Who are You?

Photo from Sarchi via Flickr

Who are you? It is such a fascinating question.  We all love to gain more insight into ourselves. See our blind spots, figure out our nuances, hear what others have to say about us. Figuring out who you are and what makes you tick is absolutely necessary in Living Happier.

One of my favorite personality assessments is the Myers Briggs.  A few years ago I became certified in the Myers Briggs assessment. I use it a frequently in my practice to help people figure out their career, understand their relationship or just get insight in to how they interact in the world.  Today I wanted to do a brief overview to hopefully give you a little insight in to Who are you?

It starts with 4 categories:

1. Introvert vs. Extrovert:  Where do you get your energy?
2. Sensing vs Intuitive: How do you take in information?
3. Thinking vs Feeling:  How do you make decisions?
4. Judging vs. Perceiving:  How do you deal with the outside world?

For each of the 4 categories you can be one type of the others.

1. Introvert vs. Extrovert  Where do you get your energy?

Introvert:
Gain their energy from being alone.
They can go out and be in the world and can be quite social but these activities are draining.
Tend to think before they talk so thinking out loud can be a challenge.
If they want to plan an idea will need to think it through before they talk about it.
Prefer to know just a few people well rather than have a lot of friends. 

Extrovert
Gain energy from being around people.
Seen as more of a 'people person'
Can enjoy being alone but feel tired and worn out if they have too much alone time.
Has a lot of friends and knows a lot of people.
Thinks out loud so if they need to plan an idea will want to talk it through. 

  2. Sensing vs INtuitive: How do you take in information?

Sensing
Takes in information through the five senses
Focuses on the here and now.
Concrete, realistic, factual

INtuitive:
takes in information from patterns and the big picture.
Focus on future
Inventive, imaginative and idealistic

3. Thinking vs Feeling:  How do you make decisions?

Thinking
Tend to make decisions based on logic and cause and effect analysis
Ruled by their head rather than their heart
Logical, rational, impersonal 

Feeling
Tend to make decisions based on values and subject evaluation of feelings and personal concerns
Ruled by their heart rather than their head
Gentle, empathetic, emotional

4. Judging vs. Perceiving:  How do you deal with the outside world?

Judging
Tend to like a planned and organized approach to life.
Prefer order and structure.
Decisive, organized, scheduled. 

Perceiving
Tend to be more flexible and spontaneous in their approach to life.
Like to keep their options open.
Adaptable, relaxed and disorganized. 

So for each of the four categories you pick a letter and you end up with a four letter personality type which can then provide you more insight in to Who you are? and your personality preferences.

There are no right or wrong answers.  There are no good or bad personality types.  There are just differences.

We each have a unique way of viewing the world.  Although we might have similar 'letters' we are still very unique players in the world.  The beauty of these assessments is that they give us a sense of belonging a sense of "I am not the only one who thinks that way", which can be refreshing.  Also, they can explain why we may or may not 'fit' into a certain environment.  If you are an Introvert trying to fit into an Extrovert world it can be exhausting.  If you boss is a J and you tend to be a P there might be a struggle.  This insight can be invaluable in avoiding blame and conflicts with those around us.

As I said this is a BRIEF analysis of the Myers Briggs for more information check out visit my website.

My personality type is an INFJ, what about you? What are your four letters?  What did you find most surprising?


Type descriptors are taken from the MBTI assessment. 

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Want to know more about the Myers Briggs or other assessments I offer.  Click here to find out more.  I would love to help you gain more insight into who you are, what career fits you and how you can live happier!!