Confessions of an ISFJ

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August 2017

Avoiding Burnout as an ISFJ personality typetruity.com

theisfj:

This article helped me.

___

“For far too long, it’s been my plan to get the work done, then rest, have friends over for game night, or take time for myself. You name it, I’ve been putting it off until the work is finished.

The work is never done.

There is always something more to finish, someone needing something, or someone who isn’t happy, no matter what you do. Taking time to take care of yourself makes you more productive and better able to care for those you love in the long run. Life is too short not to enjoy it a little!”

Aug 16, 2017 60 notes
#isfj #article
Is there any cognitive process or function (I'm guessing Ne in some position?) that makes you jump from idea to idea as a means of distraction, similar to how Se might engage in short-lived, fickle sensory or physical experiences and pleasures when depressed / under stress or without direction / outlet? And what position would this be in? How could you best correct this or at least deal with it more healthily, if the original stressor cannot be altered, or at least not for a long time?

(Gif: Ichabod Crane, Sleepy Hollow TV. ISFJ.)

If the distraction is natural because your brain wanders between topics and switches direction quickly, it could be higher Ne; but if this tendency only activates under stress or without direction, it is probably lower Ne.

High Ne operates on a continual basis of seeking potential from the ideas and possibilities in the environment. Ne in conjunction with the judging functions wants to bring these possibilities into reality through action, by leaping on that idea / philosophical thought / concept and reshaping or guiding it. This is why a lot of high Ne users wind up writers; because if you can capture a thought, concept, theory, or idea on paper, it becomes “real” in an abstract way; you can communicate it to others and perhaps even make it non-conceptual, as it manifests through decisive action or shapes public opinion.

The tendency of a high Ne is to explore the idea as long as it holds potential to the Ne user, then put it aside in pursuit of another idea; it will only revisit the earlier concepts and ideas if it finds NEW potential in it or a different angle by which to approach it. (For example: an NP discovers Game of Thrones when it’s the big, new thing. Becomes fascinated for awhile. Reaches the end of the books. Has no further discussion on it. Quits. Then the NP learns MBTI theory. Suddenly, there’s a NEW way to look at GOT. It revisits it! Discusses it! Theorizes on it! And when it gets to the end of that interest / figures out all the characters’ types… it finds a new obsession and moves on.) When there is no new angle / no growth on an old interest, the NP may not revisit it. It’s dead.

Lower Ne does not operate this way; it sees possibilities and potentials either as a method of daydreaming / problem solving or as a formula to achieve S ends (what purpose does this theory serve and how can I apply it to real life?). Higher N’s are interested in the theories for their own sake, and real life application is secondary; it is the reverse in higher S’s.

Since you seem to suggest this distraction / abandonment of focus happens under stress, I imagine this is Ne in an inferior position. ISXJs often report a loss of focus / distraction from their usual comfort level with details / feeling lost and/or overwhelmed under stress, due to inferior Ne “taking over.” Your best coping mechanism is to take a deep breath, calm down, and try to activate your first two functions. Reconnect with Si. How realistic are these distractions or fears? Which one is the BEST idea? Which one has the most potential, both now and in the long term? Pick one and pursue it. Get into the details of it. Use your aux/tert functions to figure out how you can make it real.

You could also put some time into studying how higher Ne operates, in order to better understand the potential of your own Ne (it will never be as good, but you can learn to focus it in more specific directions and use it in innovation) so that you can recognize when you are falling into Ne grips and take control over them. (Admittance is half the problem solved.)

- ENFP Mod

Aug 1, 2017 65 notes

July 2017

How would an inferior Ne present in an individual? I hear a lot on what high Ne looks like, but not how an inferior one appears.

(Gif: Cinderella. ISFJ.)

ISXJs find the changeability of higher Ne’s troubling (one day, an NP believes this; the next, it believes the opposite), because to them it indicates a lack of being grounded / secure in who they are and what they believe; they tend to cling more firmly to established belief systems (their own) and keep Ne as a creative function through which they explore novel ideas, live vicariously through fictional characters or worlds. Their tendency can be to displace novelty and fantastical (unrealistic) ideas in favor of practicality; the inferior Ne believes many of their dreams are just that – dreams, impractical in reality and maybe unattainable (unlike the higher Ne, who willingly / naively believes they can succeed at anything, due to Ne overestimating its own talents, until they rapidly lose interest or the world teaches them otherwise). Inferior Ne’s pursue dreams as “outlets,” “hobbies,” and through art and creativity (instead of “living a life of Ne”).

Si/Ne approaches everything with detail first, so the ISFJ writer, for example, will be meticulous, detailed, and careful as they establish a writing world / attentive to the smaller things in the characters’ lives and then allow their Ne to carry the story in unexpected directions. This is the same approach they can have to life – careful, meticulous, and detailed, with a Ne eager to experience new things and ideas (especially ideas that do not conflict with Si). The healthy ISXJ wants to expand their worldview, to learn more, and to be able to think in unusual directions, but can sometimes doubt their ability to choose the right idea. (Ne, at its best, sees a multitude of ideas and selects the one with the most potential for positive outcomes.)

While they do have multi-directional thinking capabilities, external ideas can hit a barrier of former reference before they ever are fully analyzed by Ne. For example, an ISXJ raised in a strict particular religion might take an interest in a different religion / atheism or change their core theological beliefs but they must first reconcile these new ideas / perspectives (Ne) with their Si upbringing / former experiences to embrace them. Sometimes the Si aids in building up a grudge toward a certain belief system, way of life, religion, etc., because it is tied directly to the high Si’s memories, experiences, and negative associations.

Once Ne becomes more active, ISXJs can fall into two camps: one has little tolerance for abstract / philosophical / thinking or theorizing for its own sake (preferring “uses” for abstractions and examples for real-world application), the other is aware this can sometimes be difficult for them and often admires it in or is drawn to others who do it with greater efficiency. I’ve seen a tendency in ESFJs to idolize certain ENTP celebrities, because the celebrity uses efficiently two functions the ESFJ admires – strong Ne and strong Ti. The polar opposite is the ISXJ who has no patience for NP types; and believes them scattered, nonsensical, and erratic, with no interest in reading between the lines.

Because Ne is so low, the ISXJ is not always adept at seeing the “big picture” and may not notice how one idea contradicts or changes another. If the ISXJ is more of a “free spirit,” they may adopt a bunch of different, contradictory belief systems under which to operate (this is more common in NPs and  ESXJs). This is because Ne is simply “adding onto” Si rather than replacing old ideas.

Under stress and in the grip, inferior Ne becomes clumsily active – it starts generating all negative potential outcomes, sprawling in all directions, as the ISXJ loses touch with their natural ability to sort details and becomes lost in a world of abstract, vapid, frightening possibilities. The best example of this on screen is Rory Gilmore on Gilmore Girls whenever she’s under stress – she starts spouting all the horrible things that can happen as a result (she won’t get into college, she’ll never get a job, she’ll be homeless on the street, and wind up eating out of garbage cans, all because she failed ONE TEST).

- ENFP Mod

Jul 21, 2017 85 notes
#isfj

imanes:

“some things aren’t meant to last” ok but consider this: I love permanence and consistency

Jul 16, 2017 99,156 notes
#isfj #si dom problems #si #mbti
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