I took this Are you an Over-Achiever or an Under-Achiever? quiz.
I wasn’t surprised to find out that I was an under-achiever, and I wonder if that is true of most poets.
Also I wonder if poets who have considerable achievements in the poetry world e.g. Seamus Heaney, Charles Simic etc, do so partly because they have an over-achieving personality to match, quite apart from their talent. I was reading earlier on about how Carol Ann Duffy, winner of this year’s T.S. Eliot Prize, applies herself with rigour and discipline to her writing – two key characteristics of an over-achiever.
That said, the creators of the quiz make it clear that "understanding your tendency to overachieve or underachieve can enable you to better manage your small business. Both types of people are equally able to attain the goals they set for themselves as long as they learn how to manage their tendencies."
So perhaps I'm wrong.
