In Gumptionade – The Booster For Your Self-Improvement Plan, Bob O’Connor shows that gumption is the power to do what needs to be done, when it needs to be done. He shows that gumption is courage + resourcefulness + common sense. Do you have buckets of gumption or teaspoons? This three-minute exercise is designed to give you some idea. Answer “True” or “False” to the questions below, and we will measure your gumption. If a question doesn’t seem to apply to you, just do your best to interpret it in a way that does apply. So, for example, if you live in New York and have never owned a car, just make an honest guess as to how things would be, if you did own a car. We are trying to be directional here, not precise.

Courage

1. I have steered into a skid
 
 
2. I can be physically uncomfortable without making the people around me miserable.
 
 
3. There are times when it’s smart to haggle over a price.
 
 
4. I will talk respectfully to anyone, but I will not be hustled.
 
 
5. I have lost a lot of weight and kept it off for at least a year; and/or quit smoking for more than a year; and/or got and stayed sober.
[Bonus: 6 points for a true answer on this question If you did more than one, we salute you.]
 
 
6. I will change a poopy diaper.
 
 
7. I have asked someone way out of my league on a date.
 
 
8. I spoke my honest disagreement to someone more powerful than me in the last six months.
 
 
9. I can laugh at myself.
 
 
10. I have not procrastinated on a truly important task in over a year.
 
 
11. I stopped and helped a stranger in the past six months.
 
 
12. I don’t get upset when someone insults me.
 
 
13. I admitted I was wrong about something important in the past three months.
 
 
14. I was calm under fire in the last year.
 
 
15. I can remove a spider from my home without spraying or squashing it.
 
 
16. I have an emergency plan.