Thursday Thoughts – personality tests & self-judgment

Hi there!

Have you seen that quiz that’s been circling around on Facebook? The one where you find your personality type?

(If you haven’t or if, for some reason you’re not on Facebook, here are a couple of links to similar quizzes: Jung Typology Test™ and 16Personalities.)

Well, that quiz is based off the Myers-Briggs assessment and is surprisingly accurate for just a few questions.

I’ve taken the full Myers-Briggs assessment before – it was actually a requirement and part of orientation at a previous place of employment – at least twice and I score the same each time. I scored the same with this quiz.

Basically, you’re asked a bunch of questions that you are supposed to answer honestly – and no, this isn’t like those “Which Disney Princess are you?” quizzes where you have to pick an answer regardless of whether or not it’s true and “none of the above” is not an option. I hate those. It’s more “which do you prefer?” or “how does this situation make you feel?” type questions.

Then, you’re given a 4 letter “type” based off your answers.

The first letter is either an I or an E: Introvert or Extrovert.

If you don’t know, an introvert is the quiet, reserved person who probably is perfectly happy staying home reading a book or sitting silently in a meeting and the extrovert is the one who has no problems speaking, maybe getting up and singing karaoke, loves attention, etc.

The second letter is either an S or an N: Sensing or iNtuition.

This letter refers to how you process information or how you perceive things. A “sensing” person is usually pretty realistic, practical, and detail oriented. An “intuitive” person is usually innovative, forward-thinking, and imaginative.

The third letter is either a T or an F: Thinking or Feeling.

This basically refers to how you prefer to make decisions. This is also the trait that can, in my personal experience, cause heads to butt (Seriously, that’s just a funny thing to say! Haha! Okay, I’m done being a 12 year old boy.). A thinker is more analytical, objective, and rational, while a feeler tends to be sensitive, compassionate, and empathetic. Thinkers tend to leave their feelings out of the decision-making process and go for facts and feelers go with their gut and pay little attention to data charts, etc. Makes for an interesting meeting, to say the least.

The final letter is either a P or a J: Perception or Judgment.

This is basically how you handle or organize your life. A “judger” is often conscientious, loyal, and dedicated and a “perceiver” is often more flexible, accepting, tolerant, and open-minded.

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I’m an ISTJ.

According to Myers-Briggs, that means I’m “quietly systematic, factual, organized, logical, detailed, conscientious, analytical, responsible, pragmatic, critical, conservative, decisive, stable, concrete, efficient.”

According to truity.com, “Popular hobbies for the ISTJ include concentration games like chess and Trivial Pursuit, playing computer games, watching sporting events, pursuing physical fitness, and playing solitary sports such as golf.”

Hmmm…..pursuing physical fitness…..interesting…..

Still with me? Good. I have a point, I promise. 🙂

Let’s talk about my final letter – the J. Judgment. The letter that leads to the descriptive adjective: critical.

When you take the actual Myers-Briggs test, you get a chart that shows you where you place with one letter being on one side and the other being on the opposite side.

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Please note that while those results are for an ISTJ, those are not my personal results. I was just lucky enough to find a picture of what I was describing with ISTJ as the personality type.

Anyhoo, back to my J.

I’m WAYYYYY over on the J side.

Like, I barely have any P in me. (hahahahah! 12 year old boy again. sorry.)

Okay, seriously, my point. I’m getting there.

While the J is described as “systematic, loyal, dedicated, methodical,” etc….there is some judgmental in there. Otherwise, “critical” wouldn’t be in the description.

I try not to be judgmental of others because there’s just really no need for that and it’s just wasted energy but sometimes, I just can’t help it.

Like, when a person professes to be proficient in grammar or is an English teacher, and then posts/shares/emails things that are rife with spelling and grammatical errors. Yes, it’s true, I’m totally judging them.

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But,the person that I judge the most is me.

And I KNOW I’m not the only person in the world guilty of that.

And no, I don’t mean guilty of judging ME but guilty of judging themselves. If you’re judging me, you better stop or I’ll poke your eyes out. 😉

Yesterday, at CrossFit, I totally judged myself and my performance and not in a positive manner.

There’s this girl who is probably 15-20 years younger than me and is super tiny (both in height and weight. a stiff wind might knock her over.) and she’s also wicked strong.

The WOD was running, 10 pistol squats (alternating legs), and 2 rope climbs, every 5 minutes for 4 rounds.

Now, I’m still taking my running slowly because I don’t want to push myself too hard and reinjure my foot, and I KNOW THIS and I UNDERSTAND THIS, but when we went out the door on the run (400m sprint), I instantly felt like a slug watching her take off.

Then, she knocks out the pistols like they’re a piece of cake – which didn’t bother me, for some reason – and climbs the rope twice SUPER FAST like it’s nothing.

It takes me FOREVER to climb the ropes. Well, probably not forever, but for the first 2 rounds, I used the entire 5 minutes to knock out everything and I was the last one climbing while everyone else was resting. Then, the last 2 rounds, I could only manage 1 rope climb each time. She was still knocking out both AND still had time to rest!

And, she can do 5 strict pull ups in a row.

I’m at 3, which is actually a pretty big deal for me.

But, I was totally judging myself based on HER performance. Wtf?

I don’t usually do that. I like to take inspiration from other athletes but I don’t usually let their strengths intimidate me or make me feel like I’m lacking in any way.

Why did I turn into my own worst enemy?

Interestingly enough, that self-judgment came the same week that Renee Zellwegger is being judged for looking different. People are being overly critical about the possibility over her having plastic surgery. OMG, she’s got somebody else’s face, she looks so different, blah, blah, blah. Sheesh, people, she’s aging and she’s gorgeous and she’s HUMAN and that’s what happens to HUMANS. Good grief.

Why is it such big news?!

Yes, I’m aware she elected a career that puts her in the spotlight, in front of millions of people, but still……why can’t she age/be herself without being judged?

I feel as if I’m going to digress too much so I need to reign myself back in. I want to get to my point.

Critical of myself. Judging my abilities based on someone else’s abilities.

I need to stop doing that.

We all need to stop doing that to ourselves.

I’m strong, I’m in great shape, I can do 3 strict pull ups in a row, I can deadlift more than 200 pounds, I’ve run 8 marathons, I love to cook and can do so pretty well, I’m smart, I’m a ginger (now that’s something to be proud of!), and I’m not the best at everything and that’s okay because it gives me goals to set and work towards.

Could you imagine how exhausting it would be to be the best at EVERYTHING?

My point is (I told you I had one!!!) – don’t judge yourself, or be overly critical of yourself, based on the skills and abilities of others, whether you have a J in your personality type or not.

Just say NO to those evil voices in your head.

Work hard, be you, and appreciate who you are and what you can do.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, I yelled at myself – may or may not have been out loud – and pulled my thoughts back to my own abilities and getting through the WOD. And then I fist-bumped the girl who kicked my butt and told her she was bad ass. 🙂

Talk to me: What’s your personality type? (um, if you didn’t take the quiz, do it now!) Have you ever caught yourself judging or being overly critical of yourself? Do you talk to yourself, sometimes out loud?

– jennifer