Since stumbling across Myers-Briggs back in the summer, I’ve been a pretty steady forum crawler at Personality Cafe. It’s strangely comforting and quite surreal that there are others like me who have the same questions, are going through the same problems, and have accomplished things in similar manners.
I believe that life should be a process of self-improvement, and the first step is knowing yourself, your strengths, weaknesses, thought processes. Only then can you focus on the less-developed parts of you and become a better person. Below is another description of my personality type (I’ve done a couple posts on this in the past). Hope it gives you guys some insight into what I’m like. I also encourage you guys to check out Myers-Briggs – when utilized correctly, it can be a useful tool.
ISTP
Estimated to be between 4 and 7 percent of the American population
Quiet, reserved, and serious, ISTPs are down-to-earth, logical people. They tend to be cool observers and rarely provide even a glimpse of what is going on inside them. ISTPs are usually cautious and down-to-earth. They like to think through things fully before speaking or acting, and they prefer that people speak clearly and directly with them. They are usually very independent and even-tempered people. They tend to be socially detached and cautious about talking to people they do not know very well. Extremely private, ISTPs tend to say exactly what they mean and say it only once. It often takes them a long time to get to know you well enough to share their reactions or feelings, and even when they eventually do, they tend to speak in very matter-of-fact ways, avoiding great emotion, embellishment, or repetition.
While ISTPs appear reserved and even reticent around other people, they are naturally impulsive and willing to take surprising risks. They usually like playing and working alone for long periods of time and are content to follow their own curiosity and figure out how the world works by studying it, taking it apart, and seeing how it operates firsthand. Keenly observant and totally aware of their environment, ISTPs are often very quick learners of anything they have physically experienced, especially skills involving their bodies, hands, or natural extensions of them like tools, instruments, or equipment. Highly adaptable, ISTPs are often good at many things, and seem to do them all quite effortlessly. But they tend not to be interested in anything abstract, theoretical, or remote from their immediate lives.
ISTPs value their freedom and personal competence above all else. They are rarely interested in conforming to external standards and are generally not worried about pleasing others. Easygoing and casual, ISTPs prefer to live their lives free of restraints or structure of any kind and may simply ignore rules or go around any limits that stand between them and their desire to experience every aspect of the world that intrigues them.
Calm and relaxed, ISTPs often exude both a quiet confidence and a playful spirit that others find attractive. Their ‘live and let live’ attitude means they usually get along well with all kinds of people, as long as no one tries to press an agenda on them. They would rather withdraw from an argument or just walk away from a conflict than try to change anyone else’s mind or subject themselves to attempts to be controlled. ISTPs sometimes struggle to find anything interesting or sustaining enough to be worth great energy or effort. They also may need someone they really trust to show them the specific, necessary skills they need to better understand relationships and learn to open up to their emotional side.
[Source: Nurture by Nature: Understand Your Child’s Personality Type – And Become a Better Parent by Barbara-Barron Tieger and Paul D. Tieger]
Potential follow-up/self-reflection to come.
Sixteen types at randomtidbitsofthought.wordpress.com.
