The INTJ Personality Type Part 2: Living as an INTJ

No random actions, none not based on underlying principles. 

-Marcus Aurelius

Last week, I presented a portrait of the INTJ's psychology. I shared about how it is structured, how it functions, and its general characteristics as a personality type. 

In this second part of the series, I'm going to share my experiences and observations as an INTJ. Drawing upon developments from my childhood, teenage years, up to my present life as a young adult.

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How I see the world as an INTJ

Since my early childhood, I have always been fascinated about how the world works. I've explored my budding curiosities on Religion, Science, and Literature. Dwelling on questions such as "Is there an afterlife?" or "Is there life on other planets?" Talking about these things with like-minded friends would fill me with joy and excitement. Indulging myself in my school textbooks, especially those on Science, nurtured my natural curiosity that I have carried on to my present life.

In my teenage years, my outlook on life was dominated by the scientific perspective. My wonder about the cosmos extended into a search for meaning. From questions of curiosities, I started to concern myself with questions that will give my life clarity. Science, at the time, was the one that gave me console. It developed within me the idea that everything operates according to immutable physical laws. I thereby became open to the thought that the meanings I'm searching for can be derived through reason and rationality. And that confusion and being lost are but the natural results of irrationality and having a distorted perspective on reality.

As I gained more life experience and learned more ways of looking at the world, I developed a pluralist worldview. I became open to lessons and insights from different perspectives such as Psychology, History, Philosophy, and Spirituality. I realized that the key to understanding the world better is by looking at it from multiple angles. And that the other reason for confusion and disorientation is confining oneself to a limited worldview.

This constant search for understanding and meaning is undoubtedly motivated by my personality type. I've always seen the world this way. I consciously or unconsciously search for structures, patterns, and reason for why things are as they are in order for me to better cope with them and be effective at living. As much as it is a pragmatic function of my personality type, it also gives me contentment and thrill. The quest for meaning itself makes me happy. My curiosity, wonder, and yearning for understanding, as I see it, will be a lifelong pursuit. I will always interpret and see the world as a puzzle to be solved, a mystery to be unfolded, and a riddle where I can derive meaning from. 

My strengths and inclinations

My personal strength lies in critical thinking. This became evident to me as I looked upon my accomplishments during my early education and university years. I excelled at subjects such as History, English, and Literature. I also excelled in some law subjects. I can put myself to see problems, concepts, and ideas in multiple angles, suspend my judgment, and derive just conclusions. This affinity has helped me in writing assignments and tasks that requires analytical thinking.

It was also helpful that I can grasp abstract concepts easily.  Because eventually, as part of my effort to of self-education, I became an avid reader of Philosophy and Psychology. I spent my time reading philosophical ideas during my free time. I observed that I can understand topics such as Communism, Post-modernism or Gestalt psychology  in just a short amount of time. This ability, as I now understand, comes from my dominant function that is my introverted intuition, which constructs and welds information for me, creating organized thoughts by recognizing patterns and connections on whatever it is that I am thinking or reading about. 

This keen intuition of mine is also receptive to beauty, and it is the reason why I am deeply fascinated with Art. Artworks, whether they'd be films, paintings or fiction books, serves as compelling subjects to me. In art, my intuition delights because it can garner and process layers of meaning that comes from symbolism, satire, and ultimately, from the subtle messages that art brings to light. Personally, more than appreciating beauty, I am most curious in knowing art's existential nature (If you have friends who are this curious about something like me, he/she is probably an INTJ). My enthusiasm on the question of what art is ensures that it will always be a subject that will strike my curiosity at any given time. 

At present, my inclinations are moving toward more inclusion and diversity. Given that I interpret reality as a web of systems that I need to understand, I am naturally compelled to draw from different fields of studies. This act is informed by an intuition that disregarding perspectives is the root cause of fragmentation, partiality, antagonism, and ultimately, discord.

I am seeing my psychology evolve to think more in terms of systems, capable of identifying larger and more inclusive patterns. I can see myself becoming more nuanced in making judgments and open to new ways of looking at the world.

My blind functions and weaknesses

Let's now talk about my "blind spots." As I have mentioned in my post last week, INTJs has feeling and sensing as their tertiary and inferior functions. Just like my strengths, my weaknesses are equally prevalent in my daily life. 

My tertiary function, introverted feeling, causes me to prefer independence than cooperation. In most cases, I find it limiting to work within a group. I feel that I can't express myself fully when I'm in such settings. I tend to avoid them especially if the group or organization has values that aren't aligned with mine. I am sensitive to authority and can't stand being led by leaders I find incompetent. 

I am not adept at playing the "social game" that many people like to play. I tend to be repulsive to playing "politics" especially in the workplace. My tendency is to avoid them altogether which often makes me aloof and distant. Of course, my real motive here is to avoid unnecessary distractions, especially in the workplace, but a colleague may interpret it as me being uninterested or downright rude.  This misinterpretation is what's causing the majority of my social dilemmas. 

My last function, extraverted sensing, presents another set of problems to me. I have a natural ineptitude in seeing changes, nuances, and signs from my environment. I am the opposite of those who are adept at being instinctive like naturalists or navigators. 

This function also causes me to be a bad reader of emotions, especially those of other people. My psychology finds emotions difficult to process because unlike rationality, emotions are fluid and constantly changing. Spontaneous social interactions drains my energy fast. It takes more effort for me to engage in emotional and social affairs. 

Also, like most introverts, I need a lot of time alone. This is necessary for me in order to process emotions, give space to my intuitive thinking, or to recover energy spent from using my inferior functions. 

How I manage myself as an INTJ

The INTJ personality type is as complex as you can imagine. I feel like I'm venturing into a maze whenever I study myself and do personal development. It took me years of life experience, self-observation, and study just to understand my basic psychological functions. And I would say that these efforts boded well into my adulthood. For Instance, I am now confident that I can manage myself with the help of all the theories and mental models that I have gained. I can now identify what my strengths are, which is helpful for me in making career decisions. I have also shed enough light on my weaknesses so that I can work on them.

It is important for me to maintain balance and exhibit patience in my growth. I am carefully developing my emotional intelligence. I see that it won't only be critical for my development as an INTJ but it can also provide me opportunities in other areas of my life, especially in relationships. Also, as much as I am inept at it, I am now maintaining that social intelligence is like any other skill that can be developed with enough practice and study. I'm going to continue to foster myself in this regard. 

Developing oneself as an INTJ is all about giving yourself all the opportunity you need to live up to your potential. So, I'm continuing to surround myself with great books, give myself time to travel, appreciate artworks, listen to great teachers, and explore more and more ways of knowing the world.

It is of my plan to continue to accentuate on my strengths, and to develop my weaknesses to a point where they won't be hindrances, and become catalysts instead for a more integrated psychology and a fuller experience of my existence.

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In conclusion, I can say that the MBTI is a helpful and comprehensive psychological model that can help one gain self-knowledge in a fairly accurate way. It was enlightening for me to know my personality type because it opened me up to more opportunities for self-growth, and also made me vigilant to the destructive behaviors caused by my weaknesses. All people should be able to have access to this kind of valuable knowledge. This is the value-and the gift-of studying psychology.

I hope you have gained insights and become curious as well on the depth, value, complexity, and beauty of understanding our inner world, through this short series.