Quiz: Are You Ready for Transformation?

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Are you maintaining tradition and the status quo, or are you open to great transformation? Take this nine-question quiz to determine how open to transformation you really are.

In any given decision point, we have the option to stick with what we know. This tendency is referred to as the status quo bias, explained by this article from The Atlantic as this: “When comparing two options, both individuals and companies overwhelmingly stick with the one representing the status quo, even when it is demonstrably inferior to the option representing change.”

Human beings are naturally creatures of habit and routine. We go through our days largely on autopilot. This can be a good thing when we’re driving to work, so we can simultaneously be thinking through an upcoming conversation and remember to stop at stop lights, but it’s not so helpful when it comes to making changes and being receptive to whole body, mind, and spirit transformations.

Our willingness to change, much like our propensity for risk-taking, is not a yes or no question, but rather lies on a spectrum.

As best as you can, answer the questions below to find out where you fall.

Transformation Quiz

How willing are you to move or change your career or hobbies?
1. I like the comfort of knowing who I am and that I belong.
2. I enjoy making small, manageable changes within known parameters.
3. I’m comfortable with lateral moves within my industry or realm of knowledge.
4. I get bored being in one place too long and actively seek out change.
How much do your labels, titles, or credentials mean to you?
1. I’ve worked hard to earn my place and intend to hold it no matter what.
2. I have a fair amount of attachment to my titles, but once in a while I like to explore outside of them.
3. If I have a chance to try out a new role or position, I’ll give it a go.
4. I think of labels and titles as “easy come, easy go.”
When considering a new idea or approach, you tend to:
1. Take the attitude of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
2. Weigh the risks higher than any potential benefits; I like what’s known.
3. Weigh all the potential risks and benefits equally.
4. Go all in on a new idea; I can always fall back to the old way if it doesn’t work.
How often are you the initiator of change?
1. Very rarely and only if everything else has been tried first.
2. When circumstances reach a critical point and there’s no longer any value in staying the same.
3. I have been known to experiment with a new idea or two.
4. I am always thinking and dreaming outside the box.
Your attitude toward a family member who is always bringing new ideas to old traditions is:
1. An eye roll; tradition should count for something.
2. I’ll hear it out, but everyone is used to doing things this way.
3. It could be good to change things up.
4. I am that family member.
Your upbringing and familial beliefs and customs play the role of what in your decisions today?
1. The director
2. The starring role
3. The sidekick
4. The audience member
What is your relationship to curiosity like?
1. It's contained in what is already known, researched, and confirmed.
2. I have a lot of curiosity within the realm of my own knowledge base and areas of interest.
3. I love to get glimpses into other ways of life, activities, roles, and concepts.
4. My life choices are led by my curiosity. If I want to know about something, there’s nothing better than firsthand experience!
How do you believe we can make our world better?
1. We need more adherence to rules, policy, and hard-earned strategy of the current systems.
2. The current systems need to be tweaked for the time and place we live in.
3. We need large-scale innovation within the current systems to help them function better for everyone.
4. I’m here for the top-to-bottom overhaul of the systems.
Your resume is:
1. A logical progression from my education to my work, with few (if any) holes or diversions.
2. With a few exceptions, I’ve stayed on track and on target.
3. Replete with patches of time that all make sense with a jump or absence here and there.
4. An unconventional patchwork quilt of experiences and journeys, but it’s the way I like it!

Count your answers and then use the guide below to see where you fall on the transformation spectrum.

The Results of Your Transformation Quiz

If You Got Mostly A’s

You Are a Status Quo Manager

You highly value tradition and “the way things are.” You don’t see a need to change what’s working, because, for the most part, it’s worked for you. Yet, you might begin to see that the status quo, when left in place too long, leads to stagnation. And you might be unintentionally holding others back from change they need and desire.

If You Got Mostly B’s

You Are A Tradition Truster

Tradition has worked for you, but you’ve also seen instances in your own life and those of others where the story must be rewritten. While your natural default is to maintain the status quo, you’re not impossible to budge, either. You just need to consider the right arguments.

If You Got Mostly C’s

You Are an On-the-Edge Transformer

You value both the status quo and a new way forward nearly equally, and you see a scenario that respects them both. Your mind is equally receptive to arguments on both sides. You’re open to change and transformation in your life, but not at any cost, either.

If You Got Mostly D’s

You Are a Natural Butterfly

Incarnation after incarnation, transformation is the name of the game for you! You believe nothing should stay the same and that includes yourself and the way you identify yourself in the world. Society (and maybe your community, too) doesn’t always understand the way you move through life, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Learn how to use life's inciting incidents as fuel for transformation.

Quiz Transformation

About the Author

Keri Mangis is a CAP (Certified Ayurvedic Practitioner) and an E-RYT200 (yoga) who has studied, taught, and spoken on dozens of topics in the spiritual/personal growth and development areas. Her first book, Embodying...

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