Myer-Briggs

Recently I spent the day with a good friend and one of the subjects that came up time and time again is the Myer-Briggs personality test. For those of you who know nothing about it, here is a quick summary about the basics.

Extroverted v. Introverted- When you are feeling drained from a long day are you more likely to try to spend time with people or alone to recharge. If you're an E you get your energy from being around other people and if you are an I, you feel most at peace in solitary moments.

Sensing v. iNtuitive- When you look at the world, do you prefer to see the straight facts of exactly what is or do you like do dwell on ideas, concepts, and what could be. S's are more likely to live in the here and now while N's get caught up on dreams of the future, ideals, and theories.

Thinking v. Feeling- When you have a hard decision, are you more often swayed by logic or emotions. T's will think through things and suppress the gut feelings while F's will have a hard time sticking to the most logical choice when they are emotionally invested.

Judging v. Perceiving- When you have decisions to make, do you prefer to make them early and plan things out or take things as they come. J's like to keep schedules and narrow down the options while P's like to keep their options open and take life as it comes.

I feel like understanding Myer Briggs has helped me understand some things about myself.

1. I can only handle so much P. Some have mistaken me for a P in the past since I can seem at times rather impulsive. However, the majority of those seemingly random impulses are fully weighed out F based decisions. These side plans are 99% of the time vetoed if they hinder my ability to accomplish Plan A. Without that sort of structure I become restless, unproductive, and frustrated. When I ask a strong P about making plans and they respond with something like "I dunno, whenever?" it kind of drives me crazy.

2. I need to eventually marry someone who is some variety of N. The nerd in me needs quality conversation about theories on how the world works, why people behave the way they do, bucket lists, etc. S's more often than not respond to me with some form of "Oh, that's cute". I don't want to be just cute for seeing the world as I do. I want to be with a fellow dreamer so the two of us can reach our hopes and dreams, explore the world, and conquer it together.

3. I am not as extreme of an E as I once thought I was. I have always had SOME I moments but as of late I've been having more of them, things like sewing projects, painting, writing, eating by myself at lunch, etc. and I don't know if I'd opt to have someone else join me in every situation like I would have claimed in the past. Maybe its coming with old age or from being on my own for so long... I guess its all good so long as I keep a balance of sorts.