Summary

The website content discusses the importance of self-awareness for personal growth and understanding one's interactions with the world, emphasizing the use of personality assessments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and the Enneagram to gain insights into one's behavior and relationships.

Abstract

Understanding oneself is crucial for recognizing patterns in behavior and improving relationships, as outlined in the article. It suggests that individuals view the world through unique lenses shaped by their personalities, moods, and needs. The article introduces the MBTI and Enneagram as tools to help individuals identify their personality types, which can change over time due to personal growth and life experiences. By knowing their personality type, people can better comprehend their tendencies, such as trust issues or anxiety, and work towards healthier interactions and personal development. The article also encourages re-evaluation of personality types after significant life events to ensure accuracy and promote continued self-discovery.

Opinions

The author believes that personality tests like Myers-Briggs and Enneagram are valuable for self-discovery and improving interpersonal relationships.
There is an opinion that self-awareness can lead to healthier interactions with others and personal growth.
The author expresses that personality types can evolve, suggesting the importance of re-assessment after major life changes.
The article conveys that understanding one's personality type can help in overcoming challenges such as anxiety and trust issues.
It is suggested that displaying personality types openly could foster better understanding and reduce disagreements in social and professional settings.

Life is better with understanding

How to Better Understand Yourself to Understand Your World

Self-awareness in progress

Knowing who you are and how you relate with other people is key to understanding your relationships as you go through life. But, how are you to understand the patterns of your behavior unless you truly know yourself and why you relate with others the way you do?

If you aren’t in touch with who you are, you may go through the same patterns and behaviors over and over again. Whether you know it or not, you look at the world through a set of lenses. Truth be told, so does everyone else. We look at the world through a lens based on our needs, personalities, and moods.

Understanding your personality may help you know yourself better. Myers & Briggs and the Enneagram tests are both excellent indicators of what kind of personality you have. A quick Google search will reveal free and paid versions of each, depending on how deep you want to go in your discovery.

If you want to understand who you are, you can take a test. If you already know your personality type, you may dive into a deeper understanding of your relationships with others. As we live, move, and grow, we discover more about ourselves and how we relate to others. Based on this growth, your personality type can change. If it’s been a while since you’ve typed your personality, it may be worth doing again. Maybe you’ve changed.

The Myers & Briggs assessment helps you determine if you are an extrovert or an introvert, whether you are sensing or intuitive, thinking or feeling, judging or perceiving. Your personality type will fall into one of sixteen personalities:

Intuitive-Thinking. INTJ. INTP. ENTJ. ENTP.
Intuitive-Feeling. INFJ. INFP. ENFJ. ENFP.
Sensing-Judging. ISTJ. ISFJ. ESTJ. ESFJ.
Sensing-Perceiving. ISTP. ISFP. ESTP. ESFP.

The Enneagram also helps you determine which kind of personality you are:

1-Reformer: Rational: Principled, Purposeful, Self-Controlled, and Perfectionistic
2-Helper: Caring: Demonstrative, Generous, People-Pleasing, and Possessive
3-Achiever: Success-Oriented: Adaptive, Excelling, Driven, and Image-Conscious
4-Individualist: Sensitive: Expressive, Dramatic, Self-Absorbed, and Temperamental
5-Investigator: Intense: Perceptive, Innovative, Secretive, and Isolated
6-Loyalist: Committed: Engaging, Responsible, Anxious, and Suspicious
7-Enthusiast: Fun-Loving: Spontaneous, Versatile, Distractible, and Scattered
8-Challenger: Dominating: Self-Confident, Decisive, Willful, and Confrontational
9-Peacemaker: Easygoing: Receptive, Reassuring, Agreeable, and Complacent

I took Myers & Briggs a long time ago, and felt it was reasonably accurate at the time, but have only recently taken the Enneagram assessment. Friends kept asking me what my number was, and I didn’t know, so I decided to see if the test was accurate. I paid a small fee for a code to take the test and the self-awareness I received in return was greater than the price I paid for knowledge of how to have better relationships and interactions with people.

My personality type is equally split between a Loyalist and a Reformer, quickly followed by a Challenger. I’m a loyal reformer who likes a challenge. You might feel sorry for my kids about now. If you are a split-personality type of person, pick the one that suits you best as your dominate personality.

When I double-checked this against my Myers-Brigs personality type this made even more sense. I’m rare. You might say weird. Myers-Briggs says only 3% of percent of the population match this profile. I guess you could say I’m nearly one of a kind. All joking aside…

What does this mean?

INFJs are strong personalities that perceive a lot about people, but that doesn’t mean we’re pushovers. It means we are guarded and appear fiercely confident like we’ve got our act together, but are highly anxious and have a lot of self-doubts. We are careful about who we trust, and if a person has acted in a distrustful way repeatedly he or she can find themselves excluded from our lives as a form of self-preservation. If trust has been broken to this degree, it is nearly impossible to repair.

Healthy

Healthy sixes are balanced and seek a higher power. We know and trust that there is a higher power who is good and will take care of us. When we trust ourselves more, we trust others more and understand that although life is uncertain, we know God will love and provide for our needs. A healthy six leads to a nine, which is a perfect personality for growth.

When we’ve been working hard we are focused and driven. An interruption can cause us to appear passive-aggressive, and one more pressure can cause us to snap. When we are average, we are cautious and wary people who like to be by ourselves, but when we get too stressed, we become anxious.

Unhealthy/stressed

Unhealthy sixes are stressed and anxious people who shut down when their security is threatened. We’ve forgotten to seek a higher power and that things will work out for good. We become skeptical of people, look for danger around every corner, and feel taken advantage of or manipulated.

Personal growth

Growth opportunities include:

Letting go of control
Avoiding seeing problems as more prominent than they are
Developing self-confidence
Focusing on what has gone well

Wrapping it up

Do you know your personality type? Don’t forget to re-check your assessment if you’ve had major life events. Your personality type can change over time.

If everyone knew what their personality type was, we could eliminate more disagreements and replace them with understanding.

We should all walk around with our personality types on our sleeves or displayed on our office doors so we can better understand how we relate to others and foster better interactions.

Wouldn’t that be something?

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