Quiz: Do You Know What Makes You Human?

By Sukh Singh, Associate Partner, Lighthouse International

Want to know how successful and happy your life will be? Start by finding out how human you really are…

Have you ever felt like you know you can be making more progress in your life, but for some reason, you’re not?

Or have you ever felt like you may have missed out on your true calling in life, only to have settled for something more routine?

At the root of all the techniques, habits, wise words and endless quotes that get shared online, there are four uniquely human endowments, or traits, that every single person has, and we were all born with them. However, these endowments are like muscles; if you don’t use them, they get weaker and as a result, you get weaker. If you use them, develop them and harness their strength – then you become more enlivened, much stronger, more effective, more efficient, more focused and more affluent in every area of your life. That is what legends get very good at, and ultimately why indeed they become legends.

So….what are these four traits?

Here’s a brief explanation of all four. At the bottom of this article is a two minute quiz you can take to help you get an idea of how human you are!

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1. Self-Awareness

This is the ability to reflect on yourself. To look at your actions, your thoughts and your behaviours. It’s the ability to realise how you operate.

Without this awareness of yourself, you potentially operate blindly and reactively. This isn’t just being aware of your physical appearance in a mirror, it goes way beyond that! The more this is developed, the more you understand why you fall into bad habits, and when and how they get triggered. This means you can actually do something about them! That’s why legends like Kobe Bryant and Jennifer Aniston often use some dedicated time to reflect on their days to understand and assess themselves more accurately.

2. Creative Imagination

This is probably the biggest thing that we see in kids, but not in adults. Do you remember when you were younger, how you could imagine faraway worlds, epic adventures or even just ask lots of questions about the world? That’s because as kids, our imaginations are absolutely firing. With most of us, we stop using this incredible gift and all we end up seeing is a boring, grey existence.

Legends like Wayne Rooney and Richard Branson will often talk about ‘visualisation’ as a very important practice. That’s just a fancy way of saying, imagine the future! Ironically, we already do this – but often we imagine a negative outcome like, “oh my gosh I’m going to be late for the meeting! This is never going to work.” In these instances, we are using our creative imagination to envision a bad outcome!!

3. Conscience

You know that twinge you sometimes get when you see something happening that doesn’t quite feel right? You know it’s wrong, however, you’re not sure what to do about it? That twinge is your conscience. Compared to all the noise, colour and buzz out there – adverts, music, deadlines, bills… your conscience can seem really quiet.

It’s like a very small voice inside guiding you on what’s right and what’s wrong. It’s why you may have experienced occasions where your head says to do one thing, but you end up following another path that at first seems totally illogical, but feels right for some reason. Some of the most famous examples of people listening to their conscience are Civil Rights activist Rosa Parks, and Betty Williams, who stood up to the IRA for the sake of women and children in Ireland.

4. Independent Will

So with the above traits, you may become more aware, you may see opportunities, you may even feel the difference between right and wrong very strongly. But unless you do something about it, you might as well be a silent vegetable!! 🙂 This is where your unique gift of independent will comes in. You are not a victim to circumstances or people – you always, always have the freedom to make a choice. It might not be easy, but you always have that choice.

Want proof? Check out how Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl who not only made it through Auschwitz but went on to teach others about his experience. In fact, Mr Frankl is an incredible example of someone who used all four of his unique human endowments – when it mattered most!