I am having a mid-life crisis.

But it’s not what you think. I haven’t bought a red sports car, gotten a facelift, or gambled away my savings at a Las Vegas casino. I’m not unsatisfied with my life and I don’t feel despair about getting older.

Over the years I have administered hundreds (if not thousands!) of personality assessments, and I have encountered a lot of different opinions about them. Some people love them while others are skeptical, critical, or even antagonistic. At least one person in every group always asks, “Why are you trying to put me in a box?”

If you know me well, then you know how long I talked about starting a consulting business before I actually did it. I thought it might work but I was afraid to take a risk, afraid to fail, afraid to put something into the world that wasn’t perfect.

When I was young, there was nothing I loved more than picking out school supplies and getting my backpack ready for the first day of school. I loved the freshly sharpened pencils, crisp paper, and new white tennis shoes. On the first day of school, as I entered my classroom with all my new supplies, I felt like anything was possible.