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CHAPTER 4
A Strengths Test
IN MY JOURNEY TO EXAMINE MY STRENGTHS, I discovered the Clifton Strengths Assessment. The history of this test is just as fascinating as the test itself. When Don Clifton returned from WWII, he felt he’d seen enough of war and wanted to spend the rest of his life pursuing something positive for humankind. He thought that most psychologists studied what was wrong with people and rarely examined why they excelled.
Clifton studied how to assess and identify specific traits and a framework for developing those traits. This work eventually led to the book Soar With Your Strengths and Now Discover Your Strengths.
The original Clifton StrengthsFinder assessment arrived in 1999, and just under 19,000 people took it. Now, over 2 million people take the test every year. It’s easy to take the test online. It costs about $80 and features approxi- mately 180 questions. The test takes about thirty minutes to complete.
My top three results showed that I was all about connection, creating ideas and taking action. I can understand some people’s reluctance at the cost of this test. Should you wish to refrain from investing the $80 on the test, there is an alternative. It’s called high5test.com; believe it or not, it’s owned by the same folks who own The StrengthsFinder. I took this test as well. It gave me slightly different results than the StrengthsFinder, but it provided some valu- able insights.
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