The Four Colour Energies

The Four Colour Energies

In the previous lesson you explored your learning style using the VARK model, which focuses on how you prefer to take in information. This lesson introduces something different but complementary: the Insights Discovery colour model.

Where VARK is about how you learn, the Insights model is about who you are. It looks at your broader personality, how you tend to communicate, how you make decisions, how you show up in a group, and how others experience you. It is one of the most widely used personal development tools in the UK, used by organisations including the NHS, Google, and Microsoft.

Before you watch

No colour is better than any other, and no one is purely one colour. Everyone has a blend of all four energies. The model simply helps you recognise where your natural preferences tend to sit, and that awareness is genuinely useful both in everyday life and in your future practice.

Activity – Watch and Reflect

Watch the video below. As you go through each colour, ask yourself: when do I use this energy? How does it feel when I use it? And how does it feel when others use it around me?

After watching, before you do anything else, click the Notes tab at the top of this page and write down which colour you think you are and why. Just a sentence or two is fine. This is for you, nobody else can see it. Once you have written your thoughts, come back and use the summaries below to read more about each colour.

Click to reveal – A summary of each colour energy
Cool Blue

Cool Blue energy is thoughtful, precise, and analytical. People who lead with this energy think carefully before they speak, prefer to have all the facts before making a decision, and value accuracy and detail. They are quietly observant and bring a structured, methodical approach to everything they do.

Their quote: “Give me the details.”

On a good day: Cautious, precise, deliberate.

On a difficult day: Can appear withdrawn, resistant, or overly focused on detail as a way of slowing things down when feeling pressured.

Earth Green

Earth Green energy is caring, calm, and values-driven. People who lead with this energy are deeply empathetic, excellent listeners, and strongly motivated by doing what feels right. They place enormous value on relationships and the wellbeing of those around them. They tend to prefer depth with a few people over a wide social circle.

Their quote: “Show me you care.”

On a good day: Relaxed, sharing, encouraging.

On a difficult day: May withdraw into quiet resistance rather than raise concerns openly, particularly when something they value feels like it is not being respected.

Sunshine Yellow

Sunshine Yellow energy is enthusiastic, sociable, and ideas-driven. People who lead with this energy are naturally expressive, love connecting with others, and bring a lively energy to group settings. They think out loud, embrace new ideas quickly, and like to make sure everyone feels included.

Their quote: “Involve me.”

On a good day: Sociable, enthusiastic, persuasive.

On a difficult day: Can become louder and more attention-seeking if they feel excluded or sidelined, or may jump from one idea to the next without following through.

Fiery Red

Fiery Red energy is determined, direct, and action-oriented. People who lead with this energy are confident decision-makers who like to get things done. They are results-focused, comfortable taking the lead, and prefer clarity and pace over lengthy discussion.

Their quote: “Be brief, be bright, be gone.”

On a good day: Competitive, determined, purposeful.

On a difficult day: Can come across as controlling or overbearing, particularly to those who prefer a more considered and collaborative approach.

Why this matters for your practice

Self-awareness is not a nice extra in counselling. It is foundational. Understanding your own tendencies, how you naturally respond to people, what you find easy and what you find challenging, is the starting point for being able to sit with someone else in their experience without projecting your own onto it. The colour model is one of the most accessible ways into that kind of self-reflection.

Make sure you have written your thoughts in the Notes tab before you move on. When you are ready, mark this lesson as complete.

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