I worked under a pastor who was obsessed with the Myers-Briggs Personality Types. Each year he took his whole team through the test and explained what all the letters mean. I went through it so many times that I could probably sit you down and guess your personality type just from a few questions.
Myself, I’m an ENTP. This means I’m a natural entertainer, but I have the tendency to jump from obsession to obsession – never finishing anything. I tend to excel in certain areas and feel frustrated in others. The test tells you all of that.
I’m grateful I learned about my personality type early. I think it afforded me three things that have helped me be successful.
1. I was able to put words to my personality flaws.
We all know we’re missing the mark in some areas. Nobody’s perfect. But sometimes it’s hard to understand just where those areas are. It’s easy for others to see, but hard for ourselves to see.
When the test suggested I tend to not finish things that I start, I realized it was true. And I realized that wasn’t a normal, necessarily healthy thing.
2. I was able to expand my vision of my capabilities.
At the same time, it pointed out benefits to my personality that I previously had never considered. I knew I loved attention, and I do tend to be the center of attention in a lot of settings. But I didn’t realize that was a unique skill. It turns out, not everyone is like me.
So the personality test opened my eyes to some potential opportunities I have that most other people don’t.
3. I discovered opportunities for how I work best.
Finally, I realized I could look at the negatives of my personality and figure out how to make those an asset. It turns out, if I can just add a bit of discipline to my obsession-jumping personality, I can starts tons of successful businesses. My focusing my obsessive nature on building something that will last without much maintenance, I can set myself up with long-term revenue that doesn’t require much long-term effort. I’m uniquely gifted to be the type of entrepreneur that I am.
I’d encourage you, figure out what your personality type is. The point isn’t to put you into a box but instead to point out things you might not have been able to put words to. You can take this test, and see how accurately it can tell you about yourself.
Feel free to share your personality type below once you have it. Trust me, I’ll get it just by the letters. But feel free to elaborate for those who aren’t as saturated in the concepts as I am. 😉
That’s funny, I have a draft blog post on the same topic and just haven’t gotten around to finishing it… Great minds think alike 😉
INFP 😉 I can make myself interact for special occasions, such as selling geeky merchandise for comic cons, but mostly I’m content to be at home creating in about a dozen media. Eventually the house gets kinda full, hence selling at comic cons – which will one day (soon!) fund the creation of my own graphic novel series!
I have a head full of stories and I want so much to share them, but talking about them is not going to happen, ever. The more important something is to me, the less I want to talk about it. But a dream unshared dies alone.