active top: old navy | leggings: old navy | sports bra: tj maxx
When I realized this was going to be yet another year of painful growth, I started diving into Onward: Cultivating Emotional Residence in Educators by Elena Aguilar. Highly recommended by the way!
As I was lost in her beautiful words about self-awareness and how to uncover your truth self, I paused to take the personality test she was raving about. I had never heard of the Meyers-Briggs Personality Test and wanted to see what it was all about.
I had only taken one other personality test before and I wasn’t impressed. I was skeptical but because Elena recommended it and it was free, why not.
This might sound crazy but… taking this test has changed my life. I never realized how valuable using a personality test could be. It’s not only made me a better teacher, but a better wife, too.
1. “That why I spend 30 minutes sitting in a dark room alone? Oh…”
I honestly had no idea why, after a hard day of work, I would come home and spend 30 minutes sitting in a dark room alone. Sounds crazy right? I thought so too. Turns out i’m just super introverted and I lived my entire life assuming I was an extrovert because I relatively enjoy being around humans.
It all makes sense now.
I’ve had so many friends throughout my life, tell me to “get out of the house” or “go out and do something fun” after a hard day. I wish I could see my own face. I had no idea that introversion and extroversion are essentially how you recharge– with others or yourself. I had believed for 20 years it was if you were outgoing or reserved. I was so wrong.
Knowing my recharge preference has been helpful in self-advocating for myself and knowing what I need after an exhausting and emotional day in the classroom.
2. “That’s why I can’t remember to screw caps on all the way!”
Please tell me i’m not alone in this… although I might be! When you take the Meyers-Briggs Personality Test, it helps break down how you process information–your personality preferences and how they are stacked together. Without using too much jargon that I don’t really know how to use, there are 8 different functions that can be stacked in preference any way. The stack preference makes up your personality type.
Let’s just say the function in which allows a person to successfully screw on every single cap of something is in my stacks last place… 8/8… aka the one I very rarely ever use… It drives my husband CRAZY. Basically, I live so deeply in my head that I miss “small” details in my every day life. It’s true, I make so many careless mistakes or do strange careless things… not because I don’t see the value, but because I’m so deep in thought, the detail escapes me.
To make matters funnier, when he took the personality test, we learned that my last place function (8/8, introverted sensing) was his first place function (1/8, introverted sensing)… It’s really helped us better understand each other, ha! Especially because we are personality science opposites…
3. “Not everyone has practice conversations in their head on the way to work?…oh…”
I debated not posting this one but… it’s the truth. I overthink and overanalyze a lot of things having to do with my students. I’m pretty good at turning my brain off when I get home, which probably explains why my drive to work each morning consists of Eminem + imaginative practice conversations…
They are usually related to how I’m going to advocate or have a tough conversation… it just so happens that this is basically an every day occurrence.
I will start from beginning to end– starting the conversation, think about the different responses they might have, and how I would respond to those… all the way to how to end the conversation if it gets awkward.
On any given day, there is a 20% chance I will actually have this conversation… but more times than not, I end up talking my self off the ledge and find a different solution than having a conversation with the person. It’s truly strange how my brain creates about 10 possible outcomes or possibilities to a situation. After I’ve thought (or fake talked) through it, I am usually able to make the best decision or know how to approach a tough conversation.
This strange behavior is a common trait of my personality type due to the “introverted intuition + introverted thinking” I use. Who knew science could explain it, ha!
4. “How on earth did I just come up with that?”
It happens daily– where I’m asked a question and my response actually makes sense but I’m standing there like, “how on earth did I just come up with that?”
Thank you, introverted intuition. For now I know I’m not slightly insane, it’s actually just how my brain works.
*I’m an INFJ– INTJ’s have use introverted intuition as their primary function too. Dr. A.J. Drenth of Personality Junkie explains:
“What seems to be occurring is that many INJs have a highly sensitive inferior function, Extraverted Sensation (Se), which gathers copious amounts of sensory information from the outside world, including subtleties that other personality types tend to miss. Their (introverted intuition) then subconsciously processes this data in order to make sense of it, like assembling pieces of a puzzle. Once finished, Introverted Intuition generates an impression that seems to come out of ‘nowhere.'”
Oh… so that’s how my brain works- I totally get it. I now also understand that other people’s brains do not work like that, which has helped me really understand other people and how they think.
5. “but the greatest thing I learned… acceptance of adults.”
Is people truly do think and process information very differently… which shapes the way they act, communicate, problem solve, treat others, treat themselves… the list could go on and on.
One of the biggest benefits of this has been alleviating my frustrations with others. I’m guilty of assuming things about others, simply because I didn’t understand that there were so many ways people could think, feel, and act. I use to get so frustrated with other adults behaviors (and I still do) but learning about Meyers-Briggs helps me stay grounded and open-minded.
I have developed an increase acceptance of adults (always had it for kids), which has allowed me to proactively navigate, what use to be aggravating + stressful situations, more diplomatically.
learn more + find out your personality type!
Free personality test –> here
Learn more about the science + research of personality types –> here
with kindness | ashley