Personal Development Day
Today at work I did a Myers-Briggs workshop that told my bosses how Carl Jung might explain the 'psychology of me', and how I best work (i.e. how the management can best use me to their advantage). Results were (unfortunately for them!) that I was likely to be insubordinate if I didn't support the authority line and they didn't have my 'buy-in', and that I am likely just to ignore the rules when I don't feel they suit me and do what is most interesting/useful to me - ha! Maybe I shouldn't have gone to the workshop,they were pretty oblivious before! Too late... When I got home I checked out some free online versions to see if I would get the same thing, and I totally did (but I found so much more about how my personality style affects the way I live my life).
So who knew it, but I'm an ISTP... can you even pronounce that?! Last time I was in a job that did this workshop I was an INFP, which didn't really resonate with my own feelings about the kind of person I was, but this one is bang on, almost in that "twilight zone theme song" kinda way... keeping company with Clint Eastwood, James Dean, Bruce Lee, and Katharine Hepburn, ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh....
Since I spent most of my day at work after the workshop looking up information related to my profile I can say that today was a particularly informative 'personal developement' day (thank you work!)! Much food for thought about how I deal with life, and particularly about what's going on right now in my relationship and the way I'm handling it... as well as about why I can never seem to 'stay put' once the challenge is past or it just doesn't make sense to stay. I would encourage you to spend a day obsessing, and see what you might learn about yourself...
ISTPs can be very intense and exciting individuals. Their strong Thinking preference makes them seem rather aloof and "hard to get". Their Sensing and Perceiving preferences make them sensual, earthy individuals, which makes them attractive to the opposite sex. ISTPs live entirely in the current moment, which makes them especially interested in new sensations and experiences. They strongly dislike routine and strict schedules, and resist being controlled by others.
They are fiercely independent and need their own space within a relationship. When involved in relationships which provide for their basic needs and which present them with new experiences, the ISTP will be happy to do what's necessary to keep the relationship alive and well. If a relationship becomes boring or oppressive to the ISTP, they will try to fix it, or move on. ISTPs take their commitments on a day-by-day basis. Even if they say "I do", it usually means "I do for now". They do not like to make lifelong commitments, although they may very well be involved in lifelong relationships which they have taken one day at a time.
This is just a snippet of what you might find online if you look up your own profile, but no need to drown you in my own details so I'll stop there.
It's been really interesting for me. My biggest obstacle in ending my relationship, which I have been 'trying' to do for the past 2 months, is that I can't come up with a clear and concrete description for why I know it isn't going to work, and she just plows through asking me to give it another month, and I say nothing... I just know why it's done, I can't explain it, and she wants more than that. I can say that I feel a little less 'romantically stunted' after learning some more things that make sense about how I am in life, and I understand a bit better why I'm having trouble making it clear even though I'm not shifting from my own position... where was Jung in my life 10 years ago??? Wait... stuck in the back of a useless textbook in a second-hand bookstore... oops again...
A very simple version of the test (5 minutes or less) can be found here, and a longer test can be found here (10 minutes max). I only mentioned the free ones, there are some great pay sites as well if you just google. Once you know your type, information is really available everywhere online to find out more about it (this site is pretty good!).
The area that stands out most for me is the reminder that I'm an 'in the moment' liver of life (person who lives, not icky detoxing organ, ugh), but I do what's right for me, what I know to be right, because it's right for me. I used to know this about myself, and I've covered it in a fine layer of glitter and sand.. I need to get back to that part of me now...
P.S. One site also suggested that I was likely to be almost freaky about how often I needed to change my blog layout and colours and such so I stay involved with it, so sorry for those of you who like to come to the same place every time you stop by... I just can't do it!!! :)
Things to do... +10/-5 every year
The list would look very different if it started before my travels began, but in the here and now, here is where it's at...
2009 List: 1. Finish my master's degree 2. Become fluent in another language 3. See something from at least 6 of the 7 continents (asia, north america (Mexico), south america, europe, africa, australia; antarctica - no thank you!) 4. Create a list of 100 books I would like to read 5. Take piano lessons 6. Learn functional Spanish Enter a 5km race and finish it 8. Make a list of 100 places I’d like to travel 9. Make myself a nice dress 10. Plant a garden of wildflowers (June 2009) 11. Take a yoga class (Korea 2010) 12. Try Bikram yoga (Korea 2010) 13. Learn to make 3 Korean dishes well 14. Be debt free 15. Be certified as an Advanced Open Water Diver (Thailand 2010) 16. Be certified as a Divemaster 17. Take the 4-week course in Thailand to finish diving certification to become an Instructor 18. Dive the Great Barrier Reef 19. Have a baby, become a mamma 20. Start a diveshop with an attached coffee/sandwich shop somewhere hot and beautiful 21. Go on a temple stay to a Buddhist Temple (Korea 2010) 22. Learn how to fly a plane 23. Learn how to sail 24. Ride a camel in the desert because it's the mode of transport (not a tourist trap) 25. Kayak into a cave to explore 26. Dive a shipwreck 27. See a big angelfish in the "wilds" (Thailand 2010) 28. Lounge on a beach along the mediterranean 29. Make a trek through a desert 30. Exercise regularly (at least 3 days per week) 31. Grow a vegetable garden (Alberta 2009) 32. Skate in Central Park 33. Live in India 34. Go to Mardi Gras 35. Visit an old section of the Great Wall, and hike along it 36. Spend a 3-day pass exploring Angkor Wat in SiemReap 37. Scuba dive somewhere in Canada 38. Spend the day at a spa luxuriating in spa treatments 39. Take a sketching class 40. Take a digital photography course 41. Travel in Sri Lanka 42. Explore the pyramids and the sphinx in Egypt 43. Learn to surf 44. Figure out why I'm obsessed about Ireland 45. Go to Machu Picchu 46. Study a martial art (for at least 6 months) 47. Drive around on a motorcycle in Vietnam 48. Go cliff diving 49. Keep a travel journal 50. Learn how to bellydance 51. Take a hot-air balloon ride 52. Learn to play badduk 53. Camp in a country other than Canada or the US 54. Go horseback riding in the mountains 55. See the Grand Canyon 56. Carve something nice out of wood 57. Take my mom on a vacation somewhere (Hawaii 2010) 58. Go on a multi-day kayaking trip somewhere beautiful 59. Visit a floating village 60. See a cave of crystal 61. Keep a journal going for one year (electronic or paper) 62. Design and make a piece of jewelery 63. Take a wilderness survival course 64. Order lunch from a floating market vendor 65. Learn how to paint with watercolors 66. Consult a medicine person or traditional healer 67. Ride in a horse-drawn carriage 68. Go parasailing 69. Go spelunking 70. Actually teach scuba diving 71. Take a cruise somewhere (maybe when I'm old!) :) 72. Learn to be a decent chess player 73. Visit a tribe of people somewhere who still live traditionally 74. Learn to make paper with flowers 75. Visit the ruins of a famous Greek or Roman temple 76. Learn to ballroom dance and perform once in front of people 77. Take a gondola in Venice 78. Go on a photo safari on a wildlife preserve in Africa 79. Participate in an active (i.e. real) archaeological dig 80. Go to Carnival in Brazil 81. Live in Italy 82. See an otter playing in the wild 83. Build a birdfeeder that birds actually use 84. Take some great photos underwater (Thailand 2010) 85. Go rafting (whitewater or not) 86. Live on an island somewhere 87. Volunteer in a country other than Canada 88. Climb to the top of a "famous" mountain 89. Become a "Dr." of something 90. Learn a song in a foreign language 91. Grow my own roses 92. Keep up on my blog 93. Host a dinner party for friends 94. Get a henna design done on my hand or foot in India 95. Sell some of my hand-made cards 96. Live somewhere in Africa 97. Visit a volcano 98. Go on a bicycle tour 99. Try snowboarding 100. Go to the coliseum in Rome 2010 Additions: 101. Go spelunking 102. Visit a city carved into a mountain or hillside 103. Make a scrapbook 104. Join a choir for fun 105. Make prints of some of my photos for the wall 106. Get to RSD dearmouring course 107. Finish the Red Lodge program 108. Visit my friends in the US 109. Take a train trip in Canada somewhere 110. 2011 Additions: 111. Sundance again 112. Join a recreational sport 113. Live in a big Canadian city 114. Go back to indoor climbing for fun 115. Eat a scorpion on a stick 116. Take a kid camping 117. See a live concert of a group/artist I really enjoy 118. Volunteer with the police again 119. Counsel kids 120. Go paragliding
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