Ever wonder why people do the things they do? Why doesn’t your husband read the directions? Why can’t you find anything once you take the time to file the papers in your office? Why do you have to pinch and poke yourself to stay awake during language heavy presentations?

It’s all about wiring. The way our brains are wired has a direct affect on the way we organize or don’t organize; the way we see, think and do and the way we operate at home, school and work. There are three distinct learning styles: auditory, visual and tactile.

Auditory folks are good with words and logical, linear thinking. Visual learners are big picture, innovative thinkers that need to see things.  Tactile people take a very hands-on approach to life.

So what kind of thinker are you?  There are a variety of learning style tests on-line but here’s a quick question to get you started:
Imagine you just came back from the store with a new cabinet that needs to be assembled. How would you proceed?

A.  You open the box and carefully organize the pieces while reading through the directions.

B.   You go straight for the directions to see how reasonable this is going to be and are relieved to find lots of ‘how to’ pictures.

C.    You toss the directions aside and dive in, knowing somehow it will all come together.

If you identified with A – you’re an auditory learner that is very comfortable with language and linear thought processes. B – you’re most likely a visual learner that prefers to read pictures instead of words, and if you answered C – you’re likely to be a tactile learner that learns by doing.

Knowing what kind of thinker you are can help you play to your strengths, while developing a bit more patience when others don’t do things the ‘right’ way.

Share this with your family or colleagues to see which way they think.

Get to know your kids learning style with this ‘kid-focused’ quiz.

Bette Fetter Founder and CEO of Young Rembrandts and Author of Being Visual [email protected] Follow Bette on Twitter