This question seems to be a common one amongst many of my friends. Part of me wonders if it's just something all younger adults go through until there are some boundaries to contain their possibilities. It just seems so common.
While I'm no longer necessarily grappling with this specific question, I am still in a time of self discovery and analysis. Living with counselors and spending time with many others mulling over questions of large life pictures seems to provoke this type of thinking (which is, at times, overthinking).
One of my counselor friends has become a specialist in inner kinetics. It's like a broken down, more specific variation of the Myers Briggs personality tempermentss and takes a combination of two dominating elements that will somehow explain the makings of an individual. (It should be noted that we all agree that these types of tests are meant more as guidelines rather than rules, and all people can identify with all traits in certain moments.)
In Myers Briggs there are 4 different identifying characteristics people "test" into:
- Introvert or Extrovert (I or E)
- Intuitive or Sensing (N or S)
- Feeling or Thinking (F or T)
- Judging or Perceiving (J or P)
My entire life, I've tested as an INTJ in Myers Briggs. More recently I tested as an INTP - the first change I've seen in quite some time, but even with a test and differing results, I've always found it best to talk with experts on the matter - as generally a test tries to compartmentalize us and as humans, it's just not possible to get it completely right. That said, I've been going through this breakdown with my counselor friend, David. (His name includes a link to his counseling website in case you're in the Denver Metro area and want to gain some insight on your own inner workings.)
As we met today I felt myself becoming anxious because I don't like how these tests try to put us in boxes, but through some discussion, we concluded that I'm still a J - which doesn't really mean I'm judgmental but one of the big differences between someone who harbors the J is that they like to make a decision and move on - they don't like the decision making process. I absolutely hate the decision making process, but I understand that sometimes, like right now, I'm in a season of making decisions. People who have the perceiving side are okay with things being open ended, something of which I'm not particularly fond.
It was good to talk through this, because obviously the test had taken me as something else. Furthermore, it was good to talk through all of the different areas because we started toying with the idea that perhaps I'm more sensing than intuitive. As we read about the different "temperaments" of people, he encouraged me to sit with a new prospect of being ISTJ. I won't get into too many details, but many things that experts have said regarding this temperament are actually quite fitting for me.
I'm in a place of transition and that certainly affects how I'm feeling in relation to things of this nature, but I'm so thankful for my friends to help me sort through the chaos in my mind. No test can truly tell someone who they are - or what they are meant to do - but it will always fascinate me to discover more about myself and why I am the way I am.
If you want to take a quick Myers Briggs test for yourself:
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