John Liptak - The Life Skills IQ Test: 10 Self-Quizzes to Measure Your Practical Intelligence

The Life Skills IQ Test

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The Life Skills IQ Test

10 Self-Quizzes to Measure Your Practical Intelligence

JOHN LIPTAK, EdD

BERKLEY BOOKS, NEW YORK

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

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Copyright 2007 by John Liptak, Ed.D.

Cover design by Pyrographx

Book design by Ellen Cipriano

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PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley trade paperback edition / October 2007

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Liptak, John J.

The life skills IQ test : 10 self-quizzes to measure your practical intelligence / by John Liptak.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-4406-2074-4

1. IntellectProblems, exercises, etc. 2. Life skillsProblems, exercises, etc. 3. Self-evaluation. I. Title. II. Title: Life skills I.Q. test.

BF431.3.L57 2007

153.9dc22

2007005005

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are so many people who have contributed to this book. I am deeply indebted to the hundreds of clients I have been privileged to work with over the years in the development of the Life Skills IQ approach. I would like to thank these people who, through sharing their stories and experiences, have taught me so much about the skills necessary to succeed in life and career.

I want to thank the following people for their generous contributions during the writing of this book. Most important, I am indebted to Jill Marsal of the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, who understood the promise of this book from the beginning. She has contributed immeasurably to the overall quality of this book. I appreciate her friendship, her many great ideas, thought-provoking questions, and organizational assistance. Without her assistance, encouragement, and support, this book would not have been possible. I also appreciate the efforts of Taryn Fagerness for helping to make this book available in many foreign markets.

I would like to thank Denise Silvestro, executive editor at Berkley Publishing for believing in this book, and Katie Day, assistant editor at Berkley, for helping me polish the rough manuscript into a finished product. For their encouragement, care, attention to details, insight, and vision I am most grateful.

Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Kathy, who has supported me through this unique experience. I owe her a special debt of gratitude for her support, patience, and encouragement during the writing of this book.

Introduction

Jim has trouble making important choices. He tends to make decisions quickly and based on gut feelings. He rarely does any research about the decision to be made, nor does he have a system for developing valid alternatives. Afterward, he often wonders if he could have made a better decision or wishes he had taken more time to deliberate.

Jill cant seem to hang on to a job for more than two years. She often has trouble communicating, which leads to conflict in the workplace. She inevitably gets in to arguments with her co-workers and then quits soon after. Her way of dealing with conflict is to give in to the other person, but that makes her feel bad about herself, so she moves to another workplace in the hopes that things will be better there.

Jane seems to never have enough money at the end of the month. She tends to live from paycheck to paycheck, spending her money as soon as its deposited in her account. When she goes to the mall, she tells herself that she will just look around and window-shop, but when she gets there and sees things that she likes, shecant resist. If she doesnt have cash to pay for the things, she uses her credit cards. Then she gets mad at herself because she has accumulated serious credit card debt.

Jim, Jill, and Jane have a variety of life problems. But they all share one important trait: They lack the essential life skills they need to change the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive patterns that cause them anxiety, stress, and general unhappiness. Life skills are those invaluable, everyday skills that, if used effectively, allow you to access the inner resources you need to succeed and create the life you desire. Life skills are the necessary skills that help you take charge of your personal and professional life, manage change, and deal effectively with your environment and the people in that environment. At their most basic, life skills are the daily living skills you need to be happy, healthy, and successful.

We all have a certain amount of life skillswed be totally dysfunctional people without them. But skills differ from person to person, as do our abilities to put them to use. Your Life Skills IQ is your individual degree of effectiveness in using your life skills, a measure of how well youre actually able to apply them to your daily life. This book will help you determine your Life Skills IQ by evaluating your competency in ten critical life skills areas: interpersonal interaction style, communication skills, assertiveness, decision-making effectiveness, leisure participation, money management, time management, positive relationships, conflict resolution, and emotional management. It will provide you with a personalized life skills profile that will help you identify the skills you lack, and refine those you already have. Even more important, it will show you how to use your Life Skills IQ to improve every aspect of your life.