Introduction
The last article discussed the importance of knowing your audience and tailoring your message to the audience accordingly. Today I am going to discuss the importance of knowing yourself and providing you with a couple of methods of discovering who you are.

Know Yourself
Most articles, books, and conventional advice are all geared towards a set process or guidelines meant to be applied in a systematic fashion. This is okay and works in some cases, however life is seldom viewed in terms of absolutes – there are generally some shades of gray that must be accounted for. Since each person is unique and diverse, a one size fits all approach is hardly effective. When improving yourself you must take into consideration what you know about yourself and tailor the advice accordingly.

There has been much talk over the years about diversity and the importance of having a diverse culture, especially given the “melting pot” nature of the United States. But what makes us different? Generally our differences are an aggregate of our culture, education, and experience which, depending upon how active you are, can evolve over time. As you learn more and discover the secrets of our world you will undoubtedly change. Some do so more rapidly than others, while some really do not change much at all due to a sedate lifestyle and/or unchanging environment. But how do you truly know yourself? There are a number of methods that one may use to determine their inner self – I will go into two methods of which I am familiar.

Journaling And Reflection
One such method of getting to know yourself may be accomplished by journaling and reflection. This method basically consists of documenting the significant events of each day and reflecting on what had occurred at day’s end. What went right? What went wrong? What could have been handled better? Documentation assists with remembering while reflection forces you to think back and seriously consider yourself, your actions, and your feelings towards various environmental stimulus. In effect, you are steering yourself away from negative experiences and towards positive experiences. The hope is that with each session you will become a more efficient and effective person, the results of which will accumulate over time into a grand affect.

The drawback to this approach is that it requires a certain level of discipline, especially to do so daily. Personally when I have used journaling and reflection on a daily basis it was quite effective, however I had found that it was easy to fall off track and difficult to recover when this did occur. I tend to use a more informal method where I think back on my day prior to falling asleep for the evening and informally go through events in my mind and devise corrective actions. This modified approach seems to work best for me but each situation is unique and you should try what suits you best.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator/Jung Typology Test
I had heard much talk over the years about the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) but strangely enough had never actually taken the time to take the test and analyze the results. The essence of this assessment is that a person answers a series of questions and the test result provides a measure of how each person perceives the world and makes decisions. The assessment basically categorizes the test taker into a personality type as originated by Carl Jung; the test itself was originally developed by Katharine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers.

Admittedly I was a bit skeptical that a standardized test could capture the intricacies of my personality, however after taking the test I was pleasantly surprised by the results. After taking this test a couple times I thought it worthwhile to recommend it to readers of this blog, if for no other reason but to receive a perspective on your personality. It may not be all inclusive but is interesting nonetheless and worth considering.

I will walk you though the steps to take the test and share with you my results:

1. Click here
2. Answer the provided questions, there are 72 total – however they are extremely straightforward and are yes/no type
3. Click the “Score It!” button at the bottom of the page

The test takes all of two minutes and I found the results to be fascinating; here are mine:

What I found interesting was that I had taken this test about a month ago and had the same result of INFJ with a breakdown of I (33%), N (38%), F (25%), J (11%). It appears that over time I am becoming more introverted and intuitive, less feeling, all while being just as judgmental

The analysis of the results are the fun part. According to the results I am what is referred to as a “Counselor” with the following description taken from the HumanMetrics website:

“Idealist Portrait of the Counselor (INFJ): Counselors have an exceptionally strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others, and find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential. Although they are happy working at jobs (such as writing) that require solitude and close attention, Counselors do quite well with individuals or groups of people, provided that the personal interactions are not superficial, and that they find some quiet, private time every now and then to recharge their batteries. Counselors are both kind and positive in their handling of others; they are great listeners and seem naturally interested in helping people with their personal problems. Not usually visible leaders, Counselors prefer to work intensely with those close to them, especially on a one-to-one basis, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes.

Counselors are scarce, little more than one percent of the population, and can be hard to get to know, since they tend not to share their innermost thoughts or their powerful emotional reactions except with their loved ones. They are highly private people, with an unusually rich, complicated inner life. Friends or colleagues who have known them for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that Counselors are flighty or scattered; they value their integrity a great deal, but they have mysterious, intricately woven personalities which sometimes puzzle even them.

Counselors tend to work effectively in organizations. They value staff harmony and make every effort to help an organization run smoothly and pleasantly. They understand and use human systems creatively, and are good at consulting and cooperating with others. As employees or employers, Counselors are concerned with people’s feelings and are able to act as a barometer of the feelings within the organization.

Blessed with vivid imaginations, Counselors are often seen as the most poetical of all the types, and in fact they use a lot of poetic imagery in their everyday language. Their great talent for language-both written and spoken-is usually directed toward communicating with people in a personalized way. Counselors are highly intuitive and can recognize another’s emotions or intentions – good or evil – even before that person is aware of them. Counselors themselves can seldom tell how they came to read others’ feelings so keenly. This extreme sensitivity to others could very well be the basis of the Counselor’s remarkable ability to experience a whole array of psychic phenomena.

Interestingly enough I had found the whole description to accurately describe my personality. I find it fascinating that the description states that I “find great personal fulfillment interacting with people, nurturing their personal development, guiding them to realize their human potential.” Interesting yet is that I am “happy working at jobs (such as writing)”. The most fascinating aspect is that they say that Counselors make up only “a little more than one percent of the population” – they definitely broke the mold!  Interestingly enough Amy is also an INFJ.

As part of a different description for this same personality type the following is provided:

“Usually self-expression comes more easily to INFJs on paper, as they tend to have strong writing skills. Since in addition they often possess a strong personal charisma, INFJs are generally well-suited to the “inspirational” professions such as teaching (especially in higher education) and religious leadership. Psychology and counseling are other obvious choices, but overall, INFJs can be exceptionally difficult to pigeonhole by their career paths. Perhaps the best example of this occurs in the technical fields. Many INFJs perceive themselves at a disadvantage when dealing with the mystique and formality of “hard logic”, and in academic terms this may cause a tendency to gravitate towards the liberal arts rather than the sciences. However, the significant minority of INFJs who do pursue studies and careers in the latter areas tend to be as successful as their T counterparts, as it is *iNtuition* — the dominant function for the INFJ type — which governs the ability to understand abstract theory and implement it creatively.

Again notice the emphasis on “writing” and “inspirational professions”. Considering this blog and the fact that I am currently writing my first book titled “Vulnerable Marketing” I find this to be a pretty fun description which was totally unplanned as I did not take this assessment prior to considering the direction of the blog or book. The description continues with the following:

“In their own way, INFJs are just as much “systems builders” as are INTJs; the difference lies in that most INFJ “systems” are founded on human beings and human values, rather than information and technology. Their systems may for these reasons be conceptually “blurrier” than analogous NT ones, harder to measure in strict numerical terms, and easier to take for granted — yet it is these same underlying reasons which make the resulting contributions to society so vital and profound.

Interesting the knack for technology and system building – I was in fact a Systems Engineer in my past life – not in a pure IT sense but more of a cross-disciplinary team management type role.

There is more in depth analysis provided and additional details which I will not bore you with here. There are also additional results to include famous personalities who share the same personality types, risk profiler, and entrepreneur test. The basic test and risk profiler are free while other expanded options such as a marriage test, entrepreneur test, and role model profiler are available for a nominal fee. I found the risk profiler to be interesting as well, my primary risk attitude of “Inspired” to be spot on, whereas my secondary type of “Adventurer” not so much. Given the description of the “Adventurer” I am glad that is not a pronounced trait, although I guess it is nice to have a hint of this when a rebellious nature is required!

Give It A Try!
Check it out – what do you have to lose? At a minimum it will serve as a fun distraction and only takes a couple of minutes. I was skeptical at first, however the more I read the more interested I became. It is a fun exercise and time well spent, if nothing else it will make you consider knowing yourself and perhaps give you additional information in which to consider.

In a future article I hope to address the entrepreneur test. Once you do decide to take the test I would be interested in your results should you be willing to share in the comments – to include the personality type and if you believe it accurately describes you. I look forward to your responses and thoughts on this subject!

Know yourself and channel your personal development towards your capabilities and limitations!

-John R. Sedivy of Cape Cod Branding