I have talked about personality and being an introvert a couple of times on here over the course of the last few weeks. After discovering to be an introvert a few things fell into place for me and I was keen to learn more about this personality trait. A couple of weeks ago I took the Meyers-Briggs Personality Test to get even more insight. My verdict: INFJ
Coming from a background in psychology I naturally take these kinds of tests with a grain of salt yet I can’t deny how shocked I was when I read the description of INFJ people. Some statements were just so accurate that it creeped me out. On the other hand I felt like the biggest relieve as I finally somehow fit in somewhere. I have processed the whole thing in my mind for some time now and I have also read quite a few articles about it. Some things completely hit home some things at least to an extent.
And as I feel a bit random and narcissistic today (actually a really weird combination) I thought I’d compile a neat little list of things about me being INFJ.
Things I wish everyone knew about INFJ me yet I don’t bring up in casual conversation
1. Reading the list of famous INFJs makes me cringe – I can’t relate
2. I think I am a good friend. I love being there for others. If fact I will always be
3. I avoid under all circumstances to hurt anyone and then I get hurt in the process
4. I feel intensely and I like being full of emotion yet sometimes I think I might burst
5. Sometimes it’s hard to balance my emotions – sometimes it’s even hard to know what I am feeling. That’s what makes me moody
6. I rarely let my guard down and as much as I wish to open up with people the risk is just too high. And when I open up I am torn between euphoria and fearful regret
7. I have a very rich and chaotic inner world and I spend a lot of time there. It’s my happy place
8. I have a hard time to cope with spontaneous change in plans but that doesn’t mean I can’t warm up to new ideas
9. I feel like an idiot when I speak with other people a lot
10. I can throw the biggest most flamboyant pity party for myself
11. I do feel social and like to engage in social activity but an afternoon coffee + dinner invitation freaks me out
12. When I am with another person alone I am much more social and don’t burn out so easily
13. Stubbornness – at my best and at my worst
14. When I overreact it’s not because I want to stir drama, it’s because the last 20 times I haven’t reacted at all and now everything comes out all at once
15. When someone I care about gets hurt it hurts me too
16. I like being complex but I don’t like that it makes me so complicated sometimes
17. I love how empathetic I am but I wish I wouldn’t feel other people’s emotions as strong as they were my own
18. I remember pretty much everything anybody has ever told me about themselves. Yet I don’t let people know most of the time as I don’t want to be a creeper
19. I often feel weak as stress, anger, disappointment and conflict affect me physically
20. Expectations… I try not to have any because mine are always too high – and I don’t want to be pushy
21. I don’t mean to shut out anyone when I am shutting down. Sometimes I just need to re-attach to myself
22. Even though I need my alone time I don’t want to be alone all the time
23. I am most allergic to people telling me how I should feel
24. I crave intense friendships and relationships – I am not in for lukewarm and I need to be needed
25. I am a walking contradiction yet everything makes sense to me
Now that I have successfully affirmed myself that I am a normal human being the hard part starts. With gaining more knowledge about how I as an INFJ might be wired I also got a holy lot of excuses for certain behavior. I think it’s difficult to draw the line between recharging and having a break from being anti-social and isolating myself. I might not have mentioned it in detail but I am prone to extreme bahavior.
Also having an excuse for being moody from time to time hasn’t been very helpful to decrease the moodiness.
On the other hand life would probably be pretty boring if we had figured it out all the time.
Have you ever taken a personality test? What did it do to you?
INFJ sisters!! I took the same personality test a few months ago and was blown away by the things it ‘knew’ about me. I actually just listened to a podcast about being an INFJ this past weekend and it was very cool. I think it was on huffduffer. It is nice to know that I’m not crazy, but it’s pretty hard for me to remember to be a sieve and not a jar for other people’s emotions.
I hope you have a great weekend!
YAY 🙂 Oh I am going to check out that podcast.
I so know what you mean. But the most contradicting thing is that everything that drives me bokers can also be my absolute favorite part. Like I love to be needed but it also is the most overwhelming thing to me at times.
Hope you have a good weekend, too 🙂
I took the same test and got INFJ. Although I have also taken a different test and gotten INTJ. Either way, I can relate to much of what you said here!
That’s what I mean with taking these tests with a grain of salt. Different items, a certain mood, whether you’re tired or stressed, there are so many influencing factors to the outcome. So it all depends on what you make of the insights you gain from the results and even on what you distance yourself from.
I’ve never heard of this test but…..I’m so intrigued now! I’m going to do it lol!
Haha let me know what you think about it. I was soooo creeped out!
I have done the test twice now, once about 5 years ago and then again last year. Both times same result – ESTJ. I was amazed that it was the same both times as I thought I had changed so much but I guess deep down you are always the same person! Ha!
I was taken aback on how accurate it was in describing my traits actually!
Oh that’s really interesting. I read that a lot of people change over the time due to the increasing experience in many areas of life over the years.
I literally sat at my desk nodding to myself and talking to my screen when I read the description. So much for being unique ;-P
I am a huge fan of the Meyers Brigg test. I took it several years back and so much of what it said spoke to me. It also helped me understand why I was feeling irritable when I didn’t know the cause. Lots of times, it was simply because I needed some alone time or down time. Now when I start getting frustrated or upset, I can usually identify the reason which helps tremendously especially since I can put in place a solution.
I can relate to all you said. And it also helps me explain my ‘strange behavior’ better to other people. It’s also easier for myself to value my needs more. Like I was at a family thing a few weeks back, one of those 2.30 – 9.30 pm things and after coffee I just retreated to the garden and recharged my batteries for 20 min. The evening was way better than most evening when I didn’t value my need for a bit alone time.
Thank you so much for sentence no. 7 & 13!