When an "ISFJ" realizes they're truly an ISFP

Yamapi dancing at a party, which, yeah, of course I had to.

I retook the MBTI test associated with the 16 Personalities website, and here are the incredibly accurate and helpful results.

Okay, so there is nothing weirder than an ISFP spending more than a decade being mistyped as an ISFJ. These two personality types are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I actually thought I was just a crap ISFJ and spent so much time and effort for years trying to get better at being one. Turns out, I'M NOT ONE! I'm an ISFP, better known as the Adventurer, and oh my gosh, friends, it makes so much bloody sense!

I've done a lot of self-reflection and development in the last couple of years. I also gave up on personality types completely, just dumped that part of my life right out the top-floor window. Smartest thing I've really done in years since it gave me distance from expectations (mine and others) and allowed me to just discover who I actually am without feeling like I needed to go in a specific box. Turns out, there is a box that comfortably fits me as an ISFP, and not one that makes me feel packed in like a sardine with no wiggle room.

Maria from West Side Story is an ISFP

How did I figure it out?

Well, like I said, those two years of self-discovery and evaluation to try and just let the real me, whoever she might be, float to the surface.

• I have more interests than I can even keep track of. I love Japanese dramas and then, whoops, something attracts me to Thai Lakorns, and then, oh wait, there's this awesome series from Korea. I'm learning Japanese then I'm learning Swedish then I want to try Finnish then I want to try Thai. Favorite music is from Japanese pop-stars until suddenly it's from Thai pop-stars and then all of a sudden I love Panic at the Disco, Walk the Moon, and 5 Seconds of Summer. To say nothing of the types of books, movies, hobbies (like the on again-off again knitting and crochet projects) that just come and go with no rhyme or reason. I'll spend months reading manga and then dive into Dickens.
• Getting in the car and driving with no real schedule or plan other than an AirBnB at the end of the road is my idea of perfection. Windows down, loud music blaring, sunglasses, oh my gosh, yes please.
• I wear Jack Sparrow inspired fashion rings and stacks of black and grey bracelets on one wrist and now that I've found huggie earrings, they're my favorite thing, especially black huggies. BEST THING EVER!
• I struggle with schedules and long-term tasks, like something that will take months or (HEAVEN FORBID), years to complete. Deadlines are my enemy.
• I start to rebel and feel claustrophobic anytime I feel boxed in, either by rules, regulations, or restrictions that don't make sense.
• Don't disrespect my intelligence or knowledge of my job because I will actually hate you.
• But with that said, focusing on my job can be so hard sometimes because I just want to know what's around the next corner of my life.
• I don't like to commit to things and will go to great lengths to avoid committing myself to something if I'm not 100% sure about it, and being 100% sure about something rarely happens. It's a miracle we bought our house and that was because a friend who is NOT an ISFP helped motivate me in positive ways.
• Stress is my middle name. And as soon as something like just a smidge of additional pressure at works adds stress to my life, I turn aggressive. Or I just fight the almost overwhelming desire to run and not stop until I'm in a completely new place with new people. Stop messing with my pace!
• And, oh yes, that whole fluctuating self-esteem thing. Not fun to live with, but oh so true! And I really have to guard myself against letting outside influence negatively impact my self-esteem. That's been an ongoing problem for years.

Newt Scamander from the Fantastic Beasts franchise is an ISFP

Is my life easy? Yes . . . and no. Because I'm always with me and some things are just never going to be easy for me. I will probably never finish writing that novel. But I am going to finish the knitting projects I have, one because I am SO CLOSE to being done and the other because it's for my baby sister who I love more than anything else in the world. And I have kept to my workout regimen for almost 4 months now, so it seems to have sticking power. Because I am my own motivator for this now, and not anyone else. Exercise is a means of fulfillment for me. It helps ground me in positive ways.

So if it feels like I'm always changing, it's because I am. My interests are going to ebb and flow. They're going to evolve and I'll be crazy about something for a season and then something else will swim across my horizon and I'll chase it for a season.

But now that I know my personality type, it means that I can work harder at adding a little more structure, just to help balance my spontaneity. Because I am spontaneous. Which is why it frustrates me that I now have to schedule an entrance time into the zoo. Thanks, Covid, for making that a thing! Why can't I just GO TO THE ZOO WHEN I FEEL LIKE IT!? Oh well, zoo, here we come this Friday.

Luke Skywalker from the Star Wars franchise is an ISFP

Anyway, blessings, friends. This has been an enlightening discovery for me and I am so thankful!