you can become self-aware enough to overcome these obstacles and become your best self.
Even though you can come up with exciting new approaches to outdated problems, you want to focus on and develop are your organizational skills. Creativity often happens in a whirlwind. It can be easy for you to lose track of time when working on a project — even getting lost in the project itself as you discard various elements in search of the right fit. Find a way to add structure to your day so you can stay focused and productive on all areas that matter, not just the one demanding all your attention in the moment.
Another way to help stay on track is to practice your analytical skills. It can be too easy to chase a shiny new idea, but sitting down and mapping the idea out can save you a lot of time, energy, and resources in the end. Rather than making progress only to start all over when you hit a dead-end, a little planning can hone your creative instincts into sharp tools that you can wield effectively. This will also help you learn how to prioritize your tasks and projects effectively. Understanding how to focus on the most important objectives first will ensure timely completion and lead to you getting more done in less time.
By focusing on these areas of improvement, you’ll learn how to analyze your tasks and organize your day so you can tackle every creative idea quickly and efficiently. This will give you a more balanced and effective approach to work, learning, and personal growth.
Learn more about the Creative Dolphin:
THE CREATIVE DOLPHIN: DECIPHER YOUR BRAIN TYPE
THE EMPATHETIC ELEPHANT
The Empathetic Elephant is the collaborative connector. You have exceptional emotional intelligence. Thanks to your ability to understand others on a deeply emotional level, you’re able to forge strong connections. Teams are better with you on them. You’re supportive and cooperative, and your empathy enables you to mediate conflict, facilitate open communication, and enhance a positive atmosphere wherever you go. You understand how other people can lift each other up, encouraging them to weave their strengths together to create an unstoppable force. This makes you a master negotiator, an uplifting cheerleader, and a just peacekeeper. It doesn’t matter whether you’re helping your children get along or managing a diverse group to launch a new product line, you will find a way to bring them together, see different points of view, and flourish as a united team.
UTILIZE YOUR ELEPHANT STRENGTHS
Your communication skills are your ultimate strength. And you can take these skills to the next level by practicing active listening and fine-tuning your empathetic responses. Elevating your ability to provide clear messages to anyone you’re interacting with is guaranteed to strengthen your interpersonal relationships and enhance your teamwork abilities.
Some easy ways for you to hone these skills are by regularly participating in group activities. Join clubs, organizations, or professional networks to strengthen your collaboration and build a strong support system. If there aren’t any appealing options at work or in your personal life, create one! You have everything you need to not only talk people into joining, but ensuring that every interaction is meaningful and engaging.
You want to make sure you don’t end up taking too much on, so you to be sure to delegate tasks as you learn people’s preferences and strengths rather than taking them on yourself. And because you effectively gain the trust of your team members, you know you can count on them to complete their assigned responsibilities.
Whenever you face conflict, you can rely on your ability to find common ground, maintain open lines of communication, and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect between all parties. Whether this obstacle is between you and another person, or between members of your team, you can facilitate and guide everyone to reach an amicable resolution.
IMPROVE YOUR ELEPHANT WEAKNESSES
Every animal type has challenges you can work on to improve your performance. By focusing on personal growth, you can become self-aware enough to overcome these obstacles and become your best self.
One area you’ll want to work in is your ability to make a confident, well-informed decision when consensus isn’t possible. Your communication skills are top-notch, but that doesn’t mean you’ll always be able to get everyone to see eye-to-eye. Sometimes, you’ll have to step in and make the call, one way or the other, and stand behind it.
You’ll also want to practice working independently. Your ability to bring a solid team together makes it easier for you to surround yourself with high quality people. But that can also mean you take a backseat to others, relying on their judgement instead of your own. You have good instincts so be sure you learn how to trust those instincts by learning how to make progress on your own as well as with others.
Spending time alone won’t simply increase your trust in yourself, it will help you grow your confidence. Even though you have the natural ability to facilitate collaboration, you want to work on being able to assert yourself and express your opinions and ideas. Making sure everyone else’s voice is heard and respected is one of your strengths. But you want to ensure that you demand the same for yourself.
By focusing on these areas of improvement, you’ll learn how to make confident decisions and trust that your own voice is a valuable resource for every team. This will give you a more balanced and effective approach to work, learning, and personal growth.
Learn more about the Empathetic Elephant:
THE EMPATHETIC ELEPHANT: DECIPHER YOUR BRAIN TYPE
CONCLUSION
When you understand your brain type, you’re empowered to leverage your strengths and develop strategies to overcome challenges. Remember, these brain types are not strict categories, but a framework to help you explore and embrace your unique qualities. You may even find multiple brain types resonate with you. Everyone is a one-of-a-kind combination of traits and abilities. That’s why your brain type isn’t a limitation, but a foundation from which you can build and expand.
This information can help you tailor your learning approach, seek environments that complement your strengths, and surround yourself with individuals who can support and challenge you. When you embrace your strengths, cultivate your weaknesses, and embark on a journey of self-discovery and personal growth, you can unleash your truly limitless potential.
TAKE THE QUIZ
So, are you ready to uncover your brain type? Find out if you embody the agility of the Cheetah, the wisdom of the Owl, the creativity of the Dolphin, and the empathy of the Elephant. Take the quiz at mybrainanimal.com and unlock the power of your remarkable mind.
And check out this awesome clip where the hosts of the Today Show Australia found their brain animals:
