My MBTI Type Nailed Down

In regard to my confusion about my MBTI type I contacted the people at PersonalityHacker.com and asked them for assistance. This is the response that I received from their COO:

Hi Austin

 

Thank you for your email. We receive a lot of requests from people asking for help with finding their best fit type.

 

Your best fit type transcends tests. Online tests aren't known for their accuracy, they're more of a guide or starting point. True knowledge comes when you take the time to research the cognitive functions of each type and learn where you fit into the equation.

It is entirely possible you mistyped as an INTP originally, and now that you have matured, you are typing accurately. Or, maybe you are an INTP and your exposure to a dynamic that is heavily Extraverted Thinking (the military) has influenced you to demonstrate cognitive functions that are not yours. 

We did a podcast a while back about how trauma can impact personality:

http://www.personalityhacker.com/phq-questions-trauma-and-personality-tests/

We all have modifiers in our lives that make us unique. There are more introverted Extraverts and vice-versa. I'd recommend watching for your 3 yr old (in our car model, or what's technically called the inferior process). Sometimes where we go when we're overwhelmed can tell us more about our type than anything.  

Also - have you listened to our podcasts on the types? If not, those may be a good place to start as well. They're long form deep dives into the types, so they may shed some light.  

Go to personalityhacker.com and find the resource pages for the types you have narrowed it down to. There's a ton of content and information there. 

You can also check out these articles: 

http://www.personalityhacker.com/when-you-almost-know-your-personality-type/ 

http://www.personalityhacker.com/3-biggest-mistakes-self-personality-typing/

If you still run into confusion, we have a product whereby you can talk to a qualified Profiler and find out your best fit type over the phone. Here is the link to that product:

http://www.personalityhacker.com/personality-type-verification/
  
Good Luck!

Charis Branson
Director of Operations | Personality Hacker 

 I watched the videos and read the pages that she suggested. To be honest they didn't help me much. However, the part where she said to "look at the inferior process" really helped. The stack sequence for an INTJ is NiTeFiSe. The stack sequence for an INTP is TiNeSiFe. For an INTP the inferior process is Fe (or Extraverted Feeling). For the INTJ the inferior process is Se (or Extraverted Sensing). I couldn't decide which of these I was better at. Fe looks at if other people are getting their needs met, and Se looks at the detail in the world around you. I suck very badly at both of these. I moved up to the tertiary position. Which do I use more, Si of Fi? Fi is understanding your own needs/feelings/morality. Si, for most thinking types, is about remembering how you have done things before. And there we have a winner! I almost have to learn things on the fly every time I do something. I can not readily recall how I have done things before. So that locks me in as an INTJ. There is no doubt about it.
I am able to use Te to see possibilities and how things work, like an INTP,  fairly well. I guess 18 years developing that skill still counts for something.

So, that leaves me with a plan for improvement. The good folks at Personality Hacker say that the key to personal growth is to develop your secondary process. For an INTJ that is Te. Te looks at something and asks the question "how can I use this?". So I need to work on completing tasks and putting them to the test in the real world. It is a deductive trail and error process. New Mantra: Done is better than Perfect. I need to not obsess over the perfect path to do something and just do it. This will be a hard thing for me to do. It will certainly take me out of my comfort zone. But isn't that where they say growth happens? Time to do a deep dive into INTJ specific information.

In an effort to keep better track of information and events I have started using a bullet journal. I have it all set up using Microsoft One Note rather than paper and pen, I am a tech geek at heart. I am interested to see how this goes.

Things I know:

1. I am an INTJ
2. I have a lot of work to do.

Things I want to know:

1. Are there questions that I can ask myself to direct my thoughts to a utility base other than "How can I use this?"
2. How can I leverage my thought process to not only create a system (my journal) but keep up with it?