Personality Types – Life Unfolds Blog

AEDM Day 5: Hue Are U?

I’m always learning new things from my clients, which is one of the things I love about my job! Today, one of my clients came over for a session and she brought along a card deck called “Hue Are U? A Deck For Discovering Your True Self” by Dewey Sadka. I’m a personality-typing nut, so I was all over this system, especially given that it’s based on simply picking colors you’re naturally drawn to. You also pick colors you don’t like (what you resist persists!).

Earlier tonight, I drew my cards. You pick your favorites and least favorites out of different groupings of colors for things like your basic motivation, how you relate to people, your hopes and fears, how you take on the world, your suppressed emotions/needs, etc. There are descriptions on the back of each card. My faves were in the green/yellow/blue family and least faves in the reds/purples.

It was a fun and enlightening exercise and I decided to diagram my results (see below).

What’s Your Type?

I’ve had “get MBTI qualified” on my list of goals for several years now (if you haven’t guessed, that’s a dead give away that I’m definitely not a “J” – I like to keep things pretty open ended!). I’m happy to say that I’ve now finally bit the bullet and signed up for a training class in September.

I really started to get into type and temperament when Brian and I took a couples workshop in 1999 through Susan Nash, author of Turning Team Performance Inside Out. My friend Courtney introduced me to her back in our change management consulting days at Accenture while she was helping Susan co-author the book Dating, Mating and Relating. Brian and I learned so much about each other’s preferences and styles. That really helped shed light on the dynamics in our relationship and helped bring us closer together. We discovered that we don’t share any functions – he senses and I intuit, he thinks and I feel. Let’s just say this can make for interesting conversations and decision-making! So once we understood our natural modes of operating, we gained an appreciation for the different perspectives and strengths we both bring to the table.

I’ve started to bring MBTI into my coaching with clients who already know their type. We’ve uncovered lots of juicy insights about natural gifts and tendencies. Plus, it’s helped to shed light on places to grow into more. YOU: Being More Effective in Your MBTI Type is a great book that provides specific suggestions and development plans to be more effective on the job.

Some of my other favorite MBTI-related books are:

Being the INFP that I am, I’m always seeking to discover more about myself and to find meaning in the world around me. I want to make a positive difference according to my values and I want to help people. Given all that, it makes total sense that I’m pursuing this valuable personal growth tool and am wanting to share it with others.

[tags]MBTI, Myers-Briggs, temperament, personality types, INFP, life coaching, team building[/tags]

There’s No Place Like Home

After two business trips in less than a month, this introvert is happy to be home! I really enjoyed journaling from the comfort of my own bed this morning and doing sun salutations in my meditation room with the sun shining in through the windows. Being on the road and around so many people reminds me that as an INFP and an HSP it’s vital for me to take quiet time to recharge.

During the conference this past weekend, when I found myself getting overstimulated and drained from all the sights, sounds and crowds, I sought the solitude of my hotel room. After taking a quick nap or simply just lying still for 20 minutes I felt ready to re-enter the hustle and bustle of the event and mingle with all the wonderful women there.

I’m glad that I now know what I need to do to take care of myself instead of judging that I’m not able to “keep up.” Learning my MBTI type several years ago and reading more about introverts and Highly Sensitive People has helped me embrace these traits as gifts. I now own that I naturally bring a sense of stillness, reflection and calm and by slowing down and observing, I often have intuitive insights on things that others may not notice right away.

I had a nice exchange with Leah of Creative Everyday after reading her blog entry “Introverts Go Out.” A great resource we both recommend for learning about what it means to be an introvert is “The Introvert Advantage.” I also liked “The Happy Introvert” which is a quick, fun read with some whimsical illustrations.

Not all introverts are Highly Sensitive People and you don’t have to be an introvert to be an HSP. I happened to learn about HSPs while reading “The Introvert Advantage” and discovered that I fit the bill for being highly sensitive, too. It sure helped explain a lot of things for me! Some books that were helpful for me where “The Highly Sensitive Person,” “Making Work Work for the Highly Sensitive Person” and “The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide.”

I love how instead of working against my inherent personality traits like I did in my old corporate life, in my new life of working for myself I’m relishing in creative, personal, meditative endeavors that nourish my soul.

[tags]MBTI, Myers-Briggs, INFP, HSP, Highly Sensitive Person, type and temperament, introverts, introversion[/tags]