About a year ago, a friend suggested that I take the Myers-Brigg type indicator test, which is meant to measure the way in which a person perceives the world and makes decisions. There's an abundance of information on the Myers-Brigg online, so I won't bother with going into the details of the different dichotomies and personality-types, but the Myers-Brigg is essentially a personality test, and since discovering that I have an INTJ (Introversion/Intuition/Thinking/Judging) personality, I feel like I understand myself and what makes me tick far more clearly, and really believe that most people would benefit from taking the test (there are multiple versions of the test online).
The INTJ personality in broad strokes and50 67 words or less: the rarest personality type, especially in women, INTJs are usually independent, highly analytical, and love efficiency. INTJs are allegedly big into rationality, systems/organization, accuracy and big ideas, and are not fans of things that don't make sense (emotions, nonsensical rules, etc). Poor INTJs are often misunderstood, and their introversion is often mistaken for arrogance, which can be a killer when it comes to building social relationships.
Dear lord, when I read that description, INTJs sound sostereotypically German boring! Well, I guess the Myers-Brigg indicators only measure personality tendencies and don't actually replace HAVING a personality, and even Germans INTJs have a sense of humour...
Anyway, the reason I bring up the Myers-Brigg at all is because I've found that since discovering my INTJness (maybe it's better to describe it as formalizing my INTJness, since it's not as though my personality-type wasn't already in place before giving it a name), I've become a lot more critical and reflective of my own behaviours and actions, particularly when I'm overseas or in a foreign environment. Since arriving in my new work environment two weeks ago, my INTJesque inefficiency radar has been blinking red non-stop...I need to remind myself that systems here are set up in a particular way that make sense in a greater cultural context that I don't yet fully understand, and the things I perceive as being inefficient are probably done a certain way for a reason. Coming from a job that was incredibly deadline driven, I'm finding the pace of work here to be a pretty significant adjustment...not a complaint, just an observation.
Personality tests aside, things in Naga are quickly settling in: I have a permanent home, a new phone number, a coffee shop I frequent on a daily basis, a preferred walking route to and from work, a membership to a gym with mostly broken equipment (something is better than nothing, right?), and I am the owner of a mop for the very first time in my life. Now that the basic infrastructure of my life here is set up, it's time to start exploring Naga and overcoming my INTJ introvertedness to make some new friends. Luckily for me, Filipinos are among the friendliest and most smiley bunch I have ever encountered, so hopefully I'll soon have some local buddies to share my halo-halo with.
The INTJ personality in broad strokes and
Dear lord, when I read that description, INTJs sound so
Anyway, the reason I bring up the Myers-Brigg at all is because I've found that since discovering my INTJness (maybe it's better to describe it as formalizing my INTJness, since it's not as though my personality-type wasn't already in place before giving it a name), I've become a lot more critical and reflective of my own behaviours and actions, particularly when I'm overseas or in a foreign environment. Since arriving in my new work environment two weeks ago, my INTJesque inefficiency radar has been blinking red non-stop...I need to remind myself that systems here are set up in a particular way that make sense in a greater cultural context that I don't yet fully understand, and the things I perceive as being inefficient are probably done a certain way for a reason. Coming from a job that was incredibly deadline driven, I'm finding the pace of work here to be a pretty significant adjustment...not a complaint, just an observation.
Personality tests aside, things in Naga are quickly settling in: I have a permanent home, a new phone number, a coffee shop I frequent on a daily basis, a preferred walking route to and from work, a membership to a gym with mostly broken equipment (something is better than nothing, right?), and I am the owner of a mop for the very first time in my life. Now that the basic infrastructure of my life here is set up, it's time to start exploring Naga and overcoming my INTJ introvertedness to make some new friends. Luckily for me, Filipinos are among the friendliest and most smiley bunch I have ever encountered, so hopefully I'll soon have some local buddies to share my halo-halo with.
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