Chapter 1The AQ ArchetypesThe privilege of a lifetime is being who you are. —Joseph Campbell
I wonder how long I could last on my own in the Sonoran Desert. It’s a harsh expanse of land stretching from Arizona down to Mexico, where the temperatures climb as high as 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and it rains as little as three inches a year. Thousands of migrants, hikers, and adventurers have died while traversing it. What would I do to survive there?
Going off how I typically handle the unknown, I’d throw myself into research and planning. I would obsessively read all I could about the Sonoran Desert—its flora, fauna, and climate—and write down every worst-case scenario I could imagine. Next, I’d work my way through online forums about desert camping and use this information to pack the perfect gear.
Ninety-nine percent of my preparation for this trip would happen alone, in my mind, far in advance. That’s because my AQ Archetype is the Novelist. I handle change, uncertainty, and the unknown through proactive planning, and while I excel at preparation, I don’t do well with life’s curveballs. I am most comfortable with a premeditated, structured path. Like a novelist who sits at their desk building worlds, I thrive when I have the freedom to design my own future.
Alongside the Novelist, there are three other AQ Archetypes: the Astronaut, the Firefighter, and the Neurosurgeon. They have their own quirks and qualities that allow them to be agile. Novelists like me make plans. Astronauts inspire. Firefighters improvise beautifully, and no matter what, Neurosurgeons never give up.
One is not better than the others. Irrespective of your AQ Archetype, you are capable of thriving in the proverbial Sonoran Desert of life, but the first step is to know what Archetype you are at your core. Are you an Astronaut, a Firefighter, a Neurosurgeon, or a Novelist? What skills do you have at your disposal for handling stress, solving problems, and tackling crises? You’ll find out when you take the personality assessment in this chapter.
This quiz is a mini version of the in-depth assessment that I use with corporate teams to identify their Archetypes, Stages, strengths, and challenges. Both the full assessment and this abridged version were developed from my work interviewing and observing hundreds of founders and executives.
I’m certified to administer and evaluate four personality assessments and have worked with more than a dozen throughout my career, like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), Hogan, CliftonStrengths, DiSC, and the Enneagram. What I’ve learned is that we humans are notoriously bad at seeing ourselves. We undervalue our strengths, imagining that what comes easily for us is not particularly special, and at the same time we can’t always see what we lack. Personality assessments give us the ability to perceive ourselves clearly, and as an executive coach, I know that there’s no power more potent than that.
Before we jump into the quiz, we need to identify two types of change that occur in our day-to-day: Proactive Change and Reactive Change. The distinction between the two gives us context for understanding the Archetypes.
Proactive Change is the change we initiate ourselves, like upgrading our homes, switching jobs, or deciding to eat healthier. It’s the change we invite into our lives. This change is often considered to be positive and productive, even if it’s not always enjoyable. On the other hand, Reactive Change describes how we handle unwanted and unpredictable events, like flight cancellations, illness, or geopolitical conflict. Because it feels jarring and disruptive, this type of change is generally seen as more negative. For every person in the world, life is a succession of Proactive and Reactive Changes, and each Archetype has either a fast reaction or a slow reaction to it.
Copyright © 2026 by Liz Tran. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
