Thursday, October 23, 2014

Thankful Thursday: Personalities


Doug and I both did personality tests yesterday.  It was fun.  I'd recommend you take one, and have your family members do the same.  You can take the one we took here.  



I got ENFP, and mine was freakishly accurate!  Doug got INTP, and his was about 80% accurate I'd say.  I was very sad when I read this (about him):

"They do not understand decisions based on emotions and subjectivity. As they strive constantly to achieve logical conclusions, they fail to see the relevance of subjective emotional considerations. For that reason, they are not naturally equipped to meet the emotional needs of others. INTPs can become overly critical and sarcastic with others and sometimes negative and cynical with life when they are not content with their personal achievements."

Great, just great!  Doug is "not naturally equipped to meet the emotional needs of others" and I'm basically and emotional cripple.  Which makes our ten years of marriage that much more miraculous.  It was great for Doug to read my results and vice versa.  You can never quit learning about your spouse or kids.  And even if you think you know something, we all need reminders because we think and operate SO differently.  

And then, there was this paragraph (about me):

"ENFPs who have not learned to follow through may have a difficult time remaining happy in marital relationships. Always seeing the possibilities of what could be, they may become bored with what actually is. The strong sense of values, however, will keep many ENFPs dedicated to their relationships. However, ENFPs like a little excitement in their lives, and are best matched with individuals who are comfortable with change and new experiences."

Well I have been through a lot of change and new experiences, good thing Doug goes with the flow.

What I liked about this personality quiz, was that the results were longer and more detailed than others and I loved that it revealed things that you might struggle with.  Cause every God given trait has a positive, but there's also the other side of the coin.  Too much of a good thing, so to speak.  So, it all has to be within reason, and the more we are aware and acknowledge are weaknesses, the easier they are to address.  

Follow through may not be my strong point, but I'm supposedly good at inspiring others.  And I've naturally been drawn to outside sources that keep me motivated on task, like this blog for instance.  Because I highly value sticking to my word, I publicly announced I'd blog every day for a year (or at least about each of the days).  Towards the end, it was challenging, but I was able to push through.

If you have school aged kids, I highly recommend learning about their personality types and learning styles.  You can google both of those things and find information for yourself.  But, one book I read, that I thought was helpful was,  "The Way They Learn"  by Cynthia Tobias.  Here is a link to buy it on amazon.  This book includes great information on what motivates each type of learner.  Even if you don't homeschool, this is still great, you help your kids with homework, right?  Not to mention, you can help them learn good strategies that will work for them. That is priceless information that will help them in life.  I'm not saying you have to go buy this book, but I AM saying, get to know your kids/grandkids, and be their biggest fan/cheerleader!


I'm still learning about my kiddos, but I can already tell Kees is a lot like Doug, and Kora is more like me, but each of them is also different from us, and like the other parent. And some if it is ALL their own.  Isn't God good.  I am so thankful to have little people to teach and grow with, they're teaching me too!  I'm thankful there are so many resources out there, so that I can keep learning and become a better spouse and parent (hopefully, follow through isn't my thang!)

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