INTJ Wiring of the Mind.
Hey it’s Joel Mark Witt from Personality Hacker.
As an INTJ your mind is fundamentally wired differently from other personalities.
You’ve probably already heard that you are an introvert, intuitive, thinker, judger.
And a lot of articles and resources focus on the behaviors you show the world as an
INTJ.
Behavior can be helpful - but it isn’t the complete picture when figuring out your personality.
I want to give you a peek inside your mind to expose the mental wiring that makes you
an INTJ.Let’s get started.
Your four letter code INTJ gives us insight into how your mind is learning information
and making decisions.
The primary way your mind sees the world is by using a mental process we’ve nicknamed
“Perspectives.”
It’s technical name is Introverted Intuition.
When looking at the world - Perspectives is interested in finding deep insight.
It tends to ask a lot of discovery questions, like:
What is the meaning of knowledge?
What are the long-range implications of emerging technologies?
How are two people in an argument actually agreeing without realizing it?
Imagine a four passenger car.
If one of your mental processes could drive - it would be Perspectives.
Using this mental process puts you in flow.
You’ve been using it your whole life.
It’s your reality filter and informs what captures your attention.
If Perspectives is how you see the world as an INTJ, then the mental process we’ve nicknamed
Effectiveness is how you make your best decisions.
Effectiveness is a thinking process and asks the question, “What works?”
or “What gets the job done?” without regard to personal feelings.Think about that four
passenger car again… if Perspectives is in the driver seat - then Effectiveness is
in the front passenger seat.
It is your Co-Pilot mental process and what we call your growth state.
Of course - this is a four passenger car so you also have two mental processes in the
backseat.
Sitting right behind the Co-Pilot is a mental process we call Authenticity.
Authenticity asks the question “Does this feel right to me?”
It’s a feeling process concerned with how the events in your life impact you on a subjective
emotional level.
When not used in a healthy way Authenticity can cause an INTJ to become an idealistic
perfectionist or emotionally self-protective.
This mental process has the development of about a ten year old child.
Finally - behind the driver of Perspectives sits a mental process we’ve nicknamed Sensation.
We call this your blind spot or three year old mental process.
Sensation is all about real time kinetics, and understanding the world through your physical
senses by being fully immersed in the here-and-now.
Notice - we haven’t talked about INTJ behaviors.
Instead, I’ve been talking about the mental wiring of your mind.
Behaviors can only give us clues to how your mind is wired.
It’s far more interesting to dive into WHAT CAUSES our behaviors as people.
Here at Personality Hacker - We don’t talk about personality types for their own sake.
We think understanding your personality is one of the best ways to frame your personal
growth journey.And we attract INTJs who are interested in personal growth.Next up - I
want to talk about the best way to grow yourself as an INTJ.
Remember the car model we used to show the mental wiring of your personality?
As an INTJ your Co-Pilot is the mental process called Effectiveness (it’s technical name
is Extraverted Thinking).
This is what we call your growth position.
It’s the highest leverage point for growth in your personality.
Effectiveness allows you as an INTJ to make decisions that will help you build something
in the external world by asking “What works?”
Here are some ways that an INTJ can phrase questions using their Effectiveness process…
Will this investment work and give me a return on my money?
If I implement this idea in the real world - will it get me closer to my goals?
Will it work well to host my entire family at my house this Holiday Season or would it
be more effective to take the kids to my parent’s house?
Effectiveness encourages you as an INTJ to apply your ideas and concepts in the real
world, and receive feedback on the quality of those ideas.
Effectiveness encourages you to make something happen - launch a project - or build something.
It’s easy for an INTJ to spend a lot of time thinking and idea generating.
But if those ideas and thoughts are never tested in the real world - you will always
feel like something is missing.
Growing your Effectiveness can be a challenge for you as an INTJ.
It can feel like a threat to your ideas to have them vetted in the real world.
Every personality type tends to avoid growing their co-pilot mental process.
But here lies the power of understanding your personality.Don’t see your Effectiveness
as something to delay or avoid - embrace getting into this mental process because it gives
you the opportunity to test your ideas and become an empowered INTJ.
Effectiveness also encourages an INTJ to get out of the ‘perfectionism’ cycle, replacing
it with the concept: “Done is better than perfect.”
No idea is ever perfect and a plan can fail.
But nobody’s ever lived in a blueprint.
It works to focus on implementing ideas in the outside world.
It’s a good use of resource and energy to focus on bringing your ideas into the world
so others can benefit.
If you want to quickly test and refine your ideas so they become strong and powerful - you
will need to get out of your comfort zone and refine your ideas in the real world.
As an INTJ - your mind is already wired to make things happen.
Don’t ignore this natural talent that you posses.
Start asking - “what idea can I build in the real world?”
Spend some focused time getting into action - even before you think you are ready.
Create a rapid prototype of a product or service you’ve been pondering
Practice leadership by finding a project that can’t be accomplished on your own and requires
at least two other people to finish.
Each time you are faced with a challenge - ask yourself how you can set up a real world solution
to handle this challenge - then get into action and create
Speed up your implementation time by getting to the first step in any project as quickly
as possible.
This will help you build momentum.
Do what it takes to get into implementation.As an INTJ you will bring the best version of
yourself to the world when you get outside your head and create something in the outer
world.We’d love for you - to keep us up to date about your journey.
One of the best places to do that is our Facebook page (Facebook dot com forward slash Personality
Hacker).And of course - come over to Personality Hacker dot com and leave a comment - ask a
question - or take our personality test.Next I want to talk about the defense strategies
your mind uses that steal happiness from you.And of course - what to do about it.
The word defensive.
You probably think of of an emotional state - or someone getting offended in the moment.
“She’s acting so defensive.”
someone might say.
But I’m not talking about emotions.
I’m using the word positionally.
As an INTJ you have a specific area of your mind that you defend.
As an INTJ - That’s your Authenticity process sitting in the backseat of your car.
It has the sophistication of a 10-year-old child.That’s okay when you use this process
to create intimacy or playfulness.
The trouble starts when you begin to allow this 10 year old process to seduce you into
a self-indulgent space.
As an INTJ, authenticity (it’s technical name is Introverted Feeling) generally shows
up by harboring hurt or self-indulgent feelings.
Authenticity is, in a large part, about introspection and consulting your personal feelings on a
matter.
But when you’re using Authenticity defensively it won’t be about what feels ‘right’,
it will be about what feels ‘good’.
You may become afraid to put your ego on the line for a project that might fail - and you
could “feel bad” about yourself or the situation.
You need to focus on what needs to get done and how to do it rather than avoiding bad
feelings.
If you let your 10 year old of Authenticity do your thinking for you, it will encourage
you to become protective of your self-image and ego - closed to testing out your ideas
in the real world.
At worst, INTJs can even become physical shut-ins, so afraid of being vulnerable that they rarely
leave the house and instead choose to keep preparing for implementation “Someday.”
You need to implement and take calculated risks to prevent becoming self-protective
in your choices and worldview.
Don’t let your Authenticity process steal your happiness.The solution is to focus on
growing your Effectiveness process like we’ve talked about before.
As an INTJ, you’re much more productive and happy when you’re focused on goals,
metrics, standards and objective data.
If your 10 year old of Authenticity gets into the mix, it will encourage emotionally and
physically indulgent behavior, licking wounds from the past and being unwilling to do what
it takes to get your goals accomplished.
I want to hear from you.
How are you letting your 10 year old of Authenticity hijack your happiness?
What are the ways you as an INTJ are playing it safe?
You can leave a comment or take our personality test over at Personality Hacker dot com.
Next we’ll talk about how you best show and receive love as an INTJ.I’ve got two
quick lists for you today.
First - how INTJs ask “do you love me.”
Second - how INTJs show other people love.
Here are a few examples of how INTJs ask do you love me?
Imagine an INTJ asking these questions:
Will you handle things - can I rely on you?
Will you make my life easier, can I relax knowing “you’re on it”?
Will you support my career or personal goals and be self-sufficient?
Are you loyal?
Here are examples of INTJs saying “Yes - I love you” Imagine an INTJ making these statements:
I will be endlessly loyal on principle.
I will educate myself on you and learn how you operate.
I will take pride in you, boasting about your accomplishments even before my own.
I will protect you.
I chose you.
I continue to choose you.
Case closed.
As an INTJ you are probably nodding in agreement.
Just remember that other personalities can sometimes see these ways you show love as
controlling, distant or unromantic.Feel free to share with the people in your life how
your mind works.
Let them know the ways you show love work for you.
If you want to go deeper in your personal development - we have tons of resources, articles
and recordings about personal development through the lens of understanding your personality.
Come over to Personality Hacker dot com.
Next up - let’s talk about where to go next in your personal growth as an INTJ.
I have some action steps for you.
We’ve been talking about YOU - the INTJ personality type.
I’ve already detailed the mental wiring of your mind.
We’ve talked about your highest leverage point for growth and shed light on your defensive
strategies.
And we’ve outlined how you give and receive love.
So what’s next for you as an INTJ?
How will you launch yourself on a personal development journey that works for YOU?Understanding
that each of us have a unique personal growth path seems obvious.
And yet - self help authors and teachers often teach a one size fits all model of growth.
At Personality Hacker - It works well to personalize your development as an INTJ.
So that’s how we’ve designed our frameworks and models.
You now know the mental process to grow yourself as an INTJ is Effectiveness.
Most INTJs want to build something that impacts the world.
They want to be an example of turning abstract ideas into real-world systems.
As an INTJ - there’s nothing as rewarding as seeing your idea become reality.
The enemy of Effectiveness is self-indulgence.
Effectiveness requires courage and the willingness to get out of your shell.
Authenticity can have you focusing on your fear instead of on the rewards of getting
things done.
Getting into action is the only way to prove to yourself that you have what it takes.
Set up your conditions to access this mental process of Effectiveness as much as possible.
A good way to practice this technique is to implement your ideas BEFORE you think you
are ready.
With the next large project you work on - enlist the aid of at least three people.
Make it your aim to coordinate, delegate and manage the project, not to engage in the
labor directly.
Start putting metrics around all the resources of a project.
Which areas are the most difficult for your team
Which areas do you need to ask for help How will you get your team of people to agree
on strategy Identify which tasks to delegate
Match people with their best skills
Work on building each of these skills, especially the ones that are most challenging for you.
It’s common for INTJs to feel almost spiritually satisfied once they conquer their fear of
failure and experience their ideas from concept to reality..
Most of your growth happens by putting your ideas out into the real world to test their
functionality.
If you really want a deep dive into your individual growth plan as an INTJ I invite you to check
out our INTJ Personal Development Starter Kit.You can find more information at Personality
Hacker dot com.
Let me know what personal growth actions you are taking in your life and what has already
worked for you.I’m Joel Mark Witt for Personality Hacker.Talk with you soon.