… what do you really think of me?
Have you ever wondered what people really, secretly think of you? What do they say behind your back? Good or bad. Do you really, really want to know?
In the past I’ve really, really wanted to know. I created a single-spaced page of adjectives and gave it to people I trusted to be honest (This was long before computers.) and asked them to circle all the ones they thought applied to me. When I got them we talked about them. Some of them I decided to keep because I felt they were an innate part of me and I didn’t want to change them. No, I will not tell you what they were.
However, some of them I did want to change. For example, “aggressive” showed up on most of them. Even though it was true, I didn’t like that label. I have spent a LOT of time over my life trying to be just “assertive” instead of “aggressive.” For those of you who think I’m aggressive now, you should have known me then.
I just read this article from Lifehacker: The Accidental Asshole: Pinpoint How You’re Annoying People and Do Something About It He goes into how to do this anonymously through the computer and even gave the link to waiters and strangers.
Here’s a great site with a very long list of adjectives: Moms Who Think
If you think your ego can handle it, give it a shot.