Today's stop on the journey of self-discovery train, I take the 16 Personalities test from 16personalities.com! I really loved this test because it broke down every piece of my personality and laid it out neatly in an easy to understand way. And it was shockingly accurate! It was nothing like those Buzzfeed quizzes that say they can pinpoint your personality based on your favorite dessert, this is a well-made test that analyzes your patterns and thought processes and uses research and data to back up its conclusions. So here is a breakdown of me and my personality!
My Personality Type is:
So according to 16 Personalities, I am an Assertive Advocate. They use a 5 digit code that sums up your personality in 5 different categories. Those categories are Mind, Energy, Nature, Tactics, and Identity. My code is INFJ-A which stands for: Introverted (I), Intuitive (N), Feeling (F), Judging (J) - Assertive (A) in the 5 respective categories. My role is that of a "Diplomat" with a Confident Individualism strategy. All of that may sound like mumbo-jumbo right now, but I'll try my best to break it down in a short concise manner.
Mind - Introvert (I)
It's no secret that I'm an introvert. For those of you that don't know me, it's one of the first things that you'll pick up when meeting me. I'm not unkind, but I prefer to let you
do most of the talking in a conversation. It isn't until I get really comfortable with someone that I start to "come out of my shell" for lack of a better term. Social outings are very tiring to me, I enjoy them a lot but after a social gathering I love nothing more than to go home and spend time with my husband and my dog.
Energy - Intuitive (N)
I like to go with my gut in a lot of situations. Of course, I look at the facts and evaluate the best scenario for my situation, but ultimately if I'm down to a couple of decisions I'll just pick the one that sounds the best. My husband is exactly the opposite. If he is presented with any choices whatsoever he will scrutinize and evaluate every possibility from every angle until I get frustrated and choose for him. It's not a perfect system, but it's the only one we've got. (That was a joke, just to be clear.)
Nature - Feeling (F)
Emotions have always been hard for me. I am very sensitive to everything. My parents never had to punish me as a kid because any time I would do something bad I immediately came clean and cried my eyes out about it. The slightest raise of their voice riddle me with guilt and make me involuntarily cry. For years I've been trying to learn how to control my emotions, and although I've gotten better at it, I still can't have an argument with anyone without starting to cry.
Along with the "Feeling" trait, according to 16 Personalities, it also means I'm less competitive. Which is true... to an extent. I have never enjoyed playing team sports or being competitive in those ways, but I will get VERY competitive in really obnoxious ways. Usually, I don't even tell someone if I'm in a competition with them because it will be something as stupid as trying to walk slightly faster than them on the way into the building. It makes no sense to me, but it's interesting nonetheless.
Tactics - Judging (J)
Most of you are probably thinking, "Judging, like she just goes around judging people all day?" And I can assure you that is NOT what this means. This means that I am organized and decisive. I make quick judgments on situations. I prefer structure and planning to spontaneity. This is extremely accurate. At the moment I'm not as organized as I would LIKE to be in my home life, but honestly, that's because my life is kind of a mess right now and there are too many messes to clean up. But at work or in normal circumstances, organization and planning are everything. When people disrupt my flow, it can ruin my entire day.
Identity - Assertive (A)
This is SUPPOSED to mean that I'm resistant to stress. In the past I would say that's absolutely true, I hardly ever got stressed. But currently, I am immersed in it. I still believe this pertains to me, however, because it says that I refuse to worry too much and I don't overwork myself in order to achieve my goals. I agree with this because even though I am very goal-driven, I will make sure to make time for things that bring me joy or things that take my mind off of my current goal. I wholeheartedly believe that mental health is extremely important and if I find myself struggling with something, I will step away and take some time to enjoy myself before coming back and tackling the issue.
Introduction
Straight from the Introduction page, 16 Personalities describes the Advocate personality as having an "inborn sense of idealism and morality" with strong wills who are "capable of taking concrete steps to realize their goals.
"The Advocate personality type is very rare, making up less than one percent of the population, but they nonetheless leave their mark on the world. Advocates have an inborn sense of idealism and morality, but what sets them apart is that they are not idle dreamers. These individuals are capable of taking concrete steps to realize their goals and make a lasting positive impact."
I feel like I've always tried to stick to my morals while attempting to achieve my goals. It's hard to see successful people out there that don't have any moral code manipulating people or using them to get ahead in life. It makes my skin crawl...
The planning "concrete steps" is something that I WANT to do, but feel like I have a hard time keeping up with. Maybe this is my wake up call that I need to try to plan things out in smaller, more digestible bites to make achieving my goals more obtainable.
"Advocates will act with creativity, imagination, conviction, and sensitivity not to create an advantage, but to create balance. Egalitarianism and karma are very attractive ideas to Advocate personalities. These types tend to believe that nothing would help the world so much as using love and compassion to soften the hearts of tyrants."
Strengths & Weaknesses
Every person has a list of Strengths & Weaknesses. An advocates personality focuses a lot on creativity and emotion. But I'm also very analytical as well. I want to find the best scenario to help as many people as I can. Instead of finding the easiest, most tactical and fastest way to solve the problem.
Strengths:
Creative
Insightful
Inspiring and Convincing
Decisive
Determined and Passionate
Altruistic
Weaknesses:
Sensitive
Extremely Private
Perfectionist
Always Need to Have a Cause
Can Burn Out Easily
These strengths and weaknesses are very true to my nature. Maybe not the inspiring/convincing, or at least I don't think so, but the rest of them hit the nail on the head. I look at all of these traits and I immediately agree that when combined they make up me. In fact, I'm experiencing a lot of these right now. I am burnt out, I feel as if I have no "cause" to work towards, but I'm determined to find one and get back on track. I'm deciding to take action, but I don't want it to be less than perfect. These are the ingredients to create the perfect little disaster!
Relationships & Friendships
Advocates create relationships for life. I don't play around when it comes to relationships, they are important to me and I don't take that responsibility lightly. I've been in a relationship with my (now) husband for over 9 years. We were high school sweethearts. We didn't get into our relationship initially thinking it was going to last forever, and we've had our share of issues and bumpy patches as every relationship does. But as we grew, so did our bond with each other. We put in the effort, we took the time to mold and craft a relationship that was perfect for us.
"When it comes to romantic relationships, Advocates take the process of finding a partner seriously. Not ones for casual encounters, people with the Advocate personality type instead look for depth and meaning in their relationships."
I wish I had more time to spend with my friends, unfortunately my really great friends all live out of town, some of them even in other states. We don't always get to talk as much as we want to or spend time together, but they know that I'm always there for them and I know they are for me. If people put in the time and effort with me, I will put in the time and effort back. I don't love as intensely as a lot of other people, but I love for a lifetime.
"People with the Advocate personality type are unlikely to go for friendships of circumstance. They avoid situations like workplace social circles or chatting up their local baristas, where the only thing they really have in common is regular contact."
Career Paths
This section is the one that was most interesting to me, because it's the one that's been the hardest for me to figure out the last few weeks. I thought I could fit myself into a little box and build my career inside that box. But what I'm discovering is that I want a job with freedom, flexibility, creativity, and exploration. I don't want the standard 9-5. But at my current point I don't think anything outside of the "ordinary" is an option.
"Advocates are likely to find that most corporate career paths are not designed for them, but for those focused on their status and material gain. However, people with this personality are able to find work that suits them in just about any field."
During my job search I've been through numerous rounds of brainstorming of what I want to do as a career. It's frustrating because I have so many interests, and I want to find a way to combine them all into a steady income. It's been a challenge trying to Dr. Frankenstein a career out of interests that don't necessarily mesh well together.
"Many [Advocates] struggle to begin a career early on because they see ten wildly different paths forward, each with its own set of rewards. This can be appealing but also heartbreaking, because picking just one means letting go of so much else."
Workplace Habits
I cannot express enough how much the following quote means to me:
"Advocates have pretty tall demands when it comes to a satisfying work environment. Not only do those with this personality type need to be able to express their creativity and insight, they also need to know that what they are doing has meaning."
If this doesn't accurately represent what I am currently experiencing than I don't know what will. I just want to create meaningful work that can bring good into this world. It doesn't have to solve hunger or bring peace to everyone (though I wouldn't mind if it did), but I want to create something that matters to people. Something I can be proud to say, "I made that." Currently, I don't feel like I have that. But that's what I'm working towards, and I will achieve it if it's the last thing I do.
Conclusion
16 Personalities taught me more about myself than I could have imagined. You can go your whole life and feel like you know yourself inside and out, but sometimes it takes an outside viewpoint to really put into perspective who you actually are. I appreciated the insight that I received from this test, because I feel like it can help me better understand why I feel the ways that I do and how to put my traits to use as best as I can. You don't always know what the tools are that you're working with until you look at what they can do.
"Few personality types are as passionate and mysterious as Advocates. As someone with this personality type, your imagination and empathy make you someone who cherishes their integrity and deeply held principles. Unlike many other idealistic types, however, you are also capable of turning those ideals into plans and executing them."
Famous Figures With Advocate Personalities
Along with all the information above, 16 Personalities also gives you a handful of famous people and characters that have the same personality types as you. Here are all of mine!
If you stayed until the end then thank you for taking the time and reading through this deep dive into my psyche! Maybe in the next one I'll go over what my role as "Diplomat" really means. If you decide to take this quiz, feel free to send me a message and let me know your results, I really appreciate any engagement! Thank you all again and I will see you in the next one!
Much love!
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