Personality Pigeonholed

Once a year, everyone in my office takes the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. We then have a counselor come in and talk to us about our results and how our personality types are played out in our work styles and how we work together. I've only taken the Myers-Briggs twice with my office, but I've probably done it more than a dozen times since I've started at UCA. I like the Myers-Briggs. I like people using it as a tool to explore themselves. I like people learning about different personality types, and I like people working to teach themselves how other people think and react differently than they do. I think it is very useful. However, I also think people can take it too much to heart.

I am simply annoyed with people looking at me and saying, "Oh, so you're an ENTJ," as if it explains everything there is to know about me. I just want to tell them, "No, I just happened to be in an ENTJ mood when I took that test." My type indicator has never come back the same. I've always been an E and the other three letters are up in the air. I'm always very balanced on the other sections. My results usually come back saying that I am 50%-50% or 52%-48%. This year my J was 55% on the online test and my P was 55% on the written test, which means within two days I changed from Judging to Perceiving. The counselor always starts by telling us that balance is the goal and that they are scaled. So you can strive to be more Sensing if you are Intuitive and just because your results say you are Intuitive doesn't mean you are strong in that. You may still have traits in the other. Once she explains that, everybody seems to forget it.

I like to make lists because I like to check things off, but I don't loose sleep about the things on my lists not being accomplished. I love to plan out my vacations in advance, but once I get there I am happy to throw those plans out the window. I like to make decisions by weighing all the factors. I consider peoples' feelings to be a factor that needs to be weighed along with all the logical ones. I like to do projects that have detailed instructions and clear goals, but it is also exciting and revitalizing to where I get to be creative and make my own goals. Even when it comes to my Extroversion versus Introversion. I'm becoming more of an introvert every time I take it. Please just understand that ENFP does not define me.