The Value in Understanding Typology

As humans, we seem very similar. Our bodies work in similar ways, and we all have the same basic needs in order to survive. However, the way in which we prioritize those needs and our cognitive preferences are somewhat different. 

When working with others, many of us assume that we know the other person’s motives. We may find ourselves in unnecessary conflicts if we assume that everyone thinks the same way as we do, or notices the same things around them. 

Resolve Conflicts

These difference sometimes cause us to misjudge people, or create the wrong impression of ourselves and therefore get misjudged by others. Nobody likes feeling misunderstood or out of place, and everyone has something unique and valuable to offer. If the people around you don’t understand your personality, it can be difficult for them to appreciate your way of doing things. They might question your motives, ignore your ideas, criticize them, or even try to get you to change.

Find Your Place In The World 

By understanding your own personality type, you get to discover how your brain works, you discover that you are not alone, and that you are not completely flawed. You get to learn how to develop and leverage your unique strengths, and you learn to accept and work around your natural weaknesses. For example, you might be someone who is future-oriented, innovative and a big picture thinker - but get easily bored doing the more routined and detailed day-to-day tasks that are also necessary for your success. By understanding this about yourself - you can pick the right career that is suitable for you, or you can hire other personality types to help you get those mundane tasks done quicker. 

Self-Acceptance

Once you discover your personality type, you can begin to connect with like-minded people, and stop trying to change people who are different to you. You might feel relieved to discover that you are not crazy, and that there are places and careers in which your talents and skills are much needed. You can finally stop being so harsh on yourself about the struggles you face that other people perceive as petty or inconsequential and give yourself a break. Before I discovered my type, I thought that my need to express emotion or tears in front of people made me weak and vulnerable, and whenever I did so, I would beat myself up about it. Knowing now that that is a part of my personality and talking to other Feeler types like myself - I now see how this trait can be useful as well, in the right context. 

Appreciating Others

Knowing your personality can make you much more patient and understanding when dealing with other people. You begin to notice that people are not the way they are because they are trying to hurt you in any way, but because that is part of their personality. You then start to appreciate people for their unique strengths and can offer more compassion and forgiveness for their weaknesses. Knowing other people’s personality types can enable you to learn from others, encourage them to be their best, and delegate the right tasks to the right workers. It enables you to choose your interactions and relationships wisely, in a way that is beneficial to all parties involved.

Build Better Relationships

Knowing your personality type can help resolve conflicts in relationships, it can help us communicate better with one another and better understand our partners needs and values. You can learn to understand your partners perspectives and why they do what they do. Instead of viewing the other’s personality traits that differ from yours as problems they need to work on,you can learn to accept those traits, and forgive their actions with greater ease. 

By becoming aware of your differences, you become much more appreciative of them as a person. Once you have accepted your own personality, it also becomes easy to relate with people from all walks of life, it can make you feel more confident, accepted, understood and empowered to share who you are, and to let the world see you.

Your Map For Personal Growth

Your personality type can enable you to create a personalized plan for your personal development journey. You learn how your brain is wired, what your most natural state of being is, and which of your cognitive functions you need to develop. If you choose to go deeper in your research, you will discover your cognitive functions stack and how each affects your life and relationships. This can serve as a tailored map for your personal growth, as it can show you where you are, and what you need to work on in what order. You get to learn what you will most likely enjoy, as well as what to avoid by listening to advice from other people in similar situations who share the same personality as you.

The personality test that I recommend the most, is the Myers Briggs Type Indicator, which is one of the most popular and widespread personality assessment tools available today. It was first developed by Carl Jung and later perfected by Isabel Myers Briggs and is used in  many different fields and areas of psychology, sociology, career, team-building and personal development. 

You can take a free test now, to discover your 4 letter code that makes up your personality here. 

Personality Development For The INFJ

Since you have now determined that your personality type is INFJ, you now know that this makes you an: Introverted, Intuitive, Feeler, Judger. 

We can now use this 4-letter code which is your Type, to see into the nature of how your mind prefers to learn information, and make decisions. 

We do this through observing your cognitive function stack - which comprises of the four mental processes that you prefer to use as an INFJ. 

Each mental process exists within a hierarchy, with your first function being the dominant one and which comes to you most naturally. 

Followed by your second or auxiliary function which serves as a supporting and growth function for your personality. followed by two weaker functions

You might have received your result through our profiling session - in which case you can be sure that it is accurate. 

However, if you typed as an INFJ using a free online personality test, it is important that you read as many different personality profiles as possible and from a variety of different sources.

Once we are sure of your personality type, we can then begin to plan your personal growth journey.

As for all personality types, success and maturity can be achieved through developing your cognitive function stack.

Let's now have a quick review of your conscious cognitive processes as an INFJ. 

Dominant/parent function: 

Introverted Intuition (Ni) 

Auxiliary/growth function:

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) 

Tertiary/relief function:

Introverted Thinking (Ti) 

Inferior/aspirational function:

Extroverted Sensing (Se)

For you as an INFJ, it is important to have a clear vision for where you are headed in life. 

Since you are a dominant Perciever type, it is important that you work on developing your other Judging functions in order to achieve your goals and to keep learning. 

Developing your supporting judging functions will enable you to make the right decisions to bring you closer to the ideals that you so desperately desire. 

It is tempting for all dominant Perceiving types to simply go through life observing and taking in new information without having to immediately make a judgment about what they are observing or what it means to them. 

Introverted Intuition (Ni) 

As an INFJ you could easily just remain a passive observer of reality. You can happily try on a variety of perspectives without stopping to evaluate whether or not what you are learning is actually serving you in any way. 

This is often why underdeveloped INFJs can be indecisive and easily swayed by their peers towards whatever they or the environment required of the INFJ.

Since your second auxiliary function is Extroverted Feeling (Fe), you will have a tendency to prioritise others needs before your own. Over time though, this may cause you to harbor resentment. 

Very few if not none of the other personality types are even able to conceive of or let alone live up to that expectation. 

This is mainly because you have a tendency to expect your loved ones to simply know and anticipate what your needs are. (Since this is what you do for them naturally) and therefore you secretly hope someone will return the favor and do the same for you. 

This is why it is so important for INFJs to understand that their ability to Intuit the needs of their friends and family is a rare trait and that other types are just not wired that way.

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) 

It is recommended that as an INFJ, you start your personal growth journey by first developing your auxiliary Extroverted Feeling (Fe) function, before attempting to physically tackle the entire world by yourself. 

Also what many INFJs notice is that while developing their Auxiliary Extroverted Feeling function, their inferior function of the same attitude becomes automatically more developed as well. 

This is because it also has an extroverted attitude, and so it is outwardly focused. This would require you to get out of your head in order to use it. 

So since Fe is already a natural strength for you, it would be easier and more natural for you to work on developing it before moving on to developing your weaker functions. 

How to develop

Extroverted Feeling (Fe) 

Extroverted feeling is a Judging function that focuses on the feeling atmosphere of its immediate environment. People who use this function easily empathize with the feelings the values of those around them. 

They find that they sometimes easily confuse their own values with those of their peers. Also, they may have trouble distinguishing between their own feelings and the feelings of those around them. 

Extroverted Feeling users often get a great deal of satisfaction from making others feel good and helping them solve problems. 

This mental process is concerned with maintaining a harmonious environment with the people in their lives. They tend to be sensitive and conflict avoidant. 

However, this function when applied has amazing skills in conflict resolution and can be very good at the art of persuasion. 

Using Fe Effectively 

In order to use extraverted feeling effectively, it is important to ensure that you maintain healthy emotional and physical boundaries with people. 

This is in order to ensure that the vision that they are pursuing is in line with our own values and opinions as well. So this is where the tertiary function Introverted Thinking (Ti) comes into play. 

Introverted Thinking (Ti) 

Moving on to your third or tertiary cognitive function of Introverted Thinking (Ti). 

Since this function shares the same Introverted attitude as your dominant function - 

you will probably quite enjoy using and developing this  tertiary process. 

Also because for INFJs, this function is a source of relief for you to use in conjunction with your dominant Ni. 

Most INFJs will probably only become interested in developing the Ti cognitive function after adolescence and it becomes more and more value to them as they mature. only after you have relatively mastered your Fe function to create a harmonious feeling environment for yourself and others. 

Developing your Introverted Thinking will allow you to learn to think logically for yourself. It will give you the ability to develop your own unique systems for interacting with the physical sensory world from which you often feel so disconnected from. 

There is of course a good reason for this disconnect that you experience with the physical world. It is all thanks to your inferior function - Extroverted Sensing. 

Extroverted Sensing 

Because this style of perceiving reality is the polar opposite to your dominant function Ni (introverted Intuition) - you only tend to use it when you really have to.

It is a part of your brain that is at about the same maturity level as a 3 year old child. Therefore, it is usually where all your blind-spots and weaknesses reside. 

Also, you use up much more energy when interacting with the world in this way. So you're much less comfortable using this function, as it would require to be present in the here and now, and to take in large amounts of sensory data from the outside world. 

But as as INFJ, you would probably much rather stay cosy and safe in your subjective theoretical exploration of future possibilities and abstract ideas. 

You learn and understand information in the form of symbols and meanings and you cannot help but live mostly in those perceptions. 

Dew to your strong willpower as an INFJ, you will naturally feel a strong need to develop your inferior/aspirational function as soon as possible; I personally think that it would be much easier for INFJs to focus on expanding on their strengths, instead of trying to improve on their weaknesses. 

It might be worthy to note that since Extroverted Sensing is the fourth and weakest function in the INFJs cognitive function stack, it is also where they gain their aspiration. 

Therefore you can notice their desire to be more adept at getting into action. Almost every INFJ has a passion for building and creating original works such as art, and writing books. 

It is because of the influence of the Se child in them that they continue to persevere in manifesting their dreams into tangible results in the world. 

Once fully developed, you will find that you are better able to then stay present with, feel proud of, and worthy of the finest sensations possible. 

It is then that the INFJ can relax and experience the full joy of the present moment. 

Inferior Extroverted Sensing Struggles

Some of the struggles associated with having inferior Se, include a constant feeling that reality is imposing upon you. You can't seem to handle as much sensory input as others, and therefore dislike loud and crowded places. 

You also get so focused on one path that you have no peripheral vision and are at risk of becoming closed-minded and hypocritical. 

You also tend to neglect the physical world by either completely denying that you have physical needs, or by overindulging in sensory pleasures. It is important that you prioritize your own physical well-being and when planning your future - make time for utilizing this cognitive process. 

Safely engaging your Se

You can comfortably engage your inferior extroverted sensing function by treating it with care and nurturing it. 

Allow yourself to find joy in childish activities and new sensory experiences. For many INFJs I have worked with - yoga and meditation seems to be their favorite way of partaking in Extroverted Sensing activities. 

However, meditation and physical activity it is still not your strong suit as an INFJ, so therefore - it is not recommended that you try to conduct personal growth through Extroverted Sensing. 

For younger INFJs, Se tends to come out in very childish ways and young INFJs will often display hints of their Extroverted Sensing use through their unique style of fashion, their love of art and traveling. Most INFJs find peace by spending alone time in nature, or taking long sunset walks. 

As they develop more and more of their functions, INFJs can become quite the sage. They become well balanced and humble teachers and counselors who help guide others to fulfillment. 

They finally feel comfortable enough to openly share their unique wisdom and insights with the world. teachers and philosophersmature INFJs tend to have a higher appreciation for beauty, asthetics, fine foods and buying quality products. They are more relaxed and able to remain present with people and maintain a sense of calm.

Can You Type My Friend?

TYPE MY FRIEND SERIES

Let's face it, when it comes to self-analysis - most of us really suck at it! Plus, most of the online personality tests are deeply flawed. So unless you have a comprehensive understanding of Myers-Briggs and the cognitive functions, figuring out your personality type can be daunting.

Of course, you can always be typed by a professional personality profiler - but it costs money and not everyone can afford to pursue self-actualization at this time. So, I think it will be interesting to have people typed by a larger audience right right - for free, in the name of research!

Also, in order to check how good you guys in the community are at personality typing. This would be an interesting way to either learn to type people more objectively together - or to expose just how bad we are at typing others and possibly ourselves.

My goal is to inspire more of us look to within ourselves for balance and integration. Therefore my profiling sessions as well as my coaching services are aimed at self-understanding, Self actualization and individuation through unlocking your uniqueness.
Also join our personality coach interactive chatroom linked below:

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Visit personalitycoach.co.za for more info about personality typology and typing sessions.

Introverted Intuition (Ni)

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COGNITIVE FUNCTIONS SERIES: Introverted Intuition (Ni)

Introverted Intuition is what pretty much gave rise to the entire study of personality theory, and still plays a large role in developing it. This is also because the personality types that use this mental process as their driver function are usually the ones who take the most interest in understanding the human psyche in this way.

It is quite well known that renowned Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung; the man who first created this theory used Introverted Intuition as his dominant cognitive function. He was very interested in studying mythological archetypes in order to make sense of what it is that makes us individuals.

Introverted intuition is a perceiving function, which means it is a mental process used to gather and learn new information. It is a dominant function for the INFJ and INTJ personality types, and an auxiliary or second function for the ENFJ and ENTJ types. Unfortunately, this cognitive function is still quite poorly understood.

This may be due to its inherent complexity and rarity, as well as due to how abstract and subjective this mental process is. In the blog post below, I do my best to explore how these mysterious rare personality types who use Ni in the top position of their cognitive function stack might experience reality. If you are an Introverted Intuition user - feel free to comment and let me know whether this is true for you.

Introverted intuition likes to focus inward on one's own subjective world of mental interpretations and patterns that they observe within their own psyche. which often appear to them in the form of symbols which some believe to be what makes up the collective unconscious. 

The personality types who use this function always seek the deeper meaning behind everything. They gather intuitive information in the form of images and impressions that come to them in the form of "aha" moments which occur at very random times - such as when they're in the shower or exercising. 

Ni user's love to explore abstract concepts and theories that relate to the future. Therefore they enjoy having long philosophical discussions just for the fun of it. As they explore various rather strange theories, they are then easily able to grasp very complex ideas quickly. However they often struggle to explain them to others since they seem to just "know" things and their predictions are almost always right.

Introverted intuition focuses on future possibilities and is very good at understanding what the implications are of any given action. The types who use Ni tend to think and speak in metaphors which they gain as images and symbols in their minds. This is probably why they are often viewed as having psychic abilities by those who do not understand this function. 

Despite the magical quality of introverted Intuition though, there is a logical way of describing how this mental process works. Introverted intuition exist on an axis - types who have it as their primary or dominant function naturally also have extroverted sensing as their fourth and Inferior function. 

Therefore they absorb a lot of sensory data in real-time from the outside world, which they then process subconsciously and use to form patterns in order to make sense of it all. Introverted intuition users love to look at the big picture when solving problems and do not like getting caught up in minor details. 

They instead prefer to simulate likely future possibilities, which grants them the amazing ability of foresight and wisdom. Ni user's naturally perceive patterns in their lives and in the lives of those they care about and are therefore very insightful when it comes to human motivations and future outcomes. 

Also, this mental process is often nicknamed perspectives, because it is able to take on multiple perspectives of different people and events that might seem paradoxical or contradictory in nature. 

Introverted intuition is able to synthesize patterns and reconcile opposing dichotomies into holistic and universal systems that gives us an understanding of the core elements of reality. 

Personality types with introverted intuition can at first glance seem as if they have their heads in the clouds. They might find it hard to stay present in the moment and daydream a lot. This is because they prefer to look into the future to try to predict how things might pan out. They do this by focusing more on the unseen trends that they get impressions and epiphanies about. 

Because NI is an introverted function, those who use it are usually very inwardly focused, which can make them very focused and determined to achieve their goals. These types tends to be private and introspective, since they can rarely find anyone to share their ideas with, that would believe or understand them. 

This is unfortunately due to the fact that they themselves are unable to explain exactly how they know something. Often very obscure ideas seem to just pop into their heads seemingly out of nowhere.  

The cool thing though, is that they are able to work out very complex systems of predicting future events in a highly accurate fashion. This is why their strength lies in being able to come up with transcendent solutions to universal problems.

Human Nature As The Ego

I do believe that at the core of every single individual, there is a unique persona that is highly subjective and yet also archetypal. Our seemingly idiosyncratic traits can actually be observed as patterns that we can quite easily predict. Not in terms of behaviors but more so as interaction styles and temperaments. 

The more that you can learn to observe these tendencies in yourself more consciously - the more control you will have over your behaviors and psyche. 

Learning about human nature will allow you to understand yourself and your personality on a deep level. You will discover how your brain works and how to unlock your inner genius, in order to carve your unique purpose in life and reach your full potential. 

The content in this study is based primarily on the work of CJ Jung, a renowned Swiss psychiatrist, who dedicated his life to discovering what makes up a person's ego or persona. He also explored the shadow side of the personality which largely remains unconscious for most people, and therefore is only displayed during times of stress, and often presents itself in a person's dreams. 

During the time in which they were concieved, Jung's ideas were considered to be quite complex, and were easily misunderstood by most. However, there have been many great psychologists, enthusiasts and scholars who have helped demystify his work through various adaptations. Therefore making the knowledge more accessible to those seeking self understanding and personal development.

This is what gave rise to Jungian analytical psychology, The Myers-Briggs personality test as well as studies such as socionics. Personally I am very interested in developing Jung's theory of the 8 cognitive functions because it describes our mental processes that we as humans use to both learn new information and make decisions. 

Although everyone uses all 8 functions at some point - the order in which we prefer to utilize these mental processes is what creates our personality (or ego). This is what our personality type is comprised of. And since your type largely remains the same throughout your life, you will find that it is an amazing tool for self-analysis and personal development. That is because it can provide you with a fairly accurate system of understanding how your brain is wired. 

Once you discover your personality type, you will become much more understanding of why other people's brain works differently. You therefore gain much more of an appreciation for their differences of perspective and can leverage each other's strengths and learn to manage or cope better with our weaknesses. 

So thank you for taking this journey of deep self awareness and personal development with me. I look forward to helping you develop your unique vision and roadmap for your success.