Your personality type

Personality. You’ve got personality. And knowing what kind of personality you have can give you the extra understanding you need to make wise career and life decisions.

One of the first things you need to know when it comes to taking a personality “test” – and there are lots available to choose from – is that this is a “test” that you cannot fail. A true personality test is just someones’ attempt to help you understand the complexities of your design.

Yes, morality matters, but personality is different; it isn’t so much about right and wrong as it is about observing how people are similar and yet different. Human beings are similar to and yet quite different from the other creatures God has made. And you are similar to and yet different from other human beings.

Each person reading this is unique, and yet, each one of you fits into some sort of personality pattern. Knowing your particular pattern can open up a whole new world of self-understanding and “other-understanding” for that matter.

Allow me to introduce myself. I am a melancholic/phlegmatic, compliant (C)/supportive (S), INTJ. Florence Littauer has a list of 22 personality systems in her book Your Personality Tree (p.235) but these three system descriptions should do for now. As an introvert (INTJ) I quite enjoy spending hours and hours alone in front of this computer screen. Although I need people in my life, I feel energized by being alone. In contrast, I need time to recover after being around people for very long.

Some of you can relate. We are cut from the same cloth. Others may think that we must be alien beings from another planet. “What is wrong with you people?” some sanguine types may say. And though there is inevitably also something wrong with “us people” personality is not really the problem. It is what it is. We are not going to change. Neither will you.

You can, however, becoming more alert to the strengths and weakness of your personality type. For example, I discovered in Tim Lahaye’s book Spirit-Controlled temperament that I am wired to make a creative/artistic/analytical contribution to the world, and, at the same time, realized that my personality type has the greatest tendency to self-destruct. How true.

But enough about me. Here is a link to the mother of all personality assessment tools. It is called MBTI which is short for Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. It will cost you $49.95 plus tax USD.

Too much money? Here is a link to one of the many free personality assessment services online.

Enjoy your journey of discovery!