My "I told you so" moment
Having been on staff with Campus Crusade for several years, I have taken many a personality test. Many. I can explain my personality to you in letters, numbers, animals, with complex graphs and pages of exposition. At least, what I THOUGHT was my personality ...
On many levels, I do know myself pretty well. But in recent years I have been greatly struggling with the commonly held notion that I am an extrovert. An extrovert should get their energy from being with people, should love parties, and have a "the more, the merrier" kind of attitude. And that used to be me. But for a long time now, that has not been me. I have been energized by solitude, quiet, time alone doing things I enjoy like reading, shopping, blogging, working on photo albums or crocheting. I much prefer a night at home than a night out on the town.
And yet, I love people. I really do. I'm fascinated by people, love helping them figure out where they are in life, where they might be going, and who they might really be. I am touched by their stories, often finding myself crying at the news or a sappy commercial. Which is perhaps why its taken me a long time to come to a realization that maybe, just maybe, I lean more toward the introverted than the extroverted.
Because I've struggled with this imbalance in my life, my dad sent me a link to a test to take which gives you the same results as the Myers-Briggs, only the test is much shorter, and its free. After taking it, sure enough, I did NOT come out ENFJ as I always had, but INFJ, indicating a shift to the introvert. First of all, I think our personalities can change over time. Secondly, sometimes our circumstances in life dictate what our greatest needs seem to be. So it doesn't necessarily mean my previous testing as an extrovert was wrong. Whatever the case may be, I'm feeling this sudden "HA! I knew it!" moment. (Why do I need a test to finally validate what I've thought for so long to be true? Its probably part of my personality profile.) After taking the test, I was directed to several pages describing the INFJ Personality Type (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging) ... and as I read, I suddenly felt free. Its almost uncanny how accurate those things can be. I didn't resonate with it word for word, but definitely found myself identifying with a few of its more pertinent points, not the least of which is that the INFJ, because of their good relational skills, is often mistaken for an extrovert.
If you're interested in taking the test, click here. Or, if you know your type and are just interested in checking out what it says, click here. And enjoy! Let me know what new things you learn about yourself.
On many levels, I do know myself pretty well. But in recent years I have been greatly struggling with the commonly held notion that I am an extrovert. An extrovert should get their energy from being with people, should love parties, and have a "the more, the merrier" kind of attitude. And that used to be me. But for a long time now, that has not been me. I have been energized by solitude, quiet, time alone doing things I enjoy like reading, shopping, blogging, working on photo albums or crocheting. I much prefer a night at home than a night out on the town.
And yet, I love people. I really do. I'm fascinated by people, love helping them figure out where they are in life, where they might be going, and who they might really be. I am touched by their stories, often finding myself crying at the news or a sappy commercial. Which is perhaps why its taken me a long time to come to a realization that maybe, just maybe, I lean more toward the introverted than the extroverted.
Because I've struggled with this imbalance in my life, my dad sent me a link to a test to take which gives you the same results as the Myers-Briggs, only the test is much shorter, and its free. After taking it, sure enough, I did NOT come out ENFJ as I always had, but INFJ, indicating a shift to the introvert. First of all, I think our personalities can change over time. Secondly, sometimes our circumstances in life dictate what our greatest needs seem to be. So it doesn't necessarily mean my previous testing as an extrovert was wrong. Whatever the case may be, I'm feeling this sudden "HA! I knew it!" moment. (Why do I need a test to finally validate what I've thought for so long to be true? Its probably part of my personality profile.) After taking the test, I was directed to several pages describing the INFJ Personality Type (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging) ... and as I read, I suddenly felt free. Its almost uncanny how accurate those things can be. I didn't resonate with it word for word, but definitely found myself identifying with a few of its more pertinent points, not the least of which is that the INFJ, because of their good relational skills, is often mistaken for an extrovert.
If you're interested in taking the test, click here. Or, if you know your type and are just interested in checking out what it says, click here. And enjoy! Let me know what new things you learn about yourself.
