This is part of a writing exercise dictated by this list. It may benefit you to read it if you seek to know me (or merely someone) better; it may benefit me in the selfsame way. And if knowledge of others is your goal, seek out Anna, whose list prompted mine, and Kimi, whom Anna credits for said list.

Day 6
What is your Myers Briggs personality?

Late in high school or early in college (the time already begins to blur), I took a Facebook app-driven survey which ultimately decided that I was an INTJ. A few years later I was prompted to take a different survey (neither, mind you, is the official test) which tagged me as an ENTP.

I think both tests were right.

First, the obvious overlaps. I’ll quote from here for characteristics.

N. iNtuitive.
-Mentally live in the future, attending to future possibilities.
-Using imagination and creating/inventing new possibilities is automatic-instinctual
-Memory recall emphasizes patterns, contexts, and connections
-Best improvise from theoretical understanding
-Comfortable with ambiguous, fuzzy data and with guessing its meaning.

I have always been, and continue to be, a very strong N. In fact, the Facebook version of the test provided one of those bar graphs where you can see the degree to which you ranked one way or the other, and the divide between N and S was greater than with any other ranking. Creativity, trend-sensing, and theory are my forte; common sense and detailed histories, my bane.

T. Thinking.
-Instinctively search for facts and logic in a decision situation.
-Naturally notices tasks and work to be accomplished.
-Easily able to provide an objective and critical analysis.
-Accept conflict as a natural, normal part of relationships with people.

The extremity to which I continue to achieve T’s suggests I’m completely devoid of Feeling. In truth, my alignment has swayed a bit over time. To the extent I struggle with selfishness, I tend to miss out on people’s emotional needs; at the same time, I have an innate ability to read many people like an open book. But I learned a long time ago that, in conflict resolution, emotions are difficult to handle and impossible to argue against. Though guilty at times of becoming too impassioned, my passion is always for strict adherence to logic and fact, and that’s where I win my T, for better or worse.

I/E. Introverted/Extroverted.
I -Think/reflect first, then Act.
I -Motivated internally; mind is sometimes so active it is “closed” to outside world.
I -Prefer one-to-one communication and relationships
E -Feel deprived when cut off from interaction with the outside world.
E -Usually open to and motivated by outside world of people and things.

I’m a living contradiction, and the fact that I undulate around the I/E divide with almost no give underscores that truth. As I said for Day 5, I am a bit two-faced: outgoing, loud, and desperate for human activity and other people to keep me going; ridiculously full of thought (though not always thoughtful), with only a few close (but highly-valued) friendships and a tendency to not quite fit in socially. Perhaps it’s most accurate to say that I am an Introvert trying with mitigated success to be an Extrovert.

J/P. Judging/Perceiving.
J -Plan many of the details in advance before moving into action.
J -Focus on task-related action; complete meaningful segments before moving on.
P -Like to multitask, have variety, mix work and play.
P -Naturally tolerant of time pressure; work best close to the deadlines.

If we were on the phone discussing our plans for the following day’s outing, you would inevitably hear me ask “what are we going to do?” or “where are we going to go?” But if you asked me for a preference, I’d (likely this would annoy you) say “I’m good with whatever.” And that’s how I am: I’m good with doing just about anything, but I like to have some idea of what it is before we start. I tend more towards J than P, but my penchant for procrastinating and a tendency to do whatever comes up (a holdover from my desire to be with people) ensure I’m never a full Judge.

Ultimately, Myers Briggs fails to truly capture who I am in 4 letters. But six…six might suffice.
Consider me an iNtuitively Thinking Extroverted Introvert; a Perceptive Judge.