“I’m a visual person”

I’ve heard people frequently say that they are very “visual”. This attribute usually comes together with “photographic memory”, which means that these people remember things as if they would have a picture of the event in front of them, with all the details being right.

I thought about this thing. I don’t claim to be a “visual person”. I’m quite superficial in visual things. That’s probably one reason why graphic design has always been appealing to me — because I don’t have to think too much to decide what I like and don’t like in these respect, and how I can (hopefully) make my design pleasing to other people.

I would say that I am an more on the “auditory” side, as I find storytelling, movie soundtracks, music and such “auditory” elements very crafty. I feel like there is tactful engineering and an experimental artistry on the auditory “experience”. My guess is that it depends on each persons perspective. Also there must be bits and bobs of each “area” and not just one extreme per person.

How many types are there?

First of all, I don’t believe that people are 100% visual and have no innate competency in any other “area”. I see it more as a muscle. Some people train themselves more in visual arts, other are more exposed, and at the same time analytical, to auditory crafts like music.

But just like people usually write with their dominant hand — and don’t find themselves being a left-handed person one day and then they accidentally become a right-handed person after a week — they focus on one of the senses and become more sensitive and aware of it. Maybe because they know what they are looking for and develop this understanding as a habit — the same way people become more skilful at riding a bicycle or improve on their cooking or a video game.

The 4 types that I could find were these:

• visual
• auditory
• factual
• action

This list might not be complete or 100% accurate, but I am content because I don’t believe people are in one extreme and totally discard the other three. It’s about your preferred way of processing information.

So here they are:

Visual

People who are dominant on the visual side are very picky and can always find ways to improve things — ways that something could have been better. They pride themselves with them having a photographic memory, which is super useful in the right cases. A lot of time they are in danger of not getting over things and get stuck over-analysing the past, which hinders their vision on today and their plans for tomorrow. They are usually sensitive people who do their job very well. In the face of uncertainty they might either freeze and not be able to compute or they may have the time of their lives because they are great at adapting and creating something new.

Auditory

These type of people are sensitive, as well. They are good at preparing for the near future and keeping focused. And they are great team players. They love music and have a rich sense of humor.

They absolutely love being honest and expressing themselves and are good listeners, but on the other side of the coin, their weakness is that they can overlook things that scare them and be very good at hiding it. They are very easy to distract when they are not laser-focused on something, and that can cause a bunch of problems.

So the auditory people are either objective-driven and focused, or their attention is scattered all over the place, finding it a burden to prioritise.

Factual

Factual people are usually the most trustworthy. They are the type of people who, after the day ends, the reminisce about events that happened and proceed to connect dots, see patterns and draw conclusions. They are great managers for the long-term and are very good with managing risk.

On the other side, they stick to their beliefs up to the point of stubborness. This is not a weakness, it’s usually a powerful strength, unless they fall into the false belief that they see the whole picture and that they know best. As long as they are team players and take into account other peoples’ perspectives and opinions they will be fine. If not, they are in big trouble. This is why factual people would benefit most from having a circle of people they truly trust and confide in. They would usually be the ones to maintain that circle on course, and aligned with their values, when events get hectic.

Action

People who gravitate more to the action side are action-takers. They process the world on the base of cause and effect. Action and reaction. Although it might seem reckless in certain situations, it is also the most effective way of getting things done and even of learning. Heard of “the best type of learning is by doing”? This category of people are the best learners.

Sometimes doing is the best way of thinking. And action-oriented people don’t see much value in anything else. This is also their weakness: they can be ill-prepared and stubborn. Stubborn like the factual-oriented type, but also not prepared. They usually have a though time when beginning something, be it a job, a new skill they are learning… any activity. But once they get the hang of things and get familiarised with the environment (which is the thing they do best), they are usually the first to progress and the fastest to rise to the top.

Any association with a visual-person, or an auditory-person would propel them greatly. Any association with a factual-oriented person would help them maintain their course in the right direction and find the most efficient route to their goals.

People are bits of each in certain amounts

Like I said before, there is no one definite extreme which cancels out the others. People can switch between being imaginative, auditive, factual or action-oriented. But when they do choose a side, that side becomes stronger and their habit to use that side comes naturally sometimes automatically, while the option of using any another side becomes less probable.

When people are focused on one of these sides, they have blind-spots from not using (and sometimes, accidentally misusing) the others. As an example, me tending to be more auditive-oriented, and less visual-oriented, I find myself writing down the same thing multiple times. Or forgetting if I locked the door or turned off the oven (and having to double-check, or even triple-check). The way I deal with this is by making a mental note that I did do that, or making an actual note in a tiny notebook. In this case I seem to make use of the factual-side

These “blind-spots” that appear when people gravitate toward one of the aforementioned factions are dangerous. They are dangerous because that is when you take unconscious decisions which bear consequences. When you are auditory-oriented you can easily talk yourself out of something good or into something bad. You know all the tricks of the trade. When you are a visual person, you know how to avoid something you don’t want to face, even if it is in plain sight. When you are factual, you can’t hide from the facts, but you can always use a bit of your visual or auditory self to put off something and then take the blame and have it your way anyway (which is still self-sabotage). And when you are action-oriented, you can just make bad decisions when you are in a bad mood. It’s all that it takes.

This is why working in a team is very useful, because tasks that are shared are viewed from different perspectives, and new insights arise! The workload is lightened because you team member(s) contribute. And everyone gains experience and becomes better at what they are doing. The key is not to be surrounded by super-skilled people (especially if each member wants to do things their way!). The key is to know that you and your colleagues share the same objective. If you do, everyone will do their best (because it’s in their interest), everyone will motivate each other (because the motivated ones will remind the unmotivated ones what is at stake) and each person receives feedback (so they get their priorities right and don’t focus only on what they already achieved). The key is communication and honesty.

An important tool to keep yourself accountable and insure yourself that you’ve taken the right steps, and if not then to correct them, is the ritual. Everybody has their rituals. If it’s watching a certain YouTube channel or TV channel in evening, or waking up extremely early, or eating late, or smoking a cigarette right before going inside the house so you get 5 minutes to think about your day. I, for example enjoy taking walks without my phone, so I know 100% that I would be thinking about my life and reminisce, especially while around nature.

Rituals are basically accountability sessions. They are meant to track progress and give insight into what’s next!

Rituals must be:

• comfortable and easy to do
• regular
• not overextended

If your ritual is to play a video game to get your mind off your work, good! …if it works. If you end up playing that video game all day and lose all day because of it, it means that it need to be managed, which will make it kind of a chore… which means it’s not comfortable and easy to do. Therefore it will not give you peace of mind, which was the sole purpose of sticking to a ritual.

If your ritual is going to the shop to buy fruits, that’s excellent! It’s relaxing, you get some fresh air, and you don’t have to worry too much about ending that session. It ends when you return from the shop.

Having rituals is useful because it gives you a relaxed state of mind in which you can tackle issues without worrying about them and without diving right into them when you remember a task that you have to do. You can think of outcomes, of possibilities; you can prioritise; you can remember things you otherwise would have forgotten (which sucks if it was important!)

Working on your strengths

Working on your strengths yields better results than working on your weaknesses. It is also more enjoyable and takes less effort. People who need to feel that it is taking them effort to perform a task, don’t have their priorities right and it leads to more work and bailing on things they are actually good at!

We have some solutions available for those types of situations:

— put skin in the game, so you don’t discard it (make an investment)

Put skin in the game!

If you are having issues on making commitment to your work, invest in it! Put something at risk! It will draw attention to it. If it holds attention to it long enough, you will not only see what’s there to lose, but you will also see what there is to gain.

If you’re not willing to bet on yourself, especially in a controlled situation, then denotes that you don’t trust that you carry your task through. Sometimes a jump of faith is all that is needed to get you going. Other times, a small failure is what is needed to give you the knowledge and see the possibility of a big success. If it was fruitful, it was not failure.

Set objectives!

In order to attain a big task, you need to break it down into smaller tasks. If the task still seems daunting, then break it into sub-tasks as well. Objective have to be easy to follow up. We shouldn’t get confused as to whether we have achieved an objective or failed it. If you achieved it, move on! If you failed, move on! The important part is to know if it’s time to move on or not yet!

So objectives have to leave no space for discussion. They must be crystal-clear and easy to follow up. If it’s not music, it’s noise!

Award yourself a trophy!

I’m serious! It doesn’t have to be an actual trophy. It can be an extra picture in your folder with paintings. It can be an extra paper in your folder of essays. It can be a picture on the wall. The purpose of it is to remind you of a specific achievement you had. When times get though again, you will remember that you got past something like this in the past. And you might even remember how you did it, and what there is to avoid!

Short-term rewards like eating out, drinking to celebrate or buying yourself cakes is useful! Have a treat if you’re happy with your work! Celebrate! But short-term rewards are short lived and sometimes even makes one take things for granted. …so definitely stick to the trophy ritual!

Trophies might have the same effect as getting praise, or receiving good grades. But trophies are personal and that is what makes them more significant and more sincere. Also, that’s what rewards are for! To encourage behaviour or actions that you are happy with. In time, it will ease into becoming a habit, and being productive and happy is a good habitual outcome!

Conclusion

• Whichever type you are (visual, auditory, factual or action-oriented), focus on your strengths! But don’t ignore your weaknesses!
• Rituals are a way to pace your progress and track results.
• Objectives, stakes and rewards are tools to keep you focused on your end goals.