Sincerely, Me.

I’ve tried pretty much every personality “test” that has come along over the years, mostly just to see if they happen to know me as well as I know myself.

They usually do.

For years, I proudly wore my EXTREMELY RARE (i.e. special, valuable, and likely just a little bit better than yours) Meyers-Briggs results with pride. The INTJ.

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Introverted

Intuitive

Thinking

Judging

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Yup. Yup. Yup. Yup.

This combination describes the pretty classical perfectionist, although the MBTI politely calls me an “Architect“, which less politely means I WANT TO BUILD MY WORLD (and yours) EXACTLY THE WAY IT “SHOULD” BE.

It can be lonely at the top. As one of the rarest personality types – and one of the most capable (emphases mine) – Architects (INTJs) know this all too well. Rational and quick-witted, Architects may struggle to find people who can keep up with their nonstop analysis of everything around them.

These personalities can be both the boldest of dreamers and the bitterest of pessimists. Architects believe that, through willpower and intelligence, they can achieve even the most challenging of goals. But they may be cynical about human nature more generally, assuming that most people are lazy, unimaginative, or simply doomed to mediocrity. Architects derive much of their self-esteem from their knowledge and mental acuity. In school, people with this personality type may have been called “bookworms” or “nerds.” But rather than taking these labels as insults, many Architects embrace them. They are confident in their ability to teach themselves about – and master – any topic that interests them, whether that’s coding or capoeira or classical music.

Architects can be single-minded, with little patience for frivolity, distractions, or idle gossip. That said, it would be a mistake to stereotype these personalities as dull or humorless. Many Architects are known for their irreverent wit, and beneath their serious exteriors, they often have a sharp, delightfully sarcastic sense of humor.

https://www.16personalities.com/intj-personality

I gotta tell ya, life as an INTJ has been hard

Has been bad

Has been rough

Because, guess what? Nothing is as it “should” be. What does that even mean?

Is my “should” better than your “should”?

(Probably)

Should it be?

(Probably).

(The T and J are for “Thinking” and “Judging”, in case you needed a reminder yet…)

But I digress before I even begin.

Meyers-Briggs is OUT, I guess. Half the youngsters don’t even know what I’m talking about when I whip out my beloved letters, let alone know how INCREDIBLY RARE I am and how HONORED and PRIVILEGED they are to have the benefits of a connection to me.

Sigh.

The Enneagram is now “the thing”. Which is fine, I guess. It just meant I had to take 10 more tests to see if THIS one was right about me or not.

Why 10 tests?

Yeah, you don’t know very well…

While results were mixed from test to test, the preponderance of the evidence indicates I’m a Type 1 (with Types 3 and 6 always in close contention), which makes sense, because Type 1 is:

The Perfectionist.

Ta da!

1. THE REFORMER: The Rational, Idealistic Type: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic

Yeah, nailed it. Again.

But since Types 6 and 3 were always in the vicinity (and beating out Type 1 on one particular test), here’s the skinny on those:

6. THE LOYALIST: The Committed, Security-Oriented Type: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious

3. THE ACHIEVER: The Success-Oriented, Pragmatic Type: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious

Yup and yup.

Well, what the heck? There are only nine types and three of them describe me perfectly? Maybe it’s like a horoscope or a psychic reading, and they all say just enough of what we want to hear so we’ll buy it…

Let me see what the low-scoring result for me says:

7. THE ENTHUSIAST: The Busy, Fun-Loving Type: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ummmm, no. Guess it’s not like a horoscope.

What’s the point of this entry? I honestly have no idea, other than I’m constantly striving to figure out what makes me tick.

As in, how can I be a “Reformer” and a “Loyalist” at the same time? Does that explain some of the turmoil?

See, like that. You know, so I can fix it.

Speaking of which, tell me what your type is. I’m sure I can find some spare time to fix you, too.

‘Cause all that it takes is a little reinvention
It’s easy to change if you give it your attention
All you gotta do is just believe you can be who you want to be
Sincerely, Me