Overview
The Myers-Briggs® Type Indicator (MBTI) has been around for more than sixty years. It is a tried and true indicator of your personality type. That is not to say that the MBTI will explain every single aspect of your personality, but it will certainly explain a lot about who you are.
One of the main principles behind the MBTI is that you are born a certain type. Therefore, the more you are put in situations that allow you to be who you are, the better you will feel and the more productive you will be. MBTI is about how you feel most energized, how you perceive information, how you make decisions, and how you deal with the outside world. It is about preferences, preferences you are born with.
It's All About Preferences
Let us give you an example that will clarify what is meant by preferences: Write your name with the hand that you normally use to write with. You will notice that it comes easily to you. Now try to write your name with the other hand. You will notice that although you can do it, you cannot do it as well. It also feels uncomfortable to you. That is exactly how it is with your personality preferences; you are more comfortable and more productive in situations where you can be who you naturally are.
That is not to say that you cannot learn to act in a different manner; you can and you need to. As you develop and become more aware of yourself, you also become aware of areas that you need to work on and improve upon. The MBTI will tell you what these areas are; by telling you what your blind spots are, it tells you what you need to work on so that you may lead a more fulfilling and productive life.
The Results
Your MBTI personality type will be composed of four letters. The combination of these letters will tell you quite a bit about your personality. What is important to know at this point is that you will be told whether you are an Extrovert or Introvert, whether you are Judging or Perceiving, and what your dominant, helping, tertiary and inferior functions are, ranging from your strongest (dominant) to your weakest (inferior), in that order.
Simply put, Extroversion (E) and Introversion (I) refer to where you feel most energized. Judging (J) and Perceiving (P) refer to how you prefer to lead your life. As to functions, these refer to how you prefer to take in information, where you either prefer to use Sensing (S) or Intuition (N). Functions also refer to how you prefer to make decisions, where you either prefer to use Thinking (T) or Feeling (F).
