The human body is a complex being; however, the CEO of our body, a.k.a. what we know as the brain, is a fascinating organ, which drives our thoughts, decisions, personalities, and behaviors. 

Many behaviors, emotions, and thoughts have been classified as personality types. A common classification type is the Myers-Briggs personality types. 

What is Myers-Briggs? 

The Myers-Briggs personality types take an aspect of one’s character and find sixteen combinations using it. The aspect they use in these specific personality types is a person’s preference. Say you were given a choice between a movie or a book. The item you choose would be your preference. The preferences used in Myers-Briggs are innate preferences, which is similar to one’s instincts. 

In total, there are eight preferences, or instincts, each one having an opposite. These opposites are pairs. In total, there are four pairs; your Myers-Briggs personality is one preference from each pair.

The pairs of preferences are:

Introversion vs. Extroversion

This pair describes how you are energized. Think of your body as a device that needs to be charged every now and then. The pair above is simply the method your body uses to charge. 

Introversion is charging your body in isolation; blocking yourself off from others and giving yourself “me time” to recharge and refresh your body. 

Extroversion is energizing your body through others. Social interaction is key to charging an extroverted personality. Whether it’s talking to people or just being around them, extroverts revive and renew themselves through busy or crowded surroundings.

Sensing vs. Intuition

This pair covers how you best learn information. Sensing is focusing on facts and thinking logically about newly-learned concepts. A sensing person would apply their knowledge based on facts that they know to be true. 

Intuition means thinking of a bigger picture. Intuition learners focus on abstract concepts and ideas. They think about how the world works and use their creativity to craft and apply ideas that they learn.

Thinking vs. Feeling

The pair above focuses on decision-making. In other words, you either make your decisions based on logic or emotion. 

Thinking means to make decisions based on logic and reasoning. People who are logical thinkers usually don’t involve their emotions while making a decision.

Feeling means to use emotion while making a decision. For instance, a person who uses emotion decides what decision makes them most happy and complete. They would use their emotions to guide themselves to the answer that they know is true to them.

Judging vs. Perceiving

The above pair looks at how to approach the outside world. A judging person would seek closure, but a perceiving person would take in new information.

For example, a judging person would plan a schedule to follow for the day; a perceiving person would go with the flow and take on the day as it comes. A judging person would finish tasks before a due date; a perceiving person would wait until the last minute to finish the project, as the pressure helps them work better. 

Judging people prefer to approach life in a structured manner, like knowing what might happen next. Perceiving people prefer to keep their options open and approach life with an open mind.

Your personality doesn’t limit you; you don’t have to change your personality to be exactly like it. It does help to use other preferences than your own. For example, if someone was a thinking decision-maker, they could hop to the other end of the spectrum and use their emotions to make some decisions. In fact, it is helpful to use the opposite preference sometimes.

Your Myers-Briggs personality is meant to help you with your life; it should not influence everything you do.