Here we are on the 5th week of A Year With Myself! The interesting theme of this week is “Introvert vs. Extrovert: How to Leverage Your Personality Type.”
Last week, you learned how to love and accept yourself as much as you need. This week, you’ll find out about ways to discover your personality type. To be honest, I’ve focused more on being an introvert rather than being an extrovert in this chapter. We already know a lot about extroverts, because we live in a culture that lauds extroverts and their style of doing things. In a way, I made sure this week that you discover the world of introverts.
You will also learn about the four different areas of the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator so that you can have a more detailed picture of your personality. Moreover, the two Vision Interviews we have this week will show you ways to leverage your personality type.
Also: At the end of this week I’m giving away 3 Amazon Kindle electronic copies of the book ‘Introvert Power: Why Your Inner Life Is Your Hidden Strength” by Laurie Helgoe to 3 women who share the link of their post about their personality type here on this page this week. Winners will be randomly selected. You can read the electronic book on your computer, phone or Kindle. So don’t forget to share your articles here before the week ends!
In addition, you will have useful lists and resources that will help you understand why you do what you do and why you like what you like.
Journal Prompt for Week 5
Introvert vs Extrovert: How to Leverage Your Personality Type
Knowing your personality type is liberating because it allows you to see yourself, your relationships and also your business with crystal clarity.
It gives you the wisdom to understand yourself and those with whom you interact daily. And you get better at tolerating differences in a positive light while honoring your personal preferences.
In addition, knowing your type enables you to focus your attention and energies where they can be most useful and allows you to maximize your potential.
In short, knowing your type and preferences raises the quality of your life because you better understand why you do what you do, get better at relating, and be true to your calling and your strengths. Thus, you feel happier.
This week, I discussed with Laurie Foley and Elizabeth Potts Weinstein, two successful and introverted women, the differences between introverts and extroverts, what living as an introverted person is like, the common myths about introverts, why it matters to know your personality type, and ways to leverage the strengths of your personality.
I’ve also included in the premium Chapter 5 a lot of information and many details about the Myers-Briggs Type profiles. I’m sure you’ll benefit from them.
Like all chapters, Chapter 5 also includes Venture Maps, the Explorer’s Worksheet, and the Reading List & Resources document, which you can peruse whenever you desire.
This week we have 2 actionable ideas and 5 exercises offered in Chapter 5. I’m sharing one of those exercises here with everyone after the prompt.
Don’t you think it’s time we have some much needed clarity about our personality type and our real preferences?
You’re Just My Type
By Laurie Foley
“You need to get out and play.”
“You need to sit down and be quiet.”
Which were you told as a child? Either way, you were just a kid, being a kid. But somehow, you might have gotten the idea that something was wrong with you. The truth is more likely that you bumped into your Oppovert, a handy name I have for a person who has a personality type opposite yours. For example, if you are an introvert, then your Oppovert is an extrovert. Or vice versa.
Oppoverts are nothing but trouble when you are a kid, especially if they have it in mind to teach you to conform.
Imagine if you are right-handed and a teacher comes along and says that you should really write with your left hand—just because that’s how she does it. You could do it but it would feel totally unnatural. Oppoverts often view you with suspicion because they want you to do what is natural for them.
No wonder it takes a lifetime to unlearn our childhood.
Imagine instead a world where you encounter many, many more of your Identiverts: people who have the same preference as you for introversion or extroversion. If you are immersed in a book, they step quietly around you.
They would never interrupt you. If you’re leaving the third party of the night, they will say, “Where do you want to go next?”
This isn’t a call for homogeneous societies. No, not at all. It is simply an invitation to let go of every Oppovert experience that made you feel like you were anything less than the exotic, wildly interesting, deeply unique soul that you are.
Their Oppovert goggles may have blinded them, but that doesn’t mean that you weren’t shining. You were—and you are.
Your Prompt for This Week
LAURIE FOLEY is a business coach and blogger, who specializes in brand strategy that blends archetypal awareness and brand intuition. Her blog is about finding one’s natural brand as well as the inner journey of entrepreneurship. She also created and teaches Blog More, Stress Less to help other coaches create effective and sustainable blogs.Laurie Foley says:
If you had had just one advocate as a child who was your Identivert, what would have been different? What would you have continued or tried?
If you had a chronic Oppovert in your life at some point, what did they often say to you? What is the opposite of that sentence and what would you do right now when you feel that opposite-but-true-for-you version down to your bones?
If you know a child who is your Identivert, what do you want to say to her?
Find her at Branding From the Inside Out or @lauriefoley.
Actionable Idea for This Week
This is one of the exercises I crafted for you this week.
DO and WRITE: Describe Your Personality Type
Visit the Human Metrics website and take the free Jung Typology Test to discover your Myers-Briggs personality type. Then read the description related to your personality profile.
After discovering your personality type, think about your past. Then think about your answers to these questions:
- What was the kind of work you’ve always loved doing?
- What work that you did in the past didn’t feel like work?
- What type of work has always energized and fulfilled you?
- What type of professional environment has always felt natural and comfortable to you? And what kind of work did you hate?
- What assignments or responsibility you took in the past left you depleted and sick to the stomach?
- What kind of business environments has always disturbed you?
Visit our Facebook page after you take the typology test and share on the wall what type you are and what you thought after discovering it.
What Does Premium Chapter 5 Include?
What Is Included in Chapter 5 of the Full Adventure Kit (27 pages):
- The Mission Brief outlines this week’s Chapter and explains why we must discover our personality type.
- Mini Lesson and Weekly Prompt from Laurie Foley (free above for the entire community).
- Vision Interview with coach, writer and brand expert Laurie Foley about the differences between introverts and extraverts and methods to leverage your personality type, especially if you’re an introvert.
- Vision Interview with writer and coach Elizabeth Potts Weinstein about the importance of discovering your type and effective ideas to fine-tune your life and business accordingly.
- Article titled Brief History of the Myers-Briggs Personality Type Indicator and the 16 Personality Profiles
- Descriptive List titled How Do Different Types Relate and Work
- Descriptive List titled The Four Preferences
- 2 Venture Maps that describe in detail the two effective exercises for the week.
- The Explorer’s Worksheet that includes 5 exercises for doing, writing and thinking this week.
- Reminder of Things to Do Before Week 6.
- Hand-picked Reading List and Resource Guide.
When you buy the Full Adventure Kit you get 52 Chapters like the one described above to your inbox every single week and empower yourself throughout the whole year with the guidance of 77 expert Instigators.
The current price is $197. The price will go up to $297 on Sep. 1 and to $365 at the end of the year.
Purchase the Full Adventure Kit, become a premium member now.
What Is Awaiting You Next Week?
The capturing theme of Chapter 6 is: “True Values: Exploring and Connecting with Your True Values.” We will have our journal prompt, a mini lesson and one weekly actionable idea published on the blog on Monday for the whole community.
Next week’s prompt will be announced by a respected coach and fiery instigator who is a natural in getting people to let go of the “someday” mentality and take action to change your life now. Do you know who she is?
NEXT WEEK FOR FULL ADVENTURE MEMBERS:
- The Mission Brief for Chapter 6.
- Two Instigators will be with us for Chapter 6. We’ll have two Vision Interviews, during which we’ll talk about values and discover why they constitute the backbone of both life and business.
- An Article titled The Art of Kindness.
- 2 Venture Maps that describe in detail 2 actionable ideas you can do in one week (and also anytime during the year) to discover and engage your truest values.
- 1 Explorer’s Worksheet that includes 10 handcrafted exercises related to understanding and underlining your core values.
- Reading List and Resources Guide.
Image credit: Garrett Gill
{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you so much for writing this. I was raised by an introvert, And then married one. As a child I was to be seen but not heard.
This explains so much as I am enfp some tests are J. But Living the life of an introvert.
I’m an introvert – an INFP. I still remember how astounded I was the first time I took the test. So many things about my life had become suddenly clear!
Oh , I so know what you mean. It was over a year ago. The first time I took the test. It explained so much. I found I did work in the right field I was a sales person and business owner.And I think I swing on the p/j because of the heavy introvert influences in my life, I was not allowed to shine. So I learned to be more Introvert at times. Which gave me more J quality’s…
I just posted my link at
http://mynestlife.blogspot.com/2012/02/removing-blindfold.html
Very interesting. I am an extrovert by nature. I do understand introverts and their need to be that and therefore generally do not push them to be something other than themselves. However, reading Laurie’s description, I have identified with horror that I am an Oppovert with my son. He is autistic. I try desparately and fail constantly to make him something that he is biologically not wired to do. I realize the damage that I can be causing in this process but I can’t seem to help myself. But now with this definition and a label for what I am doing, I have to change my approach. I also identified that my parents were Identiverts for me and I am today what I am because of that. I would like to pass that on to my autistic son as well as my other two children. In the name of ‘their best interest’ we do end up causing damage to a growing child’s psyche – unintentional of course and cloaked in protective fears, however steeped in ignorance. Knowledge is power and my promise to myself – I will strive to be an Identivert and honor and respect how wildly exotic and unique souls that my children are – autistic or not.
I’m glad you have found Laurie’s prompt both inspiring and eye-opening, Padma. Let me know how the change in your approach influences your relationship with your son.
Hi Padma, I agree with you that all parents have their children best interest in mind. So much that, sometimes you will take a child’s mistake/failure/fault as your own. Sometimes, I feel that parents fail to recgonize their child as a unique individual that would go through the motions of life, that includes failure and learning from mistakes. I never believe we can entirely avoid mistakes in our life. I’m not a parent myself but I am speaking from a point of view of a child.
Recently my friends show me an amazing video about Carly Fleischmann. She is autistic and in this video, they did a cover on how she finds a way to communicate with others.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_GXVzZ0Unk
She evn has her own website. http://carlysvoice.com/
There are actually so little that we know about people with autism. I do believe everyone has their own purpose in the world and that the universe doesn’t waste it energy on its creation. To sum up, I believe every individual have the ability to blaze their own unique trail no matter who they are.
I’ve been thinking about my MB type a lot lately. I’ve always measured out far on the introvert side of the equation, and heavily identified with that part of my personality for years. Now that I am a solopreneur and am finding that being around people is more energizing than being alone, I question the validity of those old tests. Was I answering the questions based on my true nature, or based on the circumstances of my life at the time (working with people who did not appreciate my style nor talents). I’m off to test again, curious as to how I’ll measure out now.
Ah, well… nope. I’m still a solid INTJ.
I guess the key is moderation. And perhaps the fact I prefer small groups and one-on-one to large groups puts me in the “introvert” category.
You might be right, Julie. And you might also have a good balance between your introverted and extroverted preferences. I don’t know how old you are, but it is also known that as you leave behind mid-life the less stronger dimensions of your personality may also get a little stronger.
Took the test. It turns out I am an ENFJ – an Ideal Teacher. Funny, it so makes sense, I always wanted to be a teacher since I was 5, people that don’t know me ask me if I am a teacher by profession. I am beginning to own my power and accept that I am meant to be an Ideal Teacher.
Sooo glad that your finding has shed light on what you’ve been sensing unconsciously. Go for it!
Hey Padma (high fives from a fellow ENFJ). I’m also a passionate teacher — there are many ways to express that natural gift. What do you teach/want to teach?
Hi Tea
Starting today (1 Feb here ‘Down Under’) a 7 week course for women called “Nurture & Nourish – Engage,Empower and Enrich Yourself” – an hour and half each week of guided meditation and workshops based on 5 Human Values of Love, Truth, Peace, Right-Conduct and Non-Violence. Been wanting to do this for quite sometime, finally picked up the courage as the push to own my gift and share it with the world was becoming too much – I had to act and 2012 is the time. 11 people joined – total strangers from a newspaper ad. I am excited and nervous at the same time
How about you, what do you teach?
I teach marketing, branding and WordPress stuff – I’ve got 3 dif classes running now, but am most excited about my Find Your Secret Sauce class which starts next week. Will use my 9-step process for creating an addicting brand and help some folks refresh and/or find a totally unique way of expressing what they do.
Tea is also one of our upcoming Instigators! She’s amazing.
Interesting exercise to think back and reflect on how my personality type impacted my actions while growing up. Thank you for another great prompt.
http://www.harleyroxanne.com/stretching-the-boundaries-of-being-an-introvert/
This is an interesting angle, Harley. When you enjoy it, such a challenge might be worthwhile.
I would agree with you Harley on appreciating the stretching and growth you can receive from relationships with extroverts. My youngest daughter is very much an introvert and married an extreme extrovert. What could have been a source of conflict has instead been a very complimentary relationship as they both have learned to accept and appreciate the needs of one another.
Once a week her husband gives a ‘night off’ where she can either hideout in her room by herself or go out on her own without him or the kids trailing along.
When they move to a new city or neighborhood, he is quick to establish relationships, which enables her to simply piggyback off of him in finding new friends. Something which would be difficult for her to do on her own.
She has learned to play the hostess to groups of friends which are often invited to their house and to adapt to a busy social life with her outgoing husband because of his willingness to see that she also gets her ‘recharge’ time on a regular basis.
Kathleen, I agree it works great for a relationship as long as the other person understands. I have a very similar situation as your daughter and love the balance!
C. A.,
I really like to validating vibe of this part of the program you’re presenting here. Appreciating our selves for the personality we are blessed with is so vitally important. I love the work related prompts provided to help us understand ourselves and the best way we work based on our personality. We need to pay more attention to these vital dimensions of life!
I have chosen your post, Journal Prompt for Week 5 Introvert vs Extrovert: “How to Leverage Your Personality Type” for the #JournalChat Pick of the Day on 1/30/12 for all things journaling on Twitter.
I will post a link on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, my blog and website Refresh with Dawn Herring, and in Refresh Journal, my weekly e-journal: http://www.refreshwithdawnherring.blogspot.com/.
You’re welcome to join us for #JournalChat Live for all things journaling on Twitter on Thursdays at 5 EST/2 PST; our topic this week is Journaling: Your Approach and Intent.
Thanks again for providing such a fantastic theme on personality and how it can give us insight into our best work environment.
Be refreshed,
Dawn Herring
JournalWriter Freelance
Host of #JournalChat Live and Links Edition on Twitter
So honored, Dawn! I’ll try my best to be there this Thursday if I don’t have a Skype call.
I’m an introvert. Was always told not to draw attention to myself. And never, ever write anything.
Donna, did you take the test I mention on the blog post?
Well who knew…. I’m an INFP; and that explains the characterister traits I’ve grimly attempted to change (with little success) as the outlier in my family of origin.
Hello there, fellow INFP!
Understanding my personality type has been a huge validation of who I am and why I am the way I am. This was not a new topic to me, but one I love to continue to explore. I am an INFP and love it when I find those other rare INFP’s out there. Here is the link to my blog post for this week.
http://living-listening-loving.blogspot.com/2012/01/introverted-intuitive-feeling.html
I’m an INFP too! And so is Bonnie, who commented above.
here is my week 2…. catching up catching up… i am in godess cant i just stay here! lol! http://uluvlisa.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/journal-prompt-for-week-2-your-roots-reconnecting-with-your-core/
Go goddess, go! By the way please add your link to the post for week 2, too.
I’m an INFP too! Although, I do run some strong E tendencies, I’ve found that they’re contextual and not my true nature. It was such a relief when I first found this out, it allowed me to stop pretending to be a party animal!! And I can still enter into extrovert mode when it fits/suits.
I thought you were and E, but then again, I wasn’t that sure either! So we are INPF sisters
http://www.wingvantagepoint.com/2012/02/leading-my-life/a-year-with-myself/aywm-leveraging-on-your-personality-type/
The prompts are amazing! Somehow the posts overlap and form some connections with each other.
Thanks a lot for guiding me to who I really am. Not to mention this clarity helps me tremendously in my goal to write an ebook about happiness. Also, the lovely posts from others. Love the energy from this group (:
Great post Wing! I’m so glad you’re enjoying the prompts.
Yes, that overlapping and flowing of posts was intended and carefully structured when I designed the modules. Happy that you like the flow of the themes. They complement each other.
These prompts really got me thinking about my extrovert nature. Could it be that I wasn’t always that way? I’m firmly in extrovert camp now (ENFP, formerly ENFJ). But…I wonder how much I was influenced by “oppoverts” Here’s more: http://grownupmom.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/extrovert-or-introvert/
The 3rd and 4th dimensions of the personality become stronger after midlife. But I wonder if the major one can shift. Very interesting and worth researching, Sarah!
Another INFP here. It’s interesting that there’s a perception that this is a rare type because I always connect with other INFPs, so they seem plentiful to me.
Another INFP sister
I’ve also come across so many INFPs that I can’t believe it’s a rare type. Like you, I’m also easily drawn to INFPs.
I loved looking deep into my personality to find why I like what I like. . . .why I do what I do. . .
http://mizmeliz.com/2012/02/02/she-has-a-great-personality/
I am glad I am ENFJ!
You’ve explained your type so well in your post Melis!
So fun to read about your ENFJ work experiences Melis! It actually helped me clarify my unsureties about whether I’m deep down an extrovert (see above)!
I’m ENFJ too – (or actually today it was ENFP – maybe I’ll try again in a couple of weeks and see if it flips again), and I too absolutely love planning and coordinating fun parties and meaningful events. I have never had sole responsibility for coordinating a large event, but I have enjoyed participating and collaborating on them. Thanks for helping me identify one of my talents!
I am smiling a big goofy smile and my heart is warm reading your comment Sarah! Thank you! Read Part 2: Extremely Long and Dangerously Accurate where I insert my comments into the description of ENFJ. Take care and thanks so much for reading me!
“Planning and coordinating fun parties and meaningful events” sounds like absolute hell to me.
Yet they are such an important part of community life. That’s a very valuable talent to have, Sarah and Melissa!
I’m with you Sue. Us INFP’s are very thankful that someone else enjoys doing that event planning.
Same here, Sue! Absolute hell!
I’m glad we have extroverts for that 
Thanks again for another great week!
http://bit.ly/yMbiAJ
Here’s my post for this week’s prompt, from an INFJ: http://nowwhat80.blogspot.com/2012/02/smile-personality.html
This was fun. Thanks!
I’m having such a great time with this process, and especially timely is this MBTI look-see.
Here’s my post about my Take 1 Take 2:
http://ayearwithmyselfandothercharacters.blogspot.com/2012/02/will-real-introvert-please-stand-up.html
Thanks so very much C.A., Laurie, and Elizabeth. You are gentle and wise guides.
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