I'm an ISTJ, what are you?

The Myers-Briggs Personality Indicator is a personality test with a variety of uses, from screening job candidates to seeing whether you're compatible with your significant other. Many of the more "professional" uses of Myers-Briggs have now been discredited, as it is not reliable enough to decide whether your true personality actually falls under 1 of the 16 personality types.

With that in mind...

Me? I have taken the test a few times throughout my 23 years of life, but recently decided to retake it out of curiosity, and a desire for self reflection under the shadow of Covid-19. In case you forget, the 4 letters in the MBTI are a spectrum of measuring where you fall between two extremes:

1. How you direct your energy and relate to the world around you, aka extroversion vs introversion

2. How you take in information from the environment, aka sensing vs intuition

3. How you make decisions, aka thinking vs feeling

4. How you orient yourself to the outside world, aka judging vs perceiving

I am- unsurprisingly- an ISTJ.

Introversion (I): ISTJs prefer spending time along or with small groups of close friends.

Sensing (S): ISTJs prefer to focus on the details rather than thinking about abstract information.

Thinking (T): ISTJs make decisions based on logic and objective data rather than personal feelings.

Judging (J): ISTJs are planners; they like to carefully plan things out well in advance.

Some of the main characteristics of the ISTJ personality include:

• Focused on details and facts

• Realistic

• Interested in the present more than the future

• Observant, but slightly subjective

• Interested in the internal world

• Logical and practical

• Orderly and organized

Some of these characteristics catch me by surprise- for example point 3. I always thought of myself as planning for the future, which is a strong characteristic by the "Judging" I do, but when discussing with some of my friends, I realize that I do put great importance in enjoying daily life, rather than giving up present day enjoyments for a future reward. The most obvious example that comes to mind is buying something I know will bring me a great deal of joy. As Ariana Grande says- "I want it, I got it"- no further rationale needed.

I've always considered myself very observant.

[Therapy Session] I think it stems from childhood in a need to survive. That may be too dramatic, using the word "survive", but in a sense it was the case. Acclimating to a new environment quite often during my childhood years from moving around so much, and learning how to mold my actions to those around me was really a skill I learned to help me adapt, and be accepted by my constantly new peers.

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A Deeper Dive

An ISTJ personality type tend to be reserved, practical and quiet. They enjoy order and organization in all areas of their lives including their home, work, family and projects. ISTJs value loyalty in themselves and others, and place an emphasis on traditions.

Not sure how I feel about the traditions part, as I didn't really grow up with any traditions. Growing up in an Asian 1st Gen family, there wasn't much traditional practices we held onto from our Chinese culture as a family, neither did we fully embrace Western culture, leaving my childhood a string of half-ass holidays and customs from both sides. Is this too dark? In any case, it's the truth.

ISTJs enjoy an orderly life. They like things to be well-organized and pay a great deal of attention to detail. When things are in disarray, people with this personality type may find themselves unable to rest until they have set everything straight and the work has been completed.

I find this INSANELY accurate that I'm actually astounded by its accuracy and clarity. When plans change last minute (day of) or people are late, I find myself more worked up than others, an inflexibility that I haven't yet learned to loosen.

Because of this need for order, they tend to do better in learning and work environments that have clearly defined schedules, clear-cut assignments and a strong focus on the task at hand.

From my last internship, it's never been more clear to me in practice how much I need deadlines and clear outlines of what is expected of me. Without it, my default mode tends to be quite lazy. With it, I mind tends not to rest until it is done.

When learning new things, ISTJs do best when the material is something they view as useful with real-world applications. While they may exert tremendous energy into projects they see has valuable, they will avoid wasting time and energy on things that they view as useless or unpractical.

A strong reason I chose to pursue marketing and business is because of its real-world applications. This continues to be true for new projects I take on, even passion projects and hobbies. This can be a new health routine I'm trying to implement (see my blogpost on my intermittent fasting experiment), or a project for work. Once I am internally committed, I go all-in.

People with this personality type are usually very loyal and devoted to family and friends, but may struggle to understand their own emotions and the feelings of others.

What an understatement. I can find it hard to discuss feelings- especially vulnerable feelings- to anyone, including close friends. On the rare occasions I do open up, my closest friends understand not only how difficult it is for me, but also that it's a big BIG deal, and something so emotionally dramatic has happened that I need to talk about it. Dun-DUn-DUUnNN.

They can be quite reserved and sometimes fail to pick up on the emotional signals given by other people. However, once they are close to a person and develop an understanding of that person’s feelings and needs, they will expend a great deal of effort toward supporting those needs.

In other words, I'm a ride or die b*tch.

In the end, this is all in good fun, and I don't take these personality categories too seriously. But it is insightful to reflect and think about just how accurate the test is, whether or not I agree with what it says, and more importantly, identify what aspects of myself I can work on to become a better human being.

Do you know your MBTI Personality Type? Let me know in the comments :)

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find out your MBTI