Mapping the complexity of the human personality may seem like an impossible task, but there has been a lot of progress in this area in the past few decades. Developed in the 1940s, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is one of the most valuable tools for decoding human personality available today. Can knowing your Myers-Briggs personality type bring any tangible value into your life? Absolutely.

Read on to learn why knowing your Myer-Briggs personality type matters.  

1. It Can Help You Discover Your Strengths

Your personality type is a combination of four letters, each representing your dominant psychological functions: 

• (I)Introversion versus (E)Extroversion 

• (S)Sensation versus (I)Intuition 

• (F)Feeling versus (T)Thinking

• (J)Judging versus (P)Perceiving 

Every person uses these functions, but we all have a strong innate preference for one side of each complementary pair. Thus, after taking the test, you may discover you are an ENFP, for example. Understanding the ENFP meaning can lead to many personal revelations. You will gain valuable insights into your innate strengths and abilities. Thus, you will be able to work on them and refine them so you can reach your full potential in life. 

2. It Can Help You Make Better Decisions 

Discovering your Myers-Briggs personality type is an excellent way to reconnect with your inner self and embrace your core values, preferences, and desires. As you learn more about your personality type, you will gain the power to discriminate between what’s good for you and what isn’t. You will understand your emotions and behaviors better, so you will make decisions that suit your personality. The more you understand your unconscious motivations, desires, and needs, the easier it will be to create a rewarding life.

Understanding how our personalities work helps us avoid decisions that we may end up regretting later in life. 

3. It Can Help You Find a Suitable Career Path 

Knowing your Myers-Briggs personality type can also be immensely valuable if you find it challenging to choose a career path. Are you an introvert who loves working independently or an extrovert who thrives in a fast-paced environment? Are your thought processes guided by practical, matter-of-fact data or abstract concepts? To find professional fulfillment, you have to do work that utilizes your innate strengths and doesn’t contradict your natural dispositions. 

Your Myer-Briggs personality type can be the key to finding what careers would be suitable for you. 

4. It Can Help You Develop Better Relationships

Many relationship problems stem from misunderstandings. We do not have a conscious understanding of all our thought processes, behavioral patterns, and intrinsic motivations at all times. Moreover, we are not always able to understand another person’s thought processes and motivations. The Myer-Briggs Type Indicator can bring clarity in relationships because it explains what compels people to act in a certain way in a given situation. It demonstrates how different people are. 

Knowing your Myers-Briggs personality type can help you assess your relationships and understand what you value most about social connections. What makes you happy in a relationship? How do you react to stress and conflict? The better you understand your personality, the more patient you will be with yourself and with others.

5. It Can Help You Stand Up to Social Pressure  

Humans are social beings, so the influence they exert on each other can be powerful. Under social pressure, a person may have doubts about their motivations, goals, or desires. Although it can also be a positive force, social pressure is more often than not a negative force. It pushes you to compromise on your personal values to the benefit of others. 

When your values do not align with those of your family, friends, coworkers, or community, standing up to social pressure is vital for preserving your sense of identity. Many people who succumb to social pressure when choosing careers or setting life goals regret it later. Your Myers-Briggs personality type is the evidence that you are a unique person and that nobody except yourself can know what’s best for you. 

Self-reflection is essential for setting personal and professional goals that match your authentic desires and needs. Learning more about your Myers- Briggs personality type can help you understand what makes you who you are. You can use this information to achieve career success, build closer relationships, and design your life in a way that makes you happy and fulfilled.

Discover what makes you tick, and learn to highlight your strengths in your everyday life. Make decisions that feel right to you, no matter what society says.