Ten Ways I'm Totally An INTJ

Hey, everyone.

So, my blog post last week on the Five Ways I Buck the INTJ Stereotype was quite popular. It got 245 views which I wasn't expecting. Unfortunately, I don't know if it was liked because no left a comment. Anyway, for this week's post, I've decided to go over ten ways that I am totally the stereotypical INTJ. Let's get to it.

1. Surprisingly Rebellious

I'm not very outgoing. Of course I'm not, I'm an INTJ. But, sometimes, I do take on the role of a rebel without a cause. When someone tells me something like "everyone's doing it," I tend to get fired up because 1. I don't care, and 2. I am not everyone. Once upon a time, I cared what the group was doing, but through my formative years as a teenager, I learned how much of an outcast I really was. Hell, even in my own circle of friends I'm the damn outsider. It's easy not to give a damn about the Joneses when they cut you out. And so, as a result, sometimes you just need to rebel to be a smartass.

Well, it's actually a control thing. INTJ's get very irritated when people try to manipulate them or tell them what they need. Really? You know what I need better than myself? Ergo, to show you can't be controlled, you rebel. Just don't make a habit of it because some people are smart enough to pick up on the pattern and will use it to control you.

2. Superiority Complex

"Some men think they're God--this one just happens to be right."

That's a quote from the 2001 remake of the comedy Bedazzled. (The original was better.) But, it does illustrate a good point about INTJ's. We may not think we're God, but we do definitely think ourselves generally "better" or more highly evolved than other people. I once had a conversation with a female friend of mine, a Sensing sort of girl, sometime before I discovered I was an INTJ. I confessed I didn't feel like a normal man, that I was something "higher." She accused me of thinking I was an angel. Now, of course, I don't think that. Growing up in the Catholic Church, I have a very strict definition of what an angel should be, and since I didn't know anything about MBTI at the time, I didn't know how to respond to her. Another time, I looked in the mirror one day and asked her if she thought I had a big head; she asked for clarification. I was kind of hurt by that because I generally don't think of myself as arrogant, but I do still think of myself as being "higher" than the average person.

3. Immutable Principles

Whether it comes from the Catholic background or because I don't like change, I definitely have immutable principles. On the one hand, it keeps my nose clean. On the other hand, it makes life kind of difficult or even annoying. There are times when it would be easier to say, "Aw, f*ck it. I don't feel like doing that." But then my sense of justice and ethics goes, "You were raised better than this. You know the difference between good and bad, moral and immoral, virtuous and complacent. You have no other choice, unless you want to look like the other vulgar scum walking the streets." And it's like, damn! Guilted into following my own rigid code of ethics by my own superiority complex. That's the problem with having a conscience.

But, like I said, having good, clean morals and strong ethics has kept my nose clean, and as I result, I don't have a lot of the problems some people my age do. I may give off a 1950's nerdy, straight laced feeling, but you can't complain about the fact that there's nothing to complain about.

4. Constant Improvement

In my last post, I talked about how I don't give a sh*t about the relentless improvement of technology. But, one thing I can't stand is mediocrity in myself, especially since I started working out. My whole perspective on the world and people has changed somewhat, especially when it comes to looking for a suitable mate. At one time, I accepted girls with a few extra pounds and girls who weren't necessarily virgins, you know, because being 28 in this modern world, you can't dependably expect to find a girl who is still a virgin at that age.

But, after working out regularly for the past three-and-a-half months, being on a diet, losing 23 lbs, and holding onto my maiden virtue all this time, I don't accept chubby girls anymore, and I've renewed my intentions of finding a virgin. If I'm going to hold myself to a higher standard, why should I accept someone who doesn't? Because it's judgmental? Oh, boo-f*cking-hoo. You don't want to be judged negatively, don't be a piece of sh*t.

5. Connections

I have OCD. Specifically, germ-a-phobia. I was always OCD to some extent as a child, but when I got into high school, I started noticing things. I started paying attention to what people touched and then what they touched after. As a result, I became very OCD in a short amount of time, and it pit me against my family which was very difficult for my mother and sister, two people I never used to recoil from and avoid all physical contact with.

I thought my ability to make connections and notice patterns was a side effect of my OCD because neither my mother nor sister seemed capable of noticing such things. However, I know my father notices patterns almost as fast as I do, and my brother does too, but to a much lesser extent. Also, I am able to make connections between two seemingly unrelated things, like art and science. I see the science in the art, and the art in the science. In my latter years of high school and starting out at college, I came to appreciate every school subject regardless of what it was because I knew it could be useful to me in some way, shape, or form. At the time, I thought it was because I was pursuing writing as a career, and you never know what you'll end up using or how. But these days, I see how the areas of study affect each other. I see the symbiotic relationship between them. Everything is connected to everything else.

6. Life Bores Me

Remember my Sensing friend? She's very grounded. She loves going outside, she does things, she's a nurse, and for whatever reason, she thinks I'm smarter than her. I maintain that I'm not; she just has a different sort of intelligence. For example: she can spank me good at Scrabble which may sound funny because I'm a writer with a huge vocabulary. But when I play Scrabble, instead of looking at what I can do, I focus on what I could do... if conditions were right. I have the same problem playing Chess and Magic: The Gathering. Magic is especially the tricky one, because instead of building a deck that wins, I build decks that I think would make epic wins. You'd think the conditions would be the same, but strangely they're not. And that's why I don't like regular, everyday life. It's so mundane. Where's the magic? Where's the fantasy? Why can't dragons exist? Although, on a serious note, if dragons did exist, things probably would super suck. Playing Skyrim enlightened me to that perspective.

But, because life is so boring, that's one of the reasons why I became a writer. If I can't have a wondrous life, I'll live a wondrous life vicariously through a fictional story. Some people may argue that if I stopped being an INTJ and became something like an ENFP or ESFP, I could have an exciting and entertaining life. But at those times when I consider having such a life, I realize that sometimes I just prefer to sit alone in the shade and be alone with my thoughts rather than doing something crazy. Besides, why would I want to meet super models or go skydiving when in my mind I could meet super hot, vampire chicks or explore ancient castles? Plus, some people just suck, and in my imagination, I can give them their comeuppance.

7. Cool Outside, Hot Inside

INTJ's have a reputation for being cool and calm on the outside, but being very passionate on the inside. I'm no exception unless I get into an argument with a close friend. Then I can become hopping mad.

"That's the raging volcano?"
"Maybe he gets hopping mad."

But, it's true. Stress doesn't really get to me, and even when in stressful situations, I do have an outwardly calm appearance. It can give off the impression that I'm apathetic, but have a look inside my mind, and things are quite different. Once I was talking to a girl that I thought would become my girlfriend. Well, somehow I tripped her insecurities, and she went from being a possible girlfriend to talking about being just friends. It was an instant switch. At first, I was confused, but then I was angry for the next two to three hours by the sudden upset. While my mind was raging, all I did was pace the kitchen back and forth. Another example is just like how I mentioned that regular life bores me. You see me going for a leisurely stroll down the street or sitting somewhere off by myself, but the whole time, an epic story is playing out inside my mind the likes of which rivals Tolkien's Lord of the Rings.

It's been said that while INTJ's are very placid on the outside, we're actually super passionate on the inside, and that we don't really do anything we don't enjoy. That's quite true. People may associate the color blue with my personality, but my favorite color is red because it is the color of passion. And it goes well with black.

8. Jack of All Trades

You ever see that quote or meme that lists off all the things a person should be capable of doing, and then saying that specialization for insects? Or, if you're a writer or a blogger, you've probably heard that in order to be successful as a writer, but especially as a blogger, you need to pick a niche and stick to it. I say that's crapola.

While I may think myself a master writer, I have many wide and varied interests. I believe in being a Renaissance man. I have an interest in science, math, philosophy, history, and art. I prefer to shoot archery, but I will also play basketball. I'd like to know how to sew, and I'd love to be able to make my own quilts, but I do have the makings of a petrol head. And while I may be introverted, I do have an interest in dancing.

My shuffling ain't so bad.

See, the way I get around the whole niche thing is that I say "My niche is that I'm Bryan C. Laesch. Anything that has to do with me is my niche." But, really, I don't have a niche. Hell, when I hopped onto Twitter, I took the user name BryanofAllTrade in reference to the fact that I am a jack of all trades. (I didn't put an "S" at the end because I ran out of spaces.) My three most marketable skills are writing and editing, dog training, and tutoring foreign language. True, foreign language and writing are related, and dog training and tutoring are related, but they are unique enough to cause people to stop and wonder how the hell I got such talents.

And, of course, it all goes back to writing. While my magnum opus may be a modern Gothic Epic, I have written a fantasy novel. I've written a Shakespearean play. I'm going to write a sci-fi novel, and in a bid to expand my audience, I'm going to self-publish a book of poetry and a compilation of romance stories. Not simply because I want to expand my audience, but because I have a genuine interest in these genres. Hell, I even had an idea for a series of children's books. The point is, through writing, I am able to explore all these different subjects and interests. And if they bring me a few dollars, why the f*ck not?!

9. Pointless Secrets

Despite how forthright I am in my writing, I'm a very private person at home. I don't like divulging what it is that I'm doing. Somebody asks me what I'm up to, and I'll deflect the question or lie just because I'm mildly embarrassed about watching an rom-com anime. I could just say I'm watching anime, but then that leads to questions. Questions like what's it called, what's it about, who are the characters, etc. And some of these things just aren't worth going over. They're pointless and nobody needs to know them. So, if someone catches me doing something mildly embarrassing, I tend to deflect the situation even though it would just be easier to come clean. But, like I said, people don't need to know.

10. Death Glare

If you look at INTJ's in media, they tend to be depicted as being bored out of their minds. Not me. I have a resting bitch face. My mother has even told me I scowl, and my cousin's girlfriend told me I always look pissed off. I'm not; it's just my face. Besides, if I'm not happy, why the hell should I smile? Don't people smile to show they're happy?

But besides that, I do have the dreaded INTJ death glare. Irritate me or piss me off, and my eyes burn a whole right through soul and fill you with such an intense feeling of dread, I've actually made people retreat. When I was in the eighth grade, a girl in my class said something stupid, I gave her a mild form of the death glare, and she responded with, "Bryan, you always look like you want to kill me." At the time I thought she was being harsh, but I'm glad the death glare is in my repertoire. You never know when you might need it.

And so, that concludes the Ten Ways I'm Totally An INTJ. While writing this piece, I had a few ah-ha moments and realized several more ways I'm the typical INTJ and untypical INTJ. I intend to write those eventually, but next week, I'm going to cover the INTJ mystique. I'm not a hundred percent sure what I mean by that, but it will be a sort of breakdown of what it means to be an INTJ in a bid to help younger or newer INTJ's realize why they're so special. If you don't want to miss it, follow me on Facebook or subscribe to this blog. And, if you want more info on INTJ's, get the book The True INTJ by Truity. Until then...

Keep writing, my friends.

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Five Ways I Buck the INTJ Stereotype

Hey there, everyone.

My name is Bryan C. Laesch, and I am an INTJ. I know I am because16Personalities told me so. (I also used to write for them.) And, almost every pin on Pinterest is incredibly accurate when describing me.

But, the thing we have to remember about MBTI is that it isn't 100% accurate. That is to say, MBTI gives us the stereotypes or averages of each personality even if a particular personality isn't average in the least, like INTJ. In fact, I saw an article where a bunch of INTJs were interviewed on how they buck the INTJ stereotype, and I thought I might take the opportunity to add my own tuppence to the topic. So, these are the five ways I buck the INTJ stereotype. Let's get into it.

1. Religion

Yes, I am religious. Well, I don't like calling myself religious because to me only a Bible or a priest can be religious, but, aye, I practice a religion. The particular religion I practice is Roman Catholicism. Some people may find that hard to believe because the Catholic Church seems to have a lot of rules and restrictions, and INTJs are fiercely independent. Surely an INTJ would prefer something a lot less nailed down. I disagree. I think Catholicism is perfect for the following reasons: 1. It hasn't changed in almost two thousand years (J), 2. It has an extensive theology that was built by Aquinas, a man who was more philosopher than theologian (in fact, he was probably an INTJ himself) (NT), and 3. Despite the fact it's called Mass, all religion is deeply personal; it's a relationship between an individual and the divine (that's what Communion is all about) (I).

In fact, I'm not the only one to clue in to this. I found a pin on Pinterest that listed all the possible careers for INTJs, and one of them was Catholic theologian. So, suck on that INTJ atheistic stereotype! (Unfortunately, I can no longer find that pin.)

St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
Wrote the Summa Theologica which contains the Five Arguments
for the Existence of God
I would bet good money he was an INTJ.

2. I Don't Care About Advances in Technology

According to MBTI, INTJs believe in the relentless development of technology. But me, I don't give a sh*t. To be honest, I hate most new fangled gadgets. Some of them are often more finicky or less user-friendly than the last generation's gadgets, updates are constantly being made to programs that don't need them, often times new tech is released full of bugs and overpriced, so it's tactically advantageous not to buy it until the next generation comes out, and I don't give a rat's ass about being trendy. (I had to get a new pair of glasses once, and the saleswoman kept trying to get me to buy one pair over another because the frames were more popular. It also didn't help that she was wearing those frames so I felt like she was trying to subtly manipulate me.) So, I tend to have the perspective of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Now, I should mention that I am always looking to make things as efficient as possible in my own day-to-day life which is sort of what the "relentless development of technology" thing is all about--finding the best way to do something, and then improving on top of that. It's entirely possible that the reason why I don't care about the advancement of technology is because I don't know what it could be, or I don't see the inefficiencies in the tech that the designers see. But, you know what they say, ignorance is bliss. Speaking of which...

3. Ignorance Is Bliss

Typically, you'll never hear an INTJ say this. INTJs have an insatiable appetite for knowledge. We take everything we learn and add it to our database where we can break it down and try to connect it to other things in a maddening pursuit of trying to solve the universe. But, there are some things that shouldn't be known, and a wizened INTJ almost assuredly knows a few things he wish he didn't. There are things I wish I could forget, and there are things I'd be happier not knowing, like who Kim Kardashian is. I don't need that in my life. As a result, ignorance can be bliss. My mother once told me that I didn't know what I was missing in regards to how delicious a salad was (I don't eat salad). And to her, I responded, "If I don't know what I'm missing, I can't miss it."

4. I Prefer My Work to Be Something Creative Rather Than Technical

Going back to the list of jobs perfect for INTJs, most of them tend to be technical like computer programming. Now, the reason why these are so popular among INTJs is because they're lonely jobs; you only need one person doing them. And while I think I would be very good at such a job, hell, I was a window cleaner for several months and I enjoyed the solitude of it, but I don't think I could do something technical for the rest of my life. I think my N trait may be stronger than some INTJs as I prefer to do something creative with my life. I want to create and show off the beautiful complexity of a spider web of connections--hence, I write. And since I can do it alone, it helps my Introversion as well.

In fact, someone has speculated on there being four different kinds of INTJs. On the blog, The Way of the INTJ, the blog writer mentioned how there are "subtypes" of each MBTI personality based on Enneagram personality theory and the different "wing" types. Basically, the way it works is that Enneagram splits personalities into 9 basic personalities, but a person can "wing" in a second personality. Think of it like a college major and minor. According to the blog writer, Tess Ellation, the four INTJ subtypes are the Purist (1w9), the Diplomat (1w2), the Arcanist (5w4), and the Genius (5w6). I'm not going to go into them here, but according the descriptions, I'm obviously the Arcanist. But when I took my Enneagram test, I also did really well in category 1. Unfortunately, I can't be a 5-wing-1 because 5 and 1 are not next to each other. Perhaps that's another Enneagram theory that needs to be explored.

Anyway...

5. I Ask Someone If They Really Want My Honest Opinion

One of the most popular cornerstones of the INTJ personality is brutal honesty. Now, I am brutally honest, but I didn't know how brutal my honesty was until I asked a friend why she enjoyed spending time with me (a very INTJ thing to do). One of the reasons she gave was that I tell the truth regardless of whether it hurts someone's feelings or not. This was news to me--I had never heard this, and honestly, I felt bad about it. I wasn't trying to hurt my friend's feelings; she asked for my opinion so I gave it to her.

Are you sure you want to know what I think about that, cupcake?

After that exchange, I'm more careful now about how honest I am with someone. I still have a desire to tell the truth, but I don't want to hurt people. It's tough being criticized, and in my position as a writer, I know that there's a good way and a bad way to do it. You can tell someone the truth without hurting them. And for those times when I know for sure it'll hurt their feelings, I always ask if they really want to know or not. Although, I wonder if part of my aversion to doing so is because I don't want to get wrapped up in another's feelings or emotional sh*t storm. Sometimes it's just not worth disturbing the peace, you know. I've got sh*t to do, and your butthurt could get in the way of my work.

So, those are the top 5 ways I buck the INTJ stereotype. I'm sure there are more, but for the love of me, I can't think of what they are. But, anyway, next time I'll be going over the 10 ways I fit perfectly into the INTJ stereotype. There are more than 10, but I didn't want to overload you guys. If you want more information on INTJs, you can check out the book The True INTJ here on Amazon. According to Amazon, I own it, but I don't remember reading it. Probably because it's only really useful for people who don't know squat about INTJs. Anyway, see you guys next time.

Keep writing, my friends.

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