Understanding Your PQ Score
Your PQ Score measures how often your mind is working in your favor rather than against you. It’s a percentage from 1 to 100, and a score of 75 is considered the tipping point: it suggests your Sage is working for you about 75% of the time, while your Saboteurs are active the remaining 25% of the time.
Because your state of mind can change from day to day, your PQ Score can fluctuate. For the most accurate view, take the PQ Assessment at least 3 times over 2 weeks and use the average instead of focusing on a single result.
How often should I take the PQ Assessment?
How does PQ Score relate to the PQ Program?
What’s the difference between my PQ Score and my Saboteur Assessment results?
What if you didn’t receive the assessment results email?
What is the PQ Score?
The PQ Score is a measure of your positive intelligence quotient—in other words, how consistently your mind is acting as your ally instead of your enemy.
A higher PQ Score generally indicates that:
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your Sage is more active,
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your Saboteurs have less influence,
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and you are more able to shift out of autopilot and into Self-Command.
A lower PQ Score does not mean something is wrong. It simply gives you a snapshot of your current mental fitness at the time you took the assessment.
What does 75 mean?
A PQ Score of 75 is the tipping point referenced in Positive Intelligence. It means your mind is working in your favor most of the time.
This is helpful as a benchmark, but it is not meant to be a pass/fail line. The more useful question is whether you are building the mental fitness muscles that help you recover faster, intercept Saboteurs more often, and access Sage more consistently.
Why does my PQ Score change?
It’s normal for your PQ Score to vary. Your score can be influenced by things like:
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mood,
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stress level,
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life circumstances,
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energy,
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and the timing of when you take the assessment.
That’s why we recommend looking for a pattern over time rather than treating one assessment as definitive.
How often should I take the PQ Assessment?
We recommend taking the PQ Assessment at least 3 times over 2 weeka and averaging the results.
This gives you a more reliable baseline for your general PQ strength than a single score taken on one particular day.
How does PQ Score relate to the PQ Program?
The PQ Program is designed to strengthen 3 core mental fitness muscles:
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Self-Command Muscle
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Sage Muscle
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Saboteur Interceptor Muscle
Practices like PQ Reps and Sage Steps help strengthen these muscles over time.
A PQ Rep is a brief practice—typically about 10 seconds—where you bring your full attention to a physical sensation. This is one of the simplest ways to interrupt autopilot and activate Self-Command.
As you continue practicing, your mental fitness may improve over time, which can influence your PQ Score. But the score is best understood as an indicator or snapshot, not the only measure of progress.
What’s the difference between my PQ Score and my Saboteur Assessment results?
These two results measure different things:
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PQ Score
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Your PQ Score estimates how often your mind is serving you versus working against you.
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Saboteur Assessment results
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Your Saboteur Assessment shows the relative strength of your Saboteurs. In that report, higher scores mean that Saboteur is interfering more, and the goal is to weaken Saboteurs over time.
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So while these two results are related, they are not the same:
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PQ Score: how often your mind is acting as a friend vs. enemy
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Saboteur scores: which Saboteurs tend to interfere most strongly
What if you didn’t receive the assessment results email?
If you completed an assessment but didn’t receive the results email, the most common reasons are:
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It went to your spam or junk folder
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There was a typo in your email address
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Your email system blocks messages from outside organizations
If you’ve checked those and still can’t find it, contact support and include:
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your full name,
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your email address,
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and the date and approximate time you took the assessment.
FAQs
Is my PQ Score supposed to stay the same?
No. It can change over time and even from day to day. That’s normal.
Is a low PQ Score bad?
Not at all. It’s a data point, not a judgment. It helps you understand your starting point and track progress over time.
Should I focus more on the score or on practice?
Practice. The goal of the program is to build mental fitness through repeated practice, not to chase a single number.
Can PQ Reps improve my PQ Score?
PQ Reps are one of the core practices used to strengthen Self-Command and interrupt autopilot. Over time, regular practice may support improvements in your overall mental fitness.
Where can I learn more?
For a deeper background on the PQ Score, refer to chapter 8 of Shirzad Chamine’s Positive Intelligence.