you are the architect!
YO U A RE TH E ARCHITECT! YO U N E E D O RDER & BALANCE TO THRIVE
YO UR CO RE N E E DS Excellence - You probably have a really high standard for your work. Knowing that you’ve not just done your best, but produced an excellent end result is very fulfilling for you. Find ways to ensure that you get this feeling of satisfaction more often. This could look like only taking on projects you’re a great fit for, or hiring people to fill in the gaps for parts of the job you’re not as good at. It may even mean having someone do the mundane parts of the business so you can have more time and energy to put into the things you like. Stability - It’s important for you to have work and income that you can count on so that you don’t have to take up a lot of mental energy wondering if you’ll be able to pay rent this month or what an employer or client will ask for next. Look at what other people in your industry or similar industries are doing for ideas. Don’t neglect automating
and delegating things as soon as you reasonably can, so that you can focus on the things that really need your focused attention. Impact - Sit down on a regular basis to make sure what you’re working on is moving you towards what you really want. Make sure that you get feedback so that you can comprehend and recognize what you’ve accomplished. Consider keeping particularly good results and/or feedback in a place you can see it regularly so you remember your biggest wins. Loyalty - You may be willing to do almost anything for your partner, your kids, your parents, your community, etc. Figure out who it is that you feel a deep sense of loyalty to and use that to challenge yourself when you’re feeling stuck or afraid of taking the next big steps. Consider keeping a visual reminder of them on your desk or wherever you work. Trust is also really important to you - you expect that people will do what they say they will or communicate really clearly when they can’t, and if that expectation isn’t met it’s hard to rebuild that trust.
YOUR SUP E R P OWE R S Your word carries weight. When you say you’ll do something, you show up and do it. Sticking things out. Compared to other Brain Types, you most consistently achieve what you set out to do because of your willingness to stick with it even when things get difficult.
Because you stick with things long-term, you probably want to be seen as an expert or specialist in your chosen field or passion, and you’re not afraid of doing the hard work to get there. Seeing and meeting practical needs. Architects notice a lot about those around them, as well as their physical surroundings, and are most likely to stick with a cause for the long-term and are willing to do what it takes to make a real, lasting impact. You see structures naturally, even in groups of people. You tend to understand authority and hierarchy really well and know exactly who to talk to to make things happen. A master of detailed information. You naturally see and keep track of hundreds of steps on many paths for multiple goals at once. You can tell how one action will influence the next step, or the outcome for better or worse. You take nearly every possible consequence into account, even for choices made on the fly. You can create powerful experiences. Your attention to detail gives you the ability to create highly impactful experiences for people. You naturally know how to choose the best location, activities, order of events, food, etc. to create the atmosphere you have in mind, whether that’s an exclusive, classy experience for your top clients, or a comfy, cozy campfire night for your family.
P OT EN T I A L WE A K NE SS E S Struggle to get started when you haven’t calculated the risks. You can
have trouble handling entirely new situations where you don’t know what to expect, since you often rely on past experience to help you know how to move forward and know what may or may not work well. You need a lot of details to feel confident. You might find it frustrating to be expected to work with vague ideas/instructions the first time you do something. Without any similar experience or understanding to pull from, you feel stuck. Highly perfectionistic. If you feel that you won’t be able to do a good job on something, you may have no motivation at all to get started. And even when you do something that other people are happy with, you may still feel like a failure if you didn’t meet your own crazy high expectations. You may get stuck in a rut once something you’ve spent a lot of time on is finally perfect and polished. Because you spent so much time and energy making things perfect, it can be hard to stop refining and move on to the next project. Forgetting to look at the big picture. At times you might get so into the details that you forget what you’re doing it all for. You might find yourself moving from day to day, accomplishing everything that needs to be done, but you get so caught up in the details of each task that you forget how much progress you’ve made, and what your bigger-picture goals actually are.
W HEN M A K I NG DE C I S I O NS Give yourself time to think things through, especially when you’re being
asked to give feedback or input on something you’ve never encountered before. Know that it’s okay to ask for time to think things over and weigh all the options along with their likely outcomes. Do some research. If you haven’t encountered a similar situation personally, try finding out what others have done before, and build off of what worked for them.
P L A N N I N G ST R U C T U R E Intentionally give yourself balanced structure — if your schedule is loose, consider making it more consistent from day-to-day or planning things out instead of reacting to what happens in the moment. Ritual is key for you. Work first, but make time for play too. Get through your work first so you can really have fun or relax afterward without obsessing over all the things you have to do, but don’t set your standards so high that you feel like your work is never complete. Remember to take care of yourself. Schedule up to four big blocks of time in your day with breaks in between of at least 30 minutes so that you take the time to eat, move, and take a mental breather. Because it can be easy for you to prioritize work over other areas of your life like health and relationships, make sure you set aside time to take care of yourself so you can function at the top of your game for the long-term.
“Brain Dump” regularly. Whenever you remember something you need to do, add it to your Brain Dump section in EVO or add it to a checklist. Don’t use up brain power trying to remember 20 different things at once. Don’t overload your schedule. Pick one goal to focus on each month and reflect on your progress on a weekly basis. Remember to focus on completion first, not perfection — then tweak it or improve later. Acknowledge your progress. Look back over your recent accomplishments to remind yourself of how you’ve been successful before you move forward into new challenges.
P EOP L E T H AT H E L P YO U E VO LV E
Explorers to help you zoom out from the details to see the big picture and remind you of the overarching goals your systems are helping achieve.
Alchemists as brainstorm partners— when they appreciate each other’s strengths, they are natural and complementary partners.
Oracles can help Architects plan out their systems in a way that will take into account how different variables will affect them over long periods of time, and achieve great long-term
Architects need other Architects to back them up on processes, and help them perfect and follow their systems.
YO UR I D EAL E NV I R O N ME N T Keep things simple and clean. Clutter in your environment will translate into clutter in your mind. Wherever you do your work, even if it’s a space in your house, set aside this space for work only. Reinforce visually to yourself that when you come here, your goal is always the same, so that your brain can easily switch into work mode. Inforce your structure. If you work from home, it can also help to get into “work clothes” rather than working in your pajamas - this is another way to tip off your brain that this time is set aside for work, and can help provide the external structure that your mind needs to stay focused. A B S T R A C T
YO UR SE CO NDARY B R A I N T Y P E I S T HE A LC H E MI ST
EXTERNAL
INTERNAL
C O N C R E T E
As an Architect, your secondary brain type is the Alchemist. This is the part of you that naturally generates new ideas and possibilities when you externalize your thoughts. It’s also the part of you that is able to quickly pull from many experiences and come up with an entirely new solution or idea! Problem solving. When you feel stuck trying to solve a problem, consider finding others to share the problem with. Not only will this invite in new perspectives you may have missed, but the act of externalizing the problem can activate your Alchemist side and allow you you piece together everything you know in a fresh way that wouldn’t have been possible had you kept it all in your head.
Variety and discovery. While too much variety and new information at once may wear you out, there is a part of you that craves change and new information. Try to incorporate variety into parts of your life where you feel more in control.
FA M O US A R C H I T E C TS L I K E YO U
Sigmund Freud
Rosa Parks
George Washington
Martha Stewart
Henry Ford
Arianna Huffington
Sam Walton
Elton John
Michelle Obama
YO UR CO RE N E E DS Excellence - You probably have a really high standard for your work. Knowing that you’ve not just done your best, but produced an excellent end result is very fulfilling for you. Find ways to ensure that you get this feeling of satisfaction more often. This could look like only taking on projects you’re a great fit for, or hiring people to fill in the gaps for parts of the job you’re not as good at. It may even mean having someone do the mundane parts of the business so you can have more time and energy to put into the things you like. Stability - It’s important for you to have work and income that you can count on so that you don’t have to take up a lot of mental energy wondering if you’ll be able to pay rent this month or what an employer or client will ask for next. Look at what other people in your industry or similar industries are doing for ideas. Don’t neglect automating
and delegating things as soon as you reasonably can, so that you can focus on the things that really need your focused attention. Impact - Sit down on a regular basis to make sure what you’re working on is moving you towards what you really want. Make sure that you get feedback so that you can comprehend and recognize what you’ve accomplished. Consider keeping particularly good results and/or feedback in a place you can see it regularly so you remember your biggest wins. Loyalty - You may be willing to do almost anything for your partner, your kids, your parents, your community, etc. Figure out who it is that you feel a deep sense of loyalty to and use that to challenge yourself when you’re feeling stuck or afraid of taking the next big steps. Consider keeping a visual reminder of them on your desk or wherever you work. Trust is also really important to you - you expect that people will do what they say they will or communicate really clearly when they can’t, and if that expectation isn’t met it’s hard to rebuild that trust.
YOUR SUP E R P OWE R S Your word carries weight. When you say you’ll do something, you show up and do it. Sticking things out. Compared to other Brain Types, you most consistently achieve what you set out to do because of your willingness to stick with it even when things get difficult.
Because you stick with things long-term, you probably want to be seen as an expert or specialist in your chosen field or passion, and you’re not afraid of doing the hard work to get there. Seeing and meeting practical needs. Architects notice a lot about those around them, as well as their physical surroundings, and are most likely to stick with a cause for the long-term and are willing to do what it takes to make a real, lasting impact. You see structures naturally, even in groups of people. You tend to understand authority and hierarchy really well and know exactly who to talk to to make things happen. A master of detailed information. You naturally see and keep track of hundreds of steps on many paths for multiple goals at once. You can tell how one action will influence the next step, or the outcome for better or worse. You take nearly every possible consequence into account, even for choices made on the fly. You can create powerful experiences. Your attention to detail gives you the ability to create highly impactful experiences for people. You naturally know how to choose the best location, activities, order of events, food, etc. to create the atmosphere you have in mind, whether that’s an exclusive, classy experience for your top clients, or a comfy, cozy campfire night for your family.
P OT EN T I A L WE A K NE SS E S Struggle to get started when you haven’t calculated the risks. You can
have trouble handling entirely new situations where you don’t know what to expect, since you often rely on past experience to help you know how to move forward and know what may or may not work well. You need a lot of details to feel confident. You might find it frustrating to be expected to work with vague ideas/instructions the first time you do something. Without any similar experience or understanding to pull from, you feel stuck. Highly perfectionistic. If you feel that you won’t be able to do a good job on something, you may have no motivation at all to get started. And even when you do something that other people are happy with, you may still feel like a failure if you didn’t meet your own crazy high expectations. You may get stuck in a rut once something you’ve spent a lot of time on is finally perfect and polished. Because you spent so much time and energy making things perfect, it can be hard to stop refining and move on to the next project. Forgetting to look at the big picture. At times you might get so into the details that you forget what you’re doing it all for. You might find yourself moving from day to day, accomplishing everything that needs to be done, but you get so caught up in the details of each task that you forget how much progress you’ve made, and what your bigger-picture goals actually are.
W HEN M A K I NG DE C I S I O NS Give yourself time to think things through, especially when you’re being
asked to give feedback or input on something you’ve never encountered before. Know that it’s okay to ask for time to think things over and weigh all the options along with their likely outcomes. Do some research. If you haven’t encountered a similar situation personally, try finding out what others have done before, and build off of what worked for them.
P L A N N I N G ST R U C T U R E Intentionally give yourself balanced structure — if your schedule is loose, consider making it more consistent from day-to-day or planning things out instead of reacting to what happens in the moment. Ritual is key for you. Work first, but make time for play too. Get through your work first so you can really have fun or relax afterward without obsessing over all the things you have to do, but don’t set your standards so high that you feel like your work is never complete. Remember to take care of yourself. Schedule up to four big blocks of time in your day with breaks in between of at least 30 minutes so that you take the time to eat, move, and take a mental breather. Because it can be easy for you to prioritize work over other areas of your life like health and relationships, make sure you set aside time to take care of yourself so you can function at the top of your game for the long-term.
“Brain Dump” regularly. Whenever you remember something you need to do, add it to your Brain Dump section in EVO or add it to a checklist. Don’t use up brain power trying to remember 20 different things at once. Don’t overload your schedule. Pick one goal to focus on each month and reflect on your progress on a weekly basis. Remember to focus on completion first, not perfection — then tweak it or improve later. Acknowledge your progress. Look back over your recent accomplishments to remind yourself of how you’ve been successful before you move forward into new challenges.
P EOP L E T H AT H E L P YO U E VO LV E
Explorers to help you zoom out from the details to see the big picture and remind you of the overarching goals your systems are helping achieve.
Alchemists as brainstorm partners— when they appreciate each other’s strengths, they are natural and complementary partners.
Oracles can help Architects plan out their systems in a way that will take into account how different variables will affect them over long periods of time, and achieve great long-term
Architects need other Architects to back them up on processes, and help them perfect and follow their systems.
YO UR I D EAL E NV I R O N ME N T Keep things simple and clean. Clutter in your environment will translate into clutter in your mind. Wherever you do your work, even if it’s a space in your house, set aside this space for work only. Reinforce visually to yourself that when you come here, your goal is always the same, so that your brain can easily switch into work mode. Inforce your structure. If you work from home, it can also help to get into “work clothes” rather than working in your pajamas - this is another way to tip off your brain that this time is set aside for work, and can help provide the external structure that your mind needs to stay focused. A B S T R A C T
YO UR SE CO NDARY B R A I N T Y P E I S T HE A LC H E MI ST
EXTERNAL
INTERNAL
C O N C R E T E
As an Architect, your secondary brain type is the Alchemist. This is the part of you that naturally generates new ideas and possibilities when you externalize your thoughts. It’s also the part of you that is able to quickly pull from many experiences and come up with an entirely new solution or idea! Problem solving. When you feel stuck trying to solve a problem, consider finding others to share the problem with. Not only will this invite in new perspectives you may have missed, but the act of externalizing the problem can activate your Alchemist side and allow you you piece together everything you know in a fresh way that wouldn’t have been possible had you kept it all in your head.
Variety and discovery. While too much variety and new information at once may wear you out, there is a part of you that craves change and new information. Try to incorporate variety into parts of your life where you feel more in control.
FA M O US A R C H I T E C TS L I K E YO U
Sigmund Freud
Rosa Parks
George Washington
Martha Stewart
Henry Ford
Arianna Huffington
Sam Walton
Elton John
Michelle Obama
